This film was Marshall's private project - costing £12000 and self-financed with securities on his house and a life policy - and first shown at the Edinburgh Festival in 1949 where it was apparently well-received - Dilys Powell gave it a favourable notice in the Sunday Times (i/d August 28 1949). However, it seems it never gained a general cinema release. There's a lukewarm review by CA Lejeune in The Observer (i/d Feb 5 1950) in which he queries the whole ethos of semi-documentaries. The 'star', who the paper names as Derek Lee (not Smith), was (according to the Daily Mail i/d January 31 1950) 'a 15-year-old product of a boys club in Walthamstow'. Filmed entirely on location in Easington.
All a bit Stakhanovite, although given Marshall's experience in the Soviet Union that's not surprising. Robert Burns, the Scots poet championed by one of the trainees, was also greatly admired in Soviet Russia!
All a bit Stakhanovite, although given Marshall's experience in the Soviet Union that's not surprising. Robert Burns, the Scots poet championed by one of the trainees, was also greatly admired in Soviet Russia!