New Lot, The

Synopsis: An AKS training film that was lost for 50 years and rediscovered by the National Film Archive of India. Written by Peter Ustinov and Eric Ambler, it takes 5 very different new recruits, with all their vocal concerns and grievances, and shows how an unexpectedly and at times self-effacingly concerned Army turns them into an efficient, well-motivated team. Peter Ustinov, who had been a private soldier himself says it’s "a film specially for those who had just entered the army, a film in which a bridge between civil and military life would be created by means of humour and comprehension." The film ran into initial hostility from Army top brass. A film that gave most of its sympathy to reluctant and grumbling conscripts was not calculated to appeal to them. For this very reason the film will appeal to may who were conscripted by National Service in the years following the war. When Major David Niven saw this film he used the same underlying plot, crew and cast ( which includes John Laurie, Raymond Huntley, Bernard Miles and Peter Ustinov) to make the Two Cities feature The Way Ahead (1944).
Language: English
Country: Great Britain
Year of release: 2002
Year of production: 1943
Subjects: History; Media studies
Keywords: archive films; government information films; military training; World War II; Media studies; British army

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