Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, The (1943)
Directors: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
A device that has allowed the reality of war to be more tolerable
for a division of a general population has been to romanticize the notion of
serving in the armed forces. The Life and
Death of Colonel Blimp is a brilliantly bright British Technicolor motion
picture that attempts to create a sense of awe, duty, romance, and pride with
the thought of one serving his country, lightly inspired by name by a
well-known comic strip of the period. A subdued spectacle, this near two hour
and 45 minute film brings a lot to the Technicolor screens as a wartime feature
attempting to build morale within World War II British motion picture
audiences.
The Life and Death of
Colonel Blimp is a wartime romantic drama of a staunch British officer’s
long, momentous life as a soldier. What begins in a Turkish bath house with a
loud, pompous, red-faced, disagreeable, largely mustachioed British gentleman,
much like the “Colonel Blimp” comic strips of the 1930s and 1940s, we delve
into the back story of this seemingly stereotypical character’s life story. We
flashback and learn that this man is Clive Candy (Roger Livesey) and has served
in the army from back in the days of the Boer War, through World War I, into
World War II with a series of long, color episodes throughout his career.
Through the years Candy falls in love with the beautiful Edith Hunter (Deborah
Kerr), but due to his slow action on his own emotions she marries a friend of
theirs, a former German officer named Theo (Anton Walbrook). This lost chance
at true love would be a regret he would carry the rest of his life, portrayed
when he married a woman of very similar characteristics, and later on as he
takes a liking to his military driver whom also reminds us of her. (Both roles
portrayed by Deborah Kerr as well)
Candy’s story portrays his evolution from a brash young
soldier to a staunch elder statesman veteran of various military struggles. As
time moves on Candy becomes more frustrated that war begins to lack chivalrous,
gentlemanly sport of battle. In the face of World War II and his ideals still a
foot in the past he struggles with the idea that he cannot hold onto the
romance of battles fought in yesteryear. He if taught rather Britain must win
at all costs, dirty or otherwise for the sake of freedom. Candy learns that he
had become one of the old, steadfast men whom he once rebooked as a younger
soldier, and his version of “fair war” was no longer at play in today’s war. With
this realization that these new soldiers in fact do remind him of his younger
self we close out with Clive Candy saluting the new guard as they pass by.
The feature rides complicated lines, between comedy, drama,
and romance all within the same picture, but comes away with a film that is
more sentimentality than anything else in the end. What begins to look like a
silly comedy with a bald, elderly man found in nothing but his towel within
Turkish bath house turns into a story of one man’s life of being a loyal
soldier and his missed chance at love that tends to linger in his mind until
old age. With splendid Technicolor cinematography this English motion picture
grabs your attention with vivid imagery that from a contemporary point of view
pulls you right back to the 1940s with its lush colors. Its story is long and
overly sentimental, but teaches the lesson that times do change whether we like
it or not, mixed in with a heavy pro-British war theme during the heart of
World War II.
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| This is the moment where Candy most closely resembles Colonel Blimp. |
With the film being completely devoid of any man named
Colonel Blimp it must being pointed out just where the title The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
derives from. Colonel Blimp was a popular British comic strip character of the
1930s and 40s who portrayed a stereotypical, pompous, older British know-it-all
that satirized British establishment as he proclaimed his thoughts from his
spot in a Turkish bath house usually wearing nothing, but a towel. His clichés
and pigeonhole thoughts manifested a sense of how the established ruled while
being completely out of touch with the real world, babbling off statements that
were remarkably ridiculous, but with all his sincerity behind it. So in a way
he was very much a political cartoon character that showed how out of touch the
older generations were in today’s (1940s) world.
The feature opens up with Candy found in a Turkish bathhouse
looking very much like the silly cartoon character, red-faced and full of
criticism against anything new. This setting and visual is where Blimp the
character meets the film, but also where Blimp leaves the picture for good. For
you see there is nothing in this picture that has to do with the character
Colonel Blimp at all. Perhaps it was a marketing tool by writing/directoring
team Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger used in order to get audiences who
were familiar with the humble comic strip to come see this movie. However Blimp
is not a character in the picture, and is Candy supposed to be Blimp in any
respects.
All Blimp aside, the feature itself is quite a pleasant film
out of England during the heart of World War II. With a rather recent
partnership of fellow filmmakers Michael Powell, of 49th Parallel fame, and Emeric Pressburger , a Hungarian
born director with international success before settling in England, the two
came together to begin a run of some of the most celebrated British films in
cinema history. Together in this feature, they bring a vast understanding of
the medium and make the rather small, closed off sets and locations appear
larger and more vast than what we actually see on screen. The beautiful Technicolor
definitely helps as well. Despite this feature being at times too long and
boring it does all come together in the end in a nice package.
Surprisingly for such a lengthy picture the story is carried
primarily by three star actors:
Roger Livesey portrays the complicated role of Clive Candy
through the many decades within the film. His performance as the aging British
soldier from his days as a younger man on leave all the way to becoming a
respected retired officer was all done through his remarkable acting as well
with the use of various costuming and extensive make-up changes. The make-up
may not quite go as far as Orson Welles’ in Citizen Kane, but it remains
impressive all the more because this was a color feature, which tended to be
more unforgiving with such details. Laurance Olivier was first approached for
this lead role was not allowed to leave his post in the British military to
take the role, while Livesey due to age (then 37) was rejected to serve in the
Royal Air Force making him available for
what would be the role of his career. Livesey’s acting may be loud and
brash, but that was the character he was portraying after all.
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| Kerr portrays Edith, Candy's love whom he regrets never marrying. |
Deborah Kerr, who actually received the top billing in the
feature, was well on her way to be a top star in British cinema and later on
internationally. At only twenty one years of age Kerr had the dubious task of
portraying three entirely different characters and the great point of affection
for the lead character in the feature. Her three roles as Candy’s missed love, the
wife taking too soon, and the lovely military subordinate, Kerr brings a center
to the picture as Clive Cnady’s driving force that pushes him to grow as a
person. She is lovely in this feature, but still shows a bit of restriction at
times in the roles. Her career would take off soon after as she debuted in
popular London’s West End stages this same year.
The final ingredient of this acting trio was Austrian born
actor Anton Walbrook. A veteran on both sides of the Atlantic, Walbrook had
vast amounts of experience to his performance. As the primary supporting
character to Candy as Theo, Walbrook plays a sympathetic German character, whom
becomes a cherished friend of Clive through the years. It would be risky for
any filmmaker at this sensitive time to make a sympathetic German in any
feature, but Walbrooks portrayal is emotional and heartbreaking at times.
Despite being a man whom Candy duels early in the feature, the husband of
Candy’s true love, and a German citizen who attempts to escape his homeland during
the outset of World War II, Walbrook’s character is the most lovable character
in the feature, manifesting just how well he portrayed the part.
Notwithstanding how well the film was made, considering the
period it was made in, the feature found many naysayers. For a time Prime
Minister Winston Churchill thought the film was satire inspired by his own time
in office and legend states he attempted to possibly stop its production and
release. Upon release British audiences were appalled by the sympathetic German
character of Theo, even though he is an anti-Nazi. Critics and audiences bashed
the feature as an unnecessary costly picture that slandered the British
military and its head figures. The British government would hold the picture
from being released overseas for years due to the belief that it cast a
negative shadow on the British military.
With some outrage the original feature of 163 minutes was
edited down to 150 minutes. A few years later the film would find itself once again
on the chopping block as it was edited further down to a 90 minute run time to
fit television time slots. For years audiences would only be accustom to this
truncated version of the feature which actually edited out some of the more
fun, cinematic portions of the feature. It would be thirty years later in the
1980s before the world would be reintroduced to a fully restored cut of the
film.
Through the years critics would either praise or pan the
picture. Analyzers of history and sociology would find ways to see the picture
as a satire on not just the British military, but on Winston Churchill. With
the passage of time, the full restoration of the feature, its re-releases, and
home video distribution the film found great new appreciation within British
cinema. Beloved for its visuals and its fine characters, The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp has come to be known as one of
the pinnacle works of Powell and Pressburger, as well as star Livesey.
For contemporary audiences this feature may be a difficult
movie to watch purely for its length and lack of interest in the subject
matter. But when given its proper chance and put into its appropriate context
the film is quite lovely and touching. It is a satire that is not all too
funny, and a film about old military men that brings new life to how people can
see the world today in which they live in. It marries the respect of elders
with the respect towards change. It makes for quite an insightful movie when
you really dissect it.
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