This film is part of Free
They Forgot to Read the Directions
The 20s elite let their guard down... Amateur antics from media baron Lord Beaverbrook and friends, including HG Wells and Rebecca West.
Overview
This amateur black comedy offers revealing insights into some of Britain's 1920s elite. Shot at the majestic Surrey home of media magnate Lord Beaverbrook, it features a cast and crew of his celebrity friends. The racist and sexist attitudes on display here aren't so surprising coming from Daily Express proprietor Beaverbrook, who would a decade later be a prominent voice for appeasing Hitler. But more curious is the involvement of socialist HG Wells and pioneering feminist Rebecca West - who is credited with the ('ironic'?) script.
In what might seem another sign of the relaxed upper-crust morality of the time, Rebecca West had by this time ended a long-term love affair with Wells and is thought to have also had an affair with Beaverbrook. Rebecca West's calling as a novelist rather than a screenwriter is clear from the often amusing but rather wordy intertitles, and the in-jokes inevitably lose something in translation. One reference that can be cleared up is the use of Yadil to cure the poisoned wives. Yadil Antiseptic Jelly was a 'wonder drug' widely advertised after the post-WWI flu epidemic, but in 1924 a chemist discovered it was basically scented formaldehyde. The film was produced on professional 35mm stock for private screenings in the gardens of Beaverbrook's palatial Cherkley Court home, near Leatherhead.
Related
Paper Boat Paper Boat
Amateur film 1949 22 mins Silent
Prize-winning amateur film about the fleeting affair between a housewife and a young man on a summer day.
Coming Shortly Coming Shortly
Amateur film 1954 4 mins Silent Location: High Wycombe
Silly silent film fun and thrills abound in this award-winning 1954 amateur short spoofing the world of Hollywood trailers.
Midsummer Madness - An Idiotic Idyll Midsummer Madness - An Idiotic Idyll
Amateur film 1933 2 mins Silent
Four bright young things enact a midsummer's love tryst among the daisies in this short, well-crafted amateur fiction film.
Ladies Hoo Doo Ladies Hoo Doo
Amateur film 1965 19 mins Location: Harrow
Knitting comes in handy when making a film – a comical take on amateur filmmaking by the ladies of a local Pinner film club
Jocelyn in Wonderland Jocelyn in Wonderland
Amateur film 1961 13 mins Silent
Tired little Jocelyn, in her National Health specs, falls asleep in the garden and wakes up in Wonderland in this amateur re-telling of Lewis Carroll's classic.
Stephen the Magician Stephen the Magician
Home movie 1962 3 mins Silent Location: Castleford
A young magician impresses his sister by making a dog appear from under a bucket, and by demonstrating the magic of film itself.
On Falling - Exclusive Q&A On Falling - Exclusive Q&A
Inside Film 2025 30 mins
Writer-director Laura Carreira talks to Nia Childs about her debut feature, On Falling.
Layla - Exclusive Q&A Layla - Exclusive Q&A
Short interview 2025 27 mins
Writer, director and performer Amrou Al-Kadhi talks to Rico Johnson-Sinclair about their debut feature.
All We Imagine As Light - Exclusive Q&A All We Imagine As Light - Exclusive Q&A
Short interview 2025 28 mins
Payal Kapadia discusses her Cannes prize-winning and Bafta-nominated drama with Ashanti Omkar.
Khichdi Khichdi
Animation & Artists Moving Image 2023 16 mins
The interwoven stories of four best friends who reunite in the UK, thirty-five years after training together as nurses during their teens in Ferozepur, Punjab.
Dr XYZ: A Medical Drag Transthology Dr XYZ: A Medical Drag Transthology
Documentary 2023 15 mins
A satirical take on the healthcare service announcements of the 1960s and 70s.
Every Moment Counts Every Moment Counts
Animation & Artists Moving Image 2023 9 mins
A short animation that offers a window into the world of children’s palliative care.