The 1941 film
‘Love on the Dole’ was adapted from Walter Greenwood’s play of the same
name. Although set in the worst of the
depression in the early 1930s, there is obviously a wartime propaganda element
to the film, as it was made in the darkest days of World War Two. Permission to make the film – withheld for
the 1930s, was granted as it showed a nation that will always fight back, no
matter how low circumstances take us.
Opinion on how
realistic the play and film is seems to be divided. Some saw it as a marvellous depiction of the
working classes while others found it mawkish and the characters too
one-dimensional. I think there are
relevant arguments on both sides, and would summarise the film as an early,
naïve attempt at one of those kitchen-sink dramas which were to reach their
zenith twenty years later.
Whether the
scenario is a wholly accurate representation of life in Salford in the 1930s or
not, I found one aspect which I am sure the film does depict quite
faithfully. That is the scenes where a
group of women gather together in one of their houses to dabble in occult
activities. If there is one thing that
history shows us about human nature, it is our tendency to retreat into superstition
when times get tough. From making
offerings to fertility deities to make the crops grow, to believing in a heaven
which is a reward for battling through this mortal hell, it is human nature to
retreat into some kind of fantasy to give ourselves reason to carry on. This group of neighbours in ‘Love on the
Dole’ are looking for a light at the end of their pawn shop and hunger-riddled
tunnel. They need a reason for their
lives and more importantly, a reason to continue living it. Rationally, the only certainties they have
are poverty, sickness and death.
And so, the
women read the tea-leaves, which hint at that old chestnut – a dark stranger on
the horizon. Well, wouldn’t it make it
easier to get out of bed in a morning if someone had told you that one of these
days something different and exciting will happen? They hold a séance and have a chat with their
loved ones – the people that they miss, and find comfort in both the fantasy of
an afterlife where they will see them again; as well as a humanisation of that
which they least understand. ‘Love on the Dole’ showcases the activities that
went on in order to “read the future”.
It also shows that those women who were considered to hold the talents
necessary to do this had kudos. The
ringleader in this activity is shown to have a higher standing in her small
society. Cultivation of these talents –
presumably passed down from mother to daughter – could be a profitable
activity. Perhaps this also might have
been used as an explanation for a personal problem or ailment that lack of
access to medical treatment rendered a mystery.
My
great-great-grandmother has gone down in family history as being our own
witch. All we know is that she had the
“sight”. And that she also had a lot of
headaches. As her direct descendant down
the female line I should probably be cultivating this “sight” myself!
Rationally, she probably got migranes and saw strange things during the course
of them – as some people do. I would
imagine, if she was an attention seeking drama queen (a bit like me and
definitely like my youngest daughter) then she would play on this – even make a
shilling on the side and if she could milk it enough then why not? Times were hard and entertainments few. It would be easy for us to mock those women
from the viewpoint of our rational and so called sophisticated society. But would I have done the same? Definitely.
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