Rent School for Secrets (1946)

Secret War. - School for Secrets review by Steve

Micro-budget celebration of the work done by the scientists in WWII, particularly in the development of radar. It was released with the fighting over, which might account for the giddy holiday mood; this is more of a comedy than a drama and no one is going to learn any official secrets.

Peter Ustinov makes his debut as director and he opens up with a couple of ostentatious tracking shots to announce his arthouse credentials. But it mostly reflects postwar austerity with documentary lighting and a lot of talk. Ralph Richardson leads a group of superbrains to a coastal guesthouse for the duration to do some blue sky thinking.

And mostly explore their comic eccentricity. These boffins can think outside the box but can't boil an egg. Richardson is a genial presence. Maybe there is a suggestion of autism in Raymond Huntley's lack of empathy. Today, their input into the firebombing of Dresden and Hamburg doesn't seem so whimsical.

This was initiated as a training film for scientists enrolled in the cause, and later extended into a feature film. It seems war films were box office poison after '45, and maybe this suggests why. It's drab and unambitious, though amusing. And it at least offers an opportunity to remember the inventors, who also served.