BOOK REVIEW THE SALVATION ARMY AT THE MOVIES Reviewed by Kingsley Sampson Rob Kinnon-Brettle. The Salvation Army at the Movies, (Manchester, UK: Kinnon Publishing, 2020), 180 pp., ISBN. 978 1 8382228 0 2.1
Cover of The Salvation Army at the movies
The story of The Salvation Army’s Limelight Department in Australia at the turn of the twentieth century has been well told over the years, especially given the fact that the Limelight Brigade is regarded world-wide as a pioneer in the motion picture industry. What has not been so well told is the way in which The Salvation Army has appeared in motion pictures over the last 120 years. This lack has now been put right in Rob Kinnon-Brettle’s newly-published book The Salvation Army at the movies. The book provided a catalogue of over 500 movie and television films in which The Salvation Army appeared or was mentioned, either as in a documentary featuring some aspect of the Army’s work or by providing the story line or characters in a fictional movie or by way of a brief cameo or even a fleeting reference. The criteria for inclusion are not spelled out but film, television and video productions are featured. The first two-thirds of the book lists films with a Salvation Army mention produced between 1897 and 2017. These are listed by years and grouped into decades. Of note is that there are only five or six years since 1900 where no film was produced that had some mention of The Salvation Army. In this catalogue, each film is named and then followed by a generally short synopsis. The final third of the book contained an alphabetical list of films, a list of actors who have donned Salvation Army uniform or some variant, names of Salvationists or Salvation Army bands who have appeared in films and a topical index. In reading through this book, the following things will catch the reader’s attention: 1. The fact that so many movies with a Salvation Army theme or character or reference have been produced over the last 120+ years. Reference citation of this review: Kingsley Sampson, “Book review, The Salvation Army at the movies”, The Australasian journal of Salvation Army history, 6, 1, 2021, 84 – 85. 1 At the time of publication of the AJSAH, the book was available from Kinnon Publishing via email: kinnon_publishing@yahoo.com
The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, Volume 6, Issue 1, 2021. Page 84
