The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943)

Directors:

Michael Powell
Emeric Pressburger

Writers:

Michael Powell (written by) &
Emeric Pressburger (written by)

Release Date:

4 May 1945 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance | War

Tagline:

A Lusty Lifetime of Love and Adventure in Lavish Technicolor (US Lobby Card tag)

Plot:

Portrays in warm-hearted detail the life and loves of one extraordinary man. We meet the imposingly rotund General Clive Wynne-Candy...

Plot Keywords:

Officer | German | Military | Boer War | General

Cast

Roger Livesey	...	Clive Candy
Deborah Kerr	...	Edith Hunter / Barbara Wynne / Johnny Cannon
Anton Walbrook	...	Theo Kretschmar-Schuldorff
Roland Culver	...	Col. Betteridge
James McKechnie	...	Spud Wilson
Albert Lieven	...	von Ritter
Arthur Wontner	...	Embassy Counsellor
David Hutcheson	...	Hoppy
Ursula Jeans	...	Frau von Kalteneck
John Laurie	...	Murdoch
Harry Welchman	...	Major Davies
Reginald Tate	...	van Zijl
A.E. Matthews	...	President of Tribunal
Carl Jaffe	...	von Reumann (as Carl Jaffé)
Valentine Dyall	...	von Schönborn

Also Known As:

Colonel Blimp (USA)
The Adventures of Colonel Blimp (USA)
A Vida do Coronel Blimp (Portugal) [pt]
Axehasti morfi (Greece) [el]
Coronel Blimp (Spain) [es]
Det började i Berlin (Sweden) [sv]
Duellen (Denmark) [da]
Duello a Berlino (Italy) [it]
Het begon in Berlijn (Netherlands) [nl]
Kahraman subay (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Le colonel Blimp (France) [fr]
Leben und Sterben des Colonel Blimp (Germany) [de]
Se alkoi Berliinissä (Finland) [fi]
Ystävykset (Finland) [fi]
Zycie i smierc pulkownika Blimpa (Poland) [pl]

Runtime:

163 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English | French | German

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Microphonic Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #03762) | South Korea:12 (2003) | Australia:G | Finland:S | UK:U | Ireland:G | Spain:T

Filming Locations:

139 Park Lane, Mayfair, London, England, UK

Company:

Archers, The

Trivia:

Michael Powell's golden cocker spaniels Erik and Spangle make their second appearance on film as Clive and Barbara return from their honeymoon.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Spud is tripped over, chairs are in different positions.

Quotes:

Hoppy: I was awfully sorry to hear about your leg.
[Looks down]
Hoppy: Jumping Jehosaphat! They're both there!
Clive Candy: What the hell did you think I was standing on?
Hoppy: They told me in Bloemfontein that they cut off your left leg.
Clive Candy: [Examines leg] Can't have, old boy. I'd have known about it.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Rockford Files: The Queen of Peru (#4.12)" (1977)

Soundtrack:

Commando Patrol

Roger Livesey's greatest role

I'd forgotten what a good film this was until I watched it on DVD recently. 'The Archers' had such an impressive body of work even a gem can be temporarily out of mind - such was the case with Colonel Blimp while I was catching up with all their other work.

There seem to be three performances approaching greatness in this - first of course, that of Livesey as Clive Wynne-Candy throughout his long service as a soldier to old age and 'Blimpishness', a superb portrayal and very memorable; then Anton Walbrook - brilliant in all his scenes as the sympathetic German who finally becomes reconciled to 'his wife's country'; and finally, in three roles, Deborah Kerr, standing for Candy's ideal woman. There'd be one more film for the Archers before Kerr became established in Hollywood, and she is excellent in her trio of roles in this.

Special mention should go not only to P&P for their tremendous vision and energy, but also the great Jack Cardiff who put such wit and clarity in sequences such as the animal head shots. The film itself is one of Britain's best. I'm amazed to hear it was suppressed in its entirety for so many years, and glad it survived to become the masterpiece it surely is.