Underground Pleasures: London Public Transport in British films of the 1920s and 1930s

Due it circumstances beyond our control, we are unable to broadcast Mara's talk on YouTube.

The 1920s and 1930s were key decades for the formation of a unified public transport system in Britain’s capital. Whilst the corporate history of the formation of London Transport may be well-known, less attention has been paid to how Britain’s burgeoning film industry reflected the city’s transport network.

 

This talk will consider some key British films of the period and unpick how they used London’s public transport network in their narratives. As Britain’s number one leisure activity of the period, how films depicted London’s transport could significantly shape audiences’ perceptions of this new organisation.

 

Mara Arts is a cultural historian with a PhD from Birkbeck, University of London. She specialises in popular culture of Britain between the wars, with a particular interest in films, newspapers and crime fiction. Her monograph, Interwar London After Dark in British Popular Culture, was published by Palgrave in 2022. Mara’s research has also been published in academic journals and special interest publications. She regularly delivers talks on British interwar culture.

 

Join Mara in the Cubic Theatre at the London Transport Museum on Monday 11th March at 18:15.

 

Please 'Reserve a Place' to guarantee a seat.