This animated film was produced by the Conservative and Unionist Film Association, and provides fascinating proof that contemporary political propaganda, with its simplistic allegories and metaphors, has a cinematic history that goes back decades. It was part of a campaign by Conservative Party leader Stanley Baldwin to pile pressure on Ramsay MacDonald’s minority Labour government. In the film, John Bull attempts to get his car (i.e. the national economy) fixed by the garage of MacDonald and Co. (i.e. the Labour Party), which offers a mixture of unemployment, foreign dumping and increased taxes. Lloyd and Co. (i.e. David Lloyd George’s Liberal Party) is no more successful, but Baldwin’s Prosperity Garage, and its winning blend of empire unity, safeguarding and reduced taxes, finally puts everything to rights. (Michael Brooke)