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The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
An unforgettable story of forty gallant years.
General Candy, who's overseeing an English squad in 1943, is a veteran leader who doesn't have the respect of the men he's training and is considered out-of-touch with what's needed to win the war. But it wasn't always this way. Flashing back to his early career in the Boer War and World War I, we see a dashing young officer whose life has been shaped by three different women, and by a lasting friendship with a German soldier.
- Original title
- The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
- Language
- EN
- Country
- GB
- Budget
- $2,000,000
- Revenue
- $275,472
CinemaSerf
Nov 1, 2023 · via TMDB
Roger Livesey is superb in this wonderfully colourful depiction of the life of "Clive Candy". We start with his rather undignified seizure at the steam baths by the home guard he is supposed to command and by way of a continuous retrospective, discover just how this man arrived at this embarrassing predicament. First there was the South African campaign, then the Great War saw him gain some prominence and also, after quite a few scrapes, sees him befriend his opposite number, as it were, in the form of the dashing German "Theo" (a beautifully understated contribution from Anton Walbrook). Becoming firm friends, they share the same social circles and it's here that "Candy" meets his future wife - Deborah Kerr. Trials and tribulations and then WWII all affect this man as he is promoted through the ranks and faces tragedy very close to home before the realisation that, at an elderly age, perhaps he is no longer of any value! What Powell and Pressburger have encapsulated into just over 2½ hours here, is a delightfully evocative story that deals with friendship and honour, with love, despair and the human desire to feel needed and wanted - but never without losing sight of the humanity of the situations and, quite often, with some degree of dark and stoic humour. There is a lovely chemistry between Livesey and Walbrook, and Deborah Kerr positively glows as she remains the woman in his life - in various guises - throughout. The contrast between the evolving behaviours is subtly but potently drawn here: we see a society that no longer considered any "niceties" of war - symptomatic of a sea of changing attitudes with which both men struggle to adapt. Sure, there's nostalgia - but it's of a palpable and immersive nature. IT's not at all sentimental. We take sides initially - jingoism isn't far away, but certainly as it progresses and the decency of these individuals is laid bare, I found myself rather admiring the integrity on display here from two different but remarkably similar perspectives. As to that display, the aesthetic of this film is glorious. The wartime sets, the bucolic and peaceful scenes, the romance, the disaster - all delivered here with great skill by Georges Périnal's artistic touch and Allan Gray's charmingly complementary score. I can't really pick a favourite P&P film, but the three leads and the accomplished supporting cast assembled here make this one of their very best, complex and thought-provoking efforts that looks fantastic on a big screen.
User reviews courtesy of TMDB.
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Fandango At Home
Roger Livesey
Major General Clive Wynne-Candy
Deborah Kerr
Edith Hunter / Barbara Wynne / Angela "Johnny" Cannon
Anton Walbrook
Theo Kretschmar-Schuldorff
Roland Culver
Col. Betteridge
James McKechnie
Spud Wilson
Arthur Wontner
Embassy Counsellor
David Hutcheson
Hoppy
Ursula Jeans
Frau von Kalteneck
John Laurie
Murdoch
Harry Welchman
Major Davies
Robert Harris
Embassy Secretary
A.E. Matthews
President of Tribunal
Theodore Zichy
Colonel Borg (as Count Zichy)
Jane Millican
Nurse Erna
Valentine Dyall
von Schonborn
Carl Jaffe
von Reumann
Albert Lieven
von Ritter
Eric Maturin
Colonel Goodhead
Muriel Aked
Aunt Margaret
Reginald Tate
van Zijl
Felix Aylmer
The Bishop
Joan Swinstead
Secretary
Pat McGrath
Tommy Tucker (uncredited)
Alfred Junge
Production Design
Georges Périnal
Director of Photography
Emeric Pressburger
Director
Michael Powell
Director
Emeric Pressburger
Producer
Michael Powell
Producer
Emeric Pressburger
Writer
Michael Powell
Writer
Dead or Alive
Ensemble
Rear Window
Bicycle Thieves
The Seventh Seal
Full Metal Jacket
The World of Apu
Wild Strawberries
All About Eve
M
The Lives of Others
The Passion of Joan of Arc
The Great Escape
La Strada
Grand Illusion
La Jetée
Umberto D.
Downfall
Papillon
Le Samouraï
Solaris
Life of Brian
The Last Samurai
The Last Emperor
The Rules of the Game
L'Avventura
Bonnie and Clyde
The Man Who Knew Too Much
Being John Malkovich
Ashes and Diamonds
Berlin am Meer
The African Queen
The Ladykillers
A Bridge Too Far
2046
American Graffiti
The Woman I Love
The Tin Drum
Wag the Dog
Antonia's Line
Send Me No Flowers
Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
Effi Briest
The Legend of Bagger Vance
Shooting War
Zero Motivation
Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom
What to Do in Case of Fire?
Go for Zucker
Lucy
Keep 'Em Slugging
Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-Vixens
Enchanted
The Great Dictator
Paths of Glory
The Great Escape
Where Hands Touch
To Be or Not to Be
All Quiet on the Western Front
The Best Years of Our Lives
The Hill
Waterloo Bridge
Zulu
Ice Cold in Alex
The Guns of Navarone
Mister Roberts
It's Always Fair Weather
Five Graves to Cairo
Tolkien
Hope and Glory
Battle of the Bulge
The Colditz Story
Buck Privates
To Be or Not to Be
The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel
The Last Rifleman
Oh! What a Lovely War
To Hell and Back
Tobruk
Carry On Sergeant
Hannibal Brooks
Christopher and His Kind
The Secret War of Harry Frigg
Benediction
Mar 29, 1945
New York City, New York
May 4, 1945
