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This 1940 dramatised documentary is dedicated to 'the Housewives of Britain' and the emphasis is very much on dutiful service of a domestic kind. The film follows a day in the wartime life of 'Mother', who is ever-smiling in her support of her weary husband and truculent daughter. She spends her time seeing to her family's and neighbours' varied needs: bringing her daughter tea in bed, rubbing her husband's aching back as well as cooking, growing vegetables and providing food for the woman next door when her husband unexpectedly returns home on leave. Despite it all, she counts herself lucky, in the best British tradition, as "at least Dad's at home this time", unlike during the First World War, presumably. Ruby Grierson, the film's director, was the sister of John Grierson. She trained as a teacher before making several documentary films, of which this was the last completed due to her untimely death. The film is beautifully photographed by A.E. Jeakins, a former newsreel cameraman, who subsequently worked for the Realist Film Unit and continued his career into the 1970s. Ros Cranston *This film is included in the BFI DVD compilation 'Land of Promise: The British Documentary Movement 1930-1950'.
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1. Morning sunshine (1:49)
