Back in the '40s and '50s they took sex out. I don't know, the Noel Coward -sort of 'Into Which We Serve'-type films: [In a posh accent] 'Darling, I'm off to the war.' 'Don't go, darling, don't go to the war.' 'I must go to the war, darling, they won't start without me.' 'Don't go, darling, it's dangerous- rat-tat-tat boom, and all those noises.' 'I must go, darling, it's my duty as a Cockney man.' All the accents were really fucked, weren't they? 'We, as East enders - we as people from the East End of London, the working class of London, we must go with our strange accents: go to the war. I must do it.' If that's the East End of London accent, then what's a posh accent? '(exaggerated posh accent, complete nonsense)' said a posh person to me today: He also said, '(more nonsense)' And I believe him!

History·War·Film·Class