Lindsay Anderson-Wakefield Express (1952)

Wakefield Express was commissioned in 1952 by the eponymous newspaper to celebrate its 100th anniversary and follows a group of local reporters as they travel around the area in search of news-worthy events. Although it was originally intended to be a film showing how the paper was printed it developed into a far more personal study of the communal life of a group of towns in the West Riding of Yorkshire. BFI




In the same way as he did with O Dreamland (1954) in the first Free Cinema programme, Lindsay Anderson took advantage of the Free Cinema 3 programme to show another of his short films which had been sitting on a shelf unseen for several years. Wakefield Express was commissioned in 1952 by the eponymous newspaper to celebrate its 100th anniversary. Screenonline




Originally intended to be a film showing how the paper was printed, in Anderson's hands it became a much more personal study of the communal life of a group of towns in the West Riding area of Yorkshire. It was the first time Anderson worked with Free Cinema mainstays John Fletcher and Walter Lassally. Screenonline




The film follows the local reporters as they travel around the area in search of newsworthy events: the local rugby tea, a school concert, a constituency political meeting, the launching of a ship and the unveiling of a war memorial among others. Although it was made four years before the advent of Free Cinema, Wakefield Express can be seen as a transition between Anderson's early 'industrial films' like Meet the Pioneers (1948) and his Free Cinema contributions, especially in the way in which he shows his interest in ordinary life and people, and expresses his own point of view as a filmmaker. Screenonline




In the words of the programme note, "there is nothing of the impartiality of the 'general survey' about the film's approach. Its perceptive, humanist outlook brings enough concern to the communal activities to view them, in turn, with affection and irony, exasperation and respect." Screenonline