As with other Gold Coast Film Unit productions, such as Progress in Kojokrom (1953), Mr Mensah Builds a House presents its instructional message for African audiences within the framework of a comedy. Again, Mr Mensah concludes with an address from a government officer – on this occasion directed at the characters within the film, rather than the audience themselves – outlining the benefits of the new government rural housing scheme. However, in a number of respects, Mr Mensah differs from earlier Gold Coast Film Unit productions.

First, Mr Mensah contains no voiceover. While in The Boy Kumasenu (1951) the British commentator provides virtually the only voice, in Mr Mensah the narrative is told almost exclusively through the dialogue of the predominantly African characters. There is additional narrative guidance from the soundtrack – ‘Own your house and love your wife, you’ll taste happiness all your life. Until a few weeks ago Mr Mensah did not know’ – but this is sung by African voices. Furthermore, the film uses local dialects with a lot of dialogue spoken in Fante. The characters move between English and Fante, without subtitles or attempts at translation.

The formal structure of Mr Mensah Builds a House also appears more complex than earlier Gold Coast Film Unit productions, and particularly in comparison to other productions made for audiences elsewhere in Africa. Popular colonial rhetoric had claimed that European and African audiences possessed different cognitive abilities, yet Mr Mensah Builds a House uses western narrative techniques and relies on its audience to construct meaning within the film, without the benefit of a commentator. For example, the narrative of Mr Mensah Builds a House opens at the end – ‘now his house is all but done, let me tell you how it all began’ – while the film parallel cuts between two stories. Shots of Mr Mensah enjoying his retirement party are intercut with his nephew, Kofi, gambling at the racetrack. Kofi’s request to Mr Mensah for more money to complete the building work on his house is immediately followed by a close-up of a trolley with alcohol and expensive beauty products. The film thus relies on the audience to relate and construct meaning from these images without the benefit of a commentary.

The editing between the lives of Mr Mensah and Kofi privileges the audience, so that they are aware of Mr Mensah’s impending fall. In one respect, this intercutting presents Mr Mensah as a moral exemplar in contrast to his gambling nephew, yet Mr Mensah’s failure to recognise these problems – as he fails to supervise his nephew and enjoys British tea parties – highlights his dislocation from the African community (and audience). Mr Mensah is at ease with his British colleague, chatting informally about his future plans – ‘oh I must look you up sometime’ – while at his retirement tea party, a British man presents Mr Mensah with a clock ‘for his long and devoted service to the company’. Yet, once Mr Mensah returns to his hometown and his unbuilt house, he no longer occupies this privileged position. Now, as the officer talks to the locals about the new housing scheme, Mr Mensah is dressed in traditional clothing – as opposed to the shirt and tie he has appeared in thus far – and ultimately he must work together with the community in order to rebuild his house.

Mr Mensah is a further significant example of the ways in which the Gold Coast Film Unit sought to use film to enact social change and communicate to the local public. The film also indicates the developments within the unit, in the way it represents African characters and society, and also in its attitude towards its African audiences.

Tom Rice (May 2008)