The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp Overview:

The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943) was a Drama - Romance Film directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger and produced by Michael Powell, Richard Vernon and Emeric Pressburger.

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The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger)

By Andrew Wickliffe on Nov 10, 2018 From The Stop Button

The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp runs two and three-quarters hours and takes place over forty years. The former?s passage is sublime, the latter?s is subtle. Directors Powell and Pressburger bookend the film in the present, then flashback. The lead at the start of the film is James McKechnie. He?... Read full article


Edith Hunter of THE LIFE AND DEATH OF COLONEL BLIMP

By Clayton on Jun 7, 2016 From Phantom Empires

Edith Hunter of THE LIFE AND DEATH OF COLONEL BLIMP 6/7/2016 12 Comments Every once in a while some film fan will regale me with some tale o' love and obsession with some film star or character, insisting upon their true feeelings ... Read full article


Criterion: The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp

By Aaron West on Jul 28, 2014 From Criterion Blues

Jul 28 Posted by aaronwest THE LIFE AND DEATH OF COLONEL BLIMP, POWELL AND PRESSBURGER, 1943 ?BUT THE WAR BEGINS AT MIDNIGHT!!? frustratingly exclaims General Wynne-Candy, known to the film audience as Colonel Blimp. There are a lot of points to the Powell and Pressburger epic, and the most potent ... Read full article


Criterion: The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp

By Aaron West on Jul 28, 2014 From Criterion Blues

Jul 28 Posted by aaronwest THE LIFE AND DEATH OF COLONEL BLIMP, POWELL AND PRESSBURGER, 1943 ?BUT THE WAR BEGINS AT MIDNIGHT!!? frustratingly exclaims General Wynne-Candy, known to the film audience as Colonel Blimp. There are a lot of points to the Powell and Pressburger epic, and the most potent ... Read full article


Criterion: The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp

By Aaron West on Jul 28, 2014 From Criterion Blues

Jul 28 Posted by aaronwest THE LIFE AND DEATH OF COLONEL BLIMP, POWELL AND PRESSBURGER, 1943 ?BUT THE WAR BEGINS AT MIDNIGHT!!? frustratingly exclaims General Wynne-Candy, known to the film audience as Colonel Blimp. There are a lot of points to the Powell and Pressburger epic, and the most potent ... Read full article


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Quotes from

Clive Candy: The Kaiser spoke - and the Prince of Wales spoke ...
Edith Hunter: Spoke about what?
Clive Candy: Nobody could remember.


[repeated line]
Clive Candy: War starts at midnight!


Murdoch: Anything wrong, sir?
Clive Candy: Murdoch, the war is over. The Germans have accepted the terms of the armistice; hostilities cease at 10 O'clock. It's nearly that now. Murdoch, do you know what this means?
Murdoch: I do, sir. Peace. We can go home. Everybody can go home.
Clive Candy: For me, Murdoch, it means more than that; it means that right is might after all. The Germans have shelled hospitals, bombed open towns, sunk neutral ships, used poison gas, and we won -- clean fighting, honest soldiering have won. God bless you, Murdoch.
Murdoch: Sir.


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Facts about

The filmmakers wanted Laurence Olivier to play Clive Candy, but he was prevented from being furloughed from the Navy by Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who didn't want the film to be made. Churchill didn't want to bolster the production with an actor and star of Olivier's caliber, as he felt the movie was critical of a type of British patriot. Olivier was allowed to take a leave from the Navy to make a film about William Shakespeare's patriotic King Henry V in The Chronicle History of King Henry the Fift with His Battell Fought at Agincourt in France. Roger Livesey was cast instead. A generation later he played Olivier's father, Billy Rice, in The Entertainer, though he was actually less than a year older than Olivier.
Michael Powell's golden cocker spaniels Erik and Spangle make their second appearance on film as Clive and Barbara return from their honeymoon.
The tapestry seen in the opening credits was made by the members of The Royal College of Needlework.
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