Sunday, February 5, 2012

Monday movie

Anton Wolbrook, in the role of a German refugee in England during WWII, explains why he wants to live and work in Britain (from The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp - a great film, incidentally, not nearly as well known as it should be; see Kathy Schaidle’s review here).

3 comments:

bruce said...

And fantastic makeup! As Kathy pointed out. For a film made on the cheap by 'borrowing' costumes and props during the War, simply amazing.

cac said...

A brilliant and, as you say, sadly neglected film. Hopefully the might of the Paco empire will gain it a new auidience.

I have a particular fondness for WW2 British propaganda films and I'm always amazed at their subtle handling of the Nazis - at a time when Britain was being faced by a literally barbaric enemy it must have been tempting to play up that angle and show the Brits as entirely flawless but they always acknowledge some good in the Germans and flaws on the British side. And of course it makes for a much more persuasive film but it's easy to see why Churchill didn't like it.

Paco said...

Indeed, a wonderful film.

And I am a tremendous fan of Roger Livesey. I saw him last night, as a matter of fact, in The Master of Ballantrae (a so-so movie, but much enlivened by his performance as an Irish general on the run after the collapse of the '45).