egafd.com

Just got next weeks Radio Times, and there is a great film
on Sky Cinema 1 next Tuesday 16th November at 6pm.

It is 'The life and death of Colonel Blimp', which was made
in 1943 by Powell and Pressburger, two of the greats of
British cinema.

When it came out in 1943 Churchill was not too impressed
as he felt it was too anti-war and anti top-brass, and had
a sympathetic German character in it.

I would describe it as the British 'Citizen Kane'.

I covers the life of a British soldier, Blimp, from late 1890s
when it was all cutlasses and chivalry, through the Boer
war, first world war and into the second world war.

Roger Livesey plays Blimp from a young soldier right up to
the 'old fart' Colonel Blimp, and Deborah Kerr plays three
different women who know him in different phases of his
life.

Great film well worth a watch.

Go look at and read reviews where
it has a rating of 8.1 out of 10.

Guilbert

Dont forget

My local ASDA has it for ?6.99

6pm seems a silly time for what is perfect wet afternoon viewing. Came out in '43, and for two years Churchill denied export of the film citing it as detrimental to the morale of the army. P & P at their finest, perhaps. A terrific film.

Also on tuesday is the much misunderstood First Blood, which has more in common with 70's US cinema than its awful Reagan-ite sequels. A suprisingly well-layered film, it's best viewed as a politicised Frankenstein (creature rejected by society it was built to protect, chased through woods by locals, finally confronts creator etc). Only the slips into trite handling kept this from gold status.

...taken from the London Evening Standard wartime cartoon by Sir David Low (1891-1963),where the original Colonel Blimp appeared.

>and for two years Churchill denied export of the film citing it as detrimental to the morale of the army.

It is said that Churchill thought the life of the main character, Clive Candy,
mirrored his own life too much and that is why he did not like it.

Guilbert