THE NEXT OF KIN, also known as Next of Kin, is a 1942 World War II propaganda film produced by Ealing Studios. This version was prepared for American troops and begins with a special introduction featuring Major General George V. Strong, the Chief of Military Intelligence.
Next of Kin was originally commissioned by the British War Office as a training film to promote the government propaganda message that “Careless talk costs lives”. After being taken on by Ealing Studios, the project was expanded and given a successful commercial release.
After World War II and up until at least the mid 1960s, services in British Commonwealth countries continued to use The Next of Kin as part of security training.
Plot summary: The British army is preparing an attack on a German-held French port. German intelligence use agents in England to discover the intended target by piecing together information from different sources, including conversations overheard in pubs, railway stations, shops and other public places.
Originally, the commando raid depicted was intended to be a complete failure. However, the War Office were uncomfortable about showing such a defeat. In the final version, the raid is successful, albeit with heavy losses. Winston Churchill reportedly wanted the film banned as a threat to morale, but was eventually persuaded of the importance of its message.
Cast includes:
Mervyn Johns as No 23, Mr Davis
John Chandos as No 16, his contact
Nova Pilbeam as Beppie Leemans
Reginald Tate as Major Richards
Stephen Murray as Mr Barratt
Jack Hawkins as Brigade Major Harcourt (billed as 2nd Lt. Jack Hawkins)
Geoffrey Hibbert as Private John
Philip Friend as Lieutenant Cummins
Phyllis Stanley as Miss Clare
Mary Clare as Mrs. Webster
Basil Sydney as a naval captain
Joss Ambler as Mr Vemon
Brefni O’Rorke as Brigadier
Alexander Field as Private Durnford
David Hutcheson as an intelligence officer
Torin Thatcher as a German general
Thora Hird as an ATS driver with a puncture
Basil Radford and Naunton Wayne appear in cameos as two “careless talkers” on a train at the end of the film. The two men made many appearances together in British films of the 1940s, following their successful pairing as “Charters and Caldicott” in Hitchcock’s The Lady Vanishes.
We encourage viewers to add comments and, especially, to provide additional information about our videos by adding a comment! See something interesting? Tell people what it is and what they can see by writing something for example like: “01:00:12:00 — President Roosevelt is seen meeting with Winston Churchill at the Quebec Conference.”
This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD and 2k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
