This film was in 1942 a timely piece of what we might call 'propaganda for the Good' and in the face of the well-produced but disturbing Nazi film propaganda emanating from Germany was deemed worthy of being filmed in the then expensive and rare Technicolor system. Just in 1940 alone Goebbel's Reichsfilmkammer influenced and supported the release of many films of loathsome import but of consummate technical virtuosity, notably 'Der Ewige Jude' and 'Jud Süß', interspersed with brutally gung-ho military documentaries, escapist pap and the sort of stridently hero-worshipping biopic of genuine German cultural icons intended to be taken as vindications of the romanticised Hitler of 'Triumph of the Will'.
The lavish period drama produced in 1942 at the Denham Studios by Lord Rank's G.H.W. Productions Ltd., to demonstrate that British culture was in no way inferior to Nazi perversions of Germanic 'kultur', was 'The Great Mr Handel'. The film is essentially a bildungsroman of Handel's struggles in later life to rise above adversity through his Lutheran faith, and by means of the religious genre of the oratorio. We see him leave behind what is portrayed as the vanity of his secular operas and the petty politics of aristocratic society and dedicate himself to this more democratic and thoroughly Christian mode of artistic expression.
Essentially a moral drama of redemption through good works, as in his crucial support for Thomas Coram's Foundling Hospital, and religious devotion, as triumphantly shown in his movingly portrayed creation of 'Messiah' while in extremely poor health, the film presents Christian values and glorifies an Oratorio which had become in Britain an institution, being continuously performed since that time by professional and amateur resources alike. 'Messiah' was loved and cherished throughout Britain and was regarded as one of our most valued and established traditions.
The British film industry could hardly have spent it's money more wisely in the interest of representing to British people and to the world certain moral and humane values that were sustaining the country in it's time of trial. Though the Blitz was smashing up London, Coventry and other great cities in terror raids, this fine film, superbly produced in all departments, rose above the hellish wreckage, like the dome of St. Paul's Cathedral, with a sense of imperishable hope.
Among the many felicities of this film are the conceit of the window facing Handel's writing desk becoming filled by the intensity of his vision, as in a theatre of the ideal. The authentic trader's cries of Old London which intersperse the street scenes outside the door of 25 Brook Street, where Handel lived, and which were still recalled by Londoners of the 1940s, would have served to remind wartime audiences of a depth of shared popular history, thus acknowledging and accepting that high art and folk art are spiritual neighbours; there is nothing pompous about this film other than the contemptible nature of the aristocratic society portrayed in all it's arrogance and shallowness.
But perhaps the bravest and the subtlest example of a 'Propaganda for the Good' in this film is the frank and open treatment of an obvious German as a fine and decent human being. The point is made in an opening scene, when Handel has to defend himself from a xenophobic English boor who resents his foreignness, 'You are only English by an accident of birth; while I am English by an Act of Parliament', he ripostes. This film, made at the height of Nazi ferrocity against civilisation, insists upon remembering a better German.
By remembering the civilised past, hope for the future is kept alive in time of war. It was fitting that this humane view was held up in opposition to the miasma of Evil that reeked from the Nazi super-productions, in which apalling murder and mayhem were extolled as civic virtues. However, Nazi propaganda films are now, thankfully, only of interest to historical specialists, whereas 'Messiah' is still today a moving and uplifting experience, which continues to be appreciated by anyone who enjoys the music of Handel, and admires the composer's struggles in adversity to complete what is regarded by many as his finest work.
I hope this review can at least somewhat redress the too often condescending views of this fine film.
The lavish period drama produced in 1942 at the Denham Studios by Lord Rank's G.H.W. Productions Ltd., to demonstrate that British culture was in no way inferior to Nazi perversions of Germanic 'kultur', was 'The Great Mr Handel'. The film is essentially a bildungsroman of Handel's struggles in later life to rise above adversity through his Lutheran faith, and by means of the religious genre of the oratorio. We see him leave behind what is portrayed as the vanity of his secular operas and the petty politics of aristocratic society and dedicate himself to this more democratic and thoroughly Christian mode of artistic expression.
Essentially a moral drama of redemption through good works, as in his crucial support for Thomas Coram's Foundling Hospital, and religious devotion, as triumphantly shown in his movingly portrayed creation of 'Messiah' while in extremely poor health, the film presents Christian values and glorifies an Oratorio which had become in Britain an institution, being continuously performed since that time by professional and amateur resources alike. 'Messiah' was loved and cherished throughout Britain and was regarded as one of our most valued and established traditions.
The British film industry could hardly have spent it's money more wisely in the interest of representing to British people and to the world certain moral and humane values that were sustaining the country in it's time of trial. Though the Blitz was smashing up London, Coventry and other great cities in terror raids, this fine film, superbly produced in all departments, rose above the hellish wreckage, like the dome of St. Paul's Cathedral, with a sense of imperishable hope.
Among the many felicities of this film are the conceit of the window facing Handel's writing desk becoming filled by the intensity of his vision, as in a theatre of the ideal. The authentic trader's cries of Old London which intersperse the street scenes outside the door of 25 Brook Street, where Handel lived, and which were still recalled by Londoners of the 1940s, would have served to remind wartime audiences of a depth of shared popular history, thus acknowledging and accepting that high art and folk art are spiritual neighbours; there is nothing pompous about this film other than the contemptible nature of the aristocratic society portrayed in all it's arrogance and shallowness.
But perhaps the bravest and the subtlest example of a 'Propaganda for the Good' in this film is the frank and open treatment of an obvious German as a fine and decent human being. The point is made in an opening scene, when Handel has to defend himself from a xenophobic English boor who resents his foreignness, 'You are only English by an accident of birth; while I am English by an Act of Parliament', he ripostes. This film, made at the height of Nazi ferrocity against civilisation, insists upon remembering a better German.
By remembering the civilised past, hope for the future is kept alive in time of war. It was fitting that this humane view was held up in opposition to the miasma of Evil that reeked from the Nazi super-productions, in which apalling murder and mayhem were extolled as civic virtues. However, Nazi propaganda films are now, thankfully, only of interest to historical specialists, whereas 'Messiah' is still today a moving and uplifting experience, which continues to be appreciated by anyone who enjoys the music of Handel, and admires the composer's struggles in adversity to complete what is regarded by many as his finest work.
I hope this review can at least somewhat redress the too often condescending views of this fine film.