From the Boer War through World War II, a soldier rises through the ranks in the British military.From the Boer War through World War II, a soldier rises through the ranks in the British military.From the Boer War through World War II, a soldier rises through the ranks in the British military.
- Awards
- 1 win & 2 nominations
- von Reumann
- (as Carl Jaffé)
- Directors
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaWinston Churchill hated the film and wanted it banned. Failing that (for legal reasons), he tried to keep it from being exported because he thought it was a threat to wartime morale, and he also failed at that.
- GoofsWhen the two dogs are let into the London house, one can be seen at the top of the stairs answering a call of nature.
- Quotes
Theo Kretschmar-Schuldorff: You know that, after the war, we had very bad years in Germany. We got poorer and poorer. Every day retired officers or schoolteachers were caught shoplifting. Money lost its value, the price of everything rose except of human beings. We read in the newspapers that the after-war years were bad everywhere, that crime was increasing and that honest citizens were having a hard job to put the gangsters in jail. Well in Germany, the gangsters finally succeeded in putting the honest citizens in jail.
- Crazy creditsThe lead actors' names are sewn onto a tapestry-like picture, written on scrolls. This opening credits' "needlework tapestry" was completed by the Royal College of Needlework.
- Alternate versionsThe original version (the one restored to Criterion Collection DVD and laserdisc) runs 163 minutes. When Winston Churchill expressed his vehement dislike for the film, the British distributor, Rank Films, cut it to 140 minutes. The film was chopped to pieces when it was imported to the United States in 1945, running around 120 minutes (in which the film's vital flashback structure is eliminated and the story is told from beginning to end). The film was further cut to 90 minutes and ran on public television often in the 1970s; for years, it was thought that this was the only extant version. In 1983, with the cooperation of the Archers, the film was restored to the full 163-minute length. The restored film retains the original flashback structure and many World War I scenes, including the appearance of a black soldier.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Arena: A Pretty British Affair (1981)
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.
- didi-5
- Jul 24, 2003
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- Colonel Blimp
- Filming locations
- 139 Park Lane, Mayfair, Westminster, Greater London, England, UK(Home Guard HQ, entrance is in North Row)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- £188,812 (estimated)
- Gross worldwide
- $90,003
- Runtime2 hours 43 minutes
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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