User:Moswento/Dangerous Comment

Dangerous Comment (1940) was one of three 'Careless Talk' films produced by Ealing Studios for the Ministry of Information during the Second World War as warnings about the dangers of gossip. All of them directed by John Paddy Carstairs. Now You're Talking, All Hands. Made in 1939.

Plot
Begins with a young officer, who is undertaking a secret assignment, being reprimanded for telling his father about it. He is told a story to illustrate the importance of this.

Man=disappointed about not leading Bender Dam RAF raid -> tells girlfriend -> she tells friend. Man=called to lead it -> girlfriend frightened, does not go to party and excuses herself by mentioning the raid Women in bar mentions it, barkeeper (who is a spy) overhears it and passes it on to an agent. But police find out and, although news gets to Germany, the raid is called off and the spy arrested.

A 'Careless Talk' film. The story is presented by a security officer as an example of the need for caution in short introductory and closing sequences, with comedy overtones. Today the film has added interest because of what it reveals about class attitudes early in the war. There are also design and fashion elements in the film particularly in terms of the two women's clothes and the decor of the flat and cocktail bar.

The central story - an RAF pilot, disappointed at being left behind so another man can lead a raid, tells his girlfriend why he is depressed, but is then called to lead the raid after all. The woman, depressed in turn, tells another woman.

The other woman mentions the forthcoming raid in a bar. The barkeeper, a spy, passes the message on in an amusement arcade to his contact who tips off the Luftwaffe. The security officer, however, has overheard the incident at the bar. The raid is called off and the spy arrested

Message

 * Instructional - simple measures to prevent enemy infiltration
 * Careless Talk
 * Contrast with Germany: