The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp

[Clinton Morgan]

By the way who is the dark haired girl meant to be at the meal between Clive Candy, Barbara Wynne, her parents and the bishop? At first I thought she might have been a younger sister of Barbara, until I noticed that the report in the newspaper states that Barbara is an only child. I've gone so far as to check up the published screenplay and I cannot find any mention of this young girl. Could she be a cousin of Barbara or perhaps the bishop's daughter. Whatever she is the actress gives a wonderful mini-performance when Clive confesses all to the Wynnes and the bishop.

Despite wishing he wooed Edith Hunter I believe that Clive Candy did love Barbara Wynne otherwise why would he adopt her last name as his middle? Reminds me of John Winston Lennon becoming John Ono Lennon. What did she die of? All I know is that she died in Jamaica in 1926 at (using the age description of Clive in 1902 as being 26 and the line, "I'm twenty years older than you are.") the age of thirty.

Using basic maths I've also worked out that Clive Candy in 1942 would have been about 66. He's aged quite quickly.

Watching the film again it becomes clear that despite Kretschmar-Schuldorff's passionate speech to Candy it takes about two years for it to sink in. Unless I'm wrong Candy was supposed to give his broadcast in 1940 and the 'war starts at midnight' exercise took place in 1942.

The film is full of wonderful characterisations and performances of. From the major roles (Candy, Schuldorff and Hunter/Wynne/Cannon) to the secondary roles (Betteridge, Hopwell, Fitzroy and Kaunitz) and even the minor roles (the orchestra leader, "And you sir, are you the ringleader of this...!', the secretary at the BBC, Napoleon and the young girl at the nursing home who is impressed by the sight of German and British soldiers walking side by side.) This is because the film centres around a perfectly formed character. Clive Candy is not just a role for an actor, he is a person within himself. One might say he is as well-rounded and four-dimensional as Leopold Bloom in James Joyce's 'Ulysses', Charles Dickens' Mr Pickwick and William Shakespeare's Sir John Falstaff. I would go so far as to state that 'The Life And Death Of Colonel Blimp' is to the cinema what 'Henry The Fourth Parts 1 and 2' is to the theatre.

[Rob Compton]

Originally posted by Clinton Morgan@May 25 2005, 04:43 PM By the way who is the dark haired girl meant to be at the meal between Clive Candy, Barbara Wynne, her parents and the bishop?

Steve will know - when it comes to P and P, he knows everything!

rgds
Rob

[Steve Crook]

And amongst those wonderfully drawn and played minor characters don't forget Frau von Kalteneck, the other bridge partner at the hospital. That was Ursula Jeans, Roger Livesey's wife. It was the only time they worked together on film. although of course they appeared on stage together many times.

Clive Candy certainly is a wonderful character, so much more than the Colonel Blimp of the cartoons. That's just a small part of him later in life.

But what about Theo? What about those speeches he makes, the one at the aliens tribunal and then the one after the broadcast is cancelled? That was Emeric Pressburger talking from the heart and from bitter experience.

Steve

[Clinton Morgan]

But the published screenplay states that Barbara is an only child.

All the characters and performances in the film are wonderful, Theo (as you rightly write) especially.

No, I cannot forget Frau von Kalteneck. When I see that scene I wonder why Clive did not (to use a vulgar expression) go off with her. They seem to be made for each other. Edith appears to look at her as if she was wanted to be Clive's other half but that von Kalteneck 'got in the way'. Not the turn of phrase I wanted to use, but you know what I mean.

But those two speeches. To write one great speech in a film is an achivement but to write two where the second is ten times as powerful is something else.

[Clinton Morgan]

Continuity error. When a workman discovers one of Candy's trophies amongst the rubble it is a bison but in the close-up it has changed to a bear.

[Steve Crook]

Originally posted by Clinton Morgan@May 26 2005, 03:41 PM But the published screenplay states that Barbara is an only child.

But that's one of the (many) joys of The Archers. The published screenplay is only a rough guide to the film. They were always willing to listen to just about anyone, cast or crew, who had a good idea and Emeric was nearly always on the studio floor to mae sure it was done in a way that fitted with the overall story. And if something wasn't working as well as they'd hoped they were quite willing to change it or even drop it completely.

They really were a collaborative/creative team. Not just Powell & Pressburger themselves, but many of the cast and crew as well who worked with them on a whole load of films.

Steve

[Steve Crook]

Originally posted by Clinton Morgan@May 26 2005, 04:36 PM Continuity error. When a workman discovers one of Candy's trophies amongst the rubble it is a bison but in the close-up it has changed to a bear.

Well spotted although it's borderline if it really is an error. It's explainable. There were so many heads on the study walls and the workman could easily have picked up a different one during the shot between where we see him picking it up and when he scares the tea-lady with it. Maybe he felt the bear was more appropriate / scarier for some reason.

Steve

[samkydd]

Originally posted by Steve Crook@May 26 2005, 04:16 PM Well spotted although it's borderline if it really is an error. It's explainable. There were so many heads on the study walls and the workman could easily have picked up a different one during the shot between where we see him picking it up and when he scares the tea-lady with it. Maybe he felt the bear was more appropriate / scarier for some reason. Steve

They found out that the Bison head wasn't a card carrying Equity member so he had to go I'm afraid!

[DB7]

The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943)

Marc Lee reviews a classic that every film-lover will want to own

Powell and Pressburger, the greatest partnership in the history of British cinema, really hit their stride in the mid-1940s, producing in quick succession half a dozen of the best films ever made in this country.

A Matter of Life and Death may have been their most technically innovative, I Know Where I'm Going their most lovable and Black Narcissus their most darkly passionate, but The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, which kicked off the run of masterpieces, was their most ambitious piece of storytelling.

It was also their most controversial work. Released in the middle of the Second World War, it was fiercely criticised by Winston Churchill, and the Ministry of Information opposed its making. And it's easy to see why: one of its trio of central characters is a sympathetically drawn German.

The narrative spans 40 years from 1902, as it follows the career of an upper-class British soldier, Brigadier General Clive Wynne-Candy (Roger Livesey), through the Boer War and two world wars. It also details his enduring friendship with Theo Kretschmar-Schuldorff (Anton Walbrook), whom he meets - thanks to a piece of plotting too tortuous to detail - in a duel in Berlin. A love triangle also features.

Theo certainly is presented as a "good German", but there's plenty of anti-Nazi sentiment, too. "How odd they are, how queer," says Candy's wife (Deborah Kerr). "For years they're writing and dreaming beautiful music and poetry. All of a sudden they start a war, [destroying] whole streets in London, killing little children."

Powell and Pressburger take a leisurely 157 minutes to tell their story, but it's never less than engrossing. Livesey's transformation from young buck to spluttering septuagenarian is brilliantly realised; Walbrook brings a moving dignity to his role as a sorrowful refugee; and Kerr is lovely in three roles.

It's a heart-warming, hugely entertaining film, but also a measured study of how one generation must give way to the next, and, in Theo's affection for his adopted country, a telling reflection of Hungarian-born Pressburger's own feelings for Britain.

[Fellwanderer]

I must admit that before I saw this film a few years ago I hadn't really expected to enjoy it. I was totally wrong as I found it excellent and thoroughly enjoyable.

I see Amazon have 2 dvd versions for sale. Is there any difference - apart from one being bundled with AMOLAD

FELL

[aaron]

Originally posted by Fellwanderer@Aug 19 2005, 08:56 PM I must admit that before I saw this film a few years ago I hadn't really expected to enjoy it. I was totally wrong as I found it excellent and thoroughly enjoyable. I see Amazon have 2 dvd versions for sale. Is there any difference - apart from one being bundled with AMOLAD FELL

If you're going for value, you can't beat the '3 POWELL & PRESSBURGER FILMS' dvd boxset. It includes the 'special edition' of 'Blimp' with a nice documentary. + AMOLAD & I know where im going
Follow this link.. Bensons World for the best value (£11.96 delivered) that's where i bought it..

[Steve Crook]

Originally posted by Fellwanderer@Aug 19 2005, 08:56 PM I must admit that before I saw this film a few years ago I hadn't really expected to enjoy it. I was totally wrong as I found it excellent and thoroughly enjoyable. I see Amazon have 2 dvd versions for sale. Is there any difference - apart from one being bundled with AMOLAD FELL

There's no difference in the film itself, the two Carlton DVDs are both from the same print.

The one with AMOLAD is a two disk set so they've probably got all the same extras as on the "standalone" Carlton DVD of Blimp. That has the documentary A Profile of 'The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp', a stills galley & biographies.

The Criterion DVD, also on offer on Amazon UK, has a lot more extras:
+ Studio commentary featuring director Michael Powell with Martin Scorcese
+ Carlton International's 24-minute video profile (A Profile of ...)
+ A collection of rare behind-the-scenes and production stills from the collection of Michael Powell
+ A collection of David Low's original Colonel Blimp cartoons
But that's a Region 1, NTSC format DVD so be sure you can play those before buying.

There's a comparison between the Carlton & Criterion DVDs which says that although they're from the same print the Carlton one has slightly better colour. The Criterion one they reviewed has a reddish tint, but it's a much stronger reddish tint than my Criterion DVD has got.

If you're thinking about buying any P&P films and don't have many, give a thought to the 9 DVD boxed set now available from HMV.

Steve

[Fellwanderer]

Thanks for the full response - timed my query quite nicely with the 9-dvd set. I might wait for a full review of that.

FELL

[Wetherby Pond]

Originally posted by Steve Crook@Aug 19 2005, 10:12 PM The Criterion DVD, also on offer on Amazon UK, has a lot more extras: + Studio commentary featuring director Michael Powell with Martin Scorcese + Carlton International's 24-minute video profile (A Profile of ...) + A collection of rare behind-the-scenes and production stills from the collection of Michael Powell + A collection of David Low's original Colonel Blimp cartoons But that's a Region 1, NTSC format DVD so be sure you can play those before buying

Amazon is highly misleading when it comes to this issue - they basically label all US/Canadian DVDs as Region 1, regardless of whether this is actually the case.

In actual fact, the overwhelming majority of Criterion DVDs aren't region-coded, and I'm happy to confirm that this is also true of their Colonel Blimp DVD - which is playing happily in my region 2-only laptop as I write this.

You're right about it being NTSC format, but this is far less important an issue - every European DVD player should be able to play it, and the vast majority of current televisions should have no problem coping with the end result. And a computer-based DVD setup will have no problems whatsoever.

[Fellwanderer]

Originally posted by Wetherby Pond@Aug 20 2005, 10:19 AM Amazon is highly misleading when it comes to this issue - they basically label all US/Canadian DVDs as Region 1, regardless of whether this is actually the case. In actual fact, the overwhelming majority of Criterion DVDs aren't region-coded, and I'm happy to confirm that this is also true of their Colonel Blimp DVD - which is playing happily in my region 2-only laptop as I write this. You're right about it being NTSC format, but this is far less important an issue - every European DVD player should be able to play it, and the vast majority of current televisions should have no problem coping with the end result. And a computer-based DVD setup will have no problems whatsoever.

Thanks for that - it confirms what I'd thought. There are a couple of Criterion dvds I was seriously thinking about.

FELL