The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1942)

Wartime effort by the Archers (Powell and Pressburger) that, while appearing patriotic on the surface, instead caricatures, somewhat warmly, the old fashioned conservative military man archetype. Not as art-directed to high heaven as some of their later works (Black Narcissus, The Red Shoes) but still finely wrought, with good use of color and sets. Told in flashback and following the central character from the Boer War (around 1902) up until WWII. It is hard not to feel that those WWII scenes aren't themselves flashbacks, since the period styling still seems so rich (but in fact, these were modern everyday sights for the audience watching the film in 1943). An enjoyable tale but not at the level of the Archers' best work.

I know this movie is a classic and I can see its merits and quality but I could not get past the old-fashioned dialogue and acting and shamefully did not finish the movie!

Enchanting tale. Loved this movie.

Great film, rewatched it after seeing it first years ago and enjoyed it again.

Colonel Blimp is originally a British cartoon character. The cartoonist David Low first drew Colonel Blimp for Lord Beaverbrook's London Evening Standard in the 1930s: pompous, irascible, jingoistic and stereotypically British. Low developed the character after overhearing two military men in a Turkish bath declare that cavalry officers should be entitled to wear their spurs inside tanks. The Blimp character in the movie is a far more loveable character. One Clive Wynne-Candy, played by Roger Livesey, he embodies all the virtues of the English soldier and gentleman. In fact, the movie is an ode to Englishness. Made at the height of the Nazi threat to England in 1942 it?s a convincing demonstration that the allies had a lot worth fighting for. Deborah Kerr plays three roles, that of the girl who marries Clive?s German dueling partner and later friend Theo, that of Clive?s own, younger wife, and later his WREN driver when he heads up the Home Guard during the Second World War. Her characters remain young while all those around her age. It?s quite a surprising film to make in the midst of war. It encountered strong resistance when first released from no less than Winston Churchill. When Churchill questioned the Austrian actor Anton Walbrook about the film he famously replied ?'No people in the world other than the English would have had the courage, in the midst of war, to tell the people such unvarnished truth?. It?s a cracker of a film. Entertaining and at times quite moving. ?The war starts at midnight!?