This book offers a startling re-evaluation of what has until now been seen as the most critically lackluster period of the British cinema. Twenty writers contribute essays that rediscover and reassess the productions of the Festival of Britain decade, during which the vitality of wartime film-making flowed into new forms. Topics covered include genres such as the B-film, the war film, the woman's picture, the theatrical adaptation and comedy; also social issues such as censorship and the screen representation of childhood.