THE LIFE AND DEATH OF COLONEL BLIMP

Very confusingly there is no character called Colonel Blimp in this 1943 classic by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger.

The central character in the film is in fact Major-General Clive Candy.  When we first meet him in 1942, when he is well into his sixties, he does indeed seem to be a Colonel Blimp type, Blimp being a cartoon character created in 1934 who is pompous, irascible and jingoistic, and associated with reactionary views.  

But we then embark on a series of flashbacks starting forty years earlier, taking us through Candy's life, which help us to see him in a much more sympathetic light.

In 1902 he is on leave from the Second Boer War (where he earned a Victoria Cross) but soon he is on his way to Berlin to help a stranger, Edith Hunter, counter the spread of anti-British propaganda.  Candy is rather hot-headed and inclined to speak his mind, so he soon finds himself fighting a duel with a Theo Kretschmar-Schuldorff (chosen by drawing lots from the German army).

The duellists both incur minor injuries, then recuperate in the same nursing home, and become firm friends.  When they are due to leave, Theo informs Candy that he and Edith are in love and are going to be married.

Up to this point the tone of the film is light and comedic, and Candy's main characteristics are patriotism, a general ebullience and self-belief. 

Upon his return home however the film takes on a more melancholic tone, signalled first by Candy's realisation that he too loves Edith.

We then move to 1918 and the last day of World War I, during which Candy has risen to the rank of brigadier general.  Despite the horrors of the war his patriotism is intact; he still believes that Britain fights war honourably whilst its enemies do not.

Not that he is one to bear grudges; once the war is over he tracks down Theo to a prisoner-of-war camp in order to renew their friendship.  Theo is more guarded, realising that Candy has rather naïve views as to how easily Germany can recover from its defeat.  

At the same time as this is going on Candy has met and married a woman, Barbara, who reminds him very much of Edith.  Although she is twenty years his junior they are very happily married until a few years later when she dies.

We then move to World War II and Theo's arrival in Britain as a refugee.  He is estranged from his two grownup sons who are enthusiastic Nazis, neither of whom attended Edith's funeral when she died a few years earlier.

Candy vouches for Theo and there is a touching scene between the two old friends in which Candy confesses he loved Edith.

Candy is brought out of retirement (as a major-general) but is quickly retired again when he plans to give a radio address in which he will express the view that it would be better to lose the war than to use the methods employed by the Nazis. This leads Theo to passionately tell Candy that his adherence to a chivalrous military code is hopelessly out-of-date and potentially catastrophic in that it might well lead to the evil of Nazism triumphing.

At first it seems that Candy no longer has any role or purpose in life but he is persuaded to take on the job of building up the Home Guard.  An important character at this point is Angela, a young MTC driver, who bears an uncanny resemblance to both Edith and Barbara.

We then end the film with a recap of the rather confusing scenes which kicked the film off, concerning a training exercise in which the Home Guard is 'defeated' when the 'invaders' don't stick to the agreed starting time.  It's a neat way of illustrating one of the central themes of the film, that World War II can't be won by sticking to the old rules of warfare.

At first Candy is annoyed, but he still has his generosity of spirit, and he offers to dine with Angela's boyfriend, who engineered his defeat in the training exercise.

The film ends with Candy acknowledging to himself that whilst he has stuck to his principles he is able to (literally) salute the new guard as it passes by.

This is a well-nigh perfect piece of cinema. 

For starters it is a stunning technical feat given its sheer scope and that it was made under wartime conditions.  And it looks gorgeous thanks to its Technicolour cinematography.

It's one of those films where one has to be thankful that the original casting fell through.  Whilst Laurence Olivier was of course a great actor it's impossible to imagine anyone other than Roger Livesey as Candy, he so perfectly embodies the qualities the role requires, such as vulnerability and bluff charm.

The parts of Edith, Barbara and Angela are all played by the wonderful Deborah Kerr, having barely turned twenty years old.  Again whilst I have nothing against Wendy Hiller, who was the first choice, I am very thankful that she had to drop out through becoming pregnant.  

Kerr looks beautiful throughout, but there is one scene of her as Barbara where she is as lovely as it is possible to imagine any human being looking.  And the look in her eyes as Edith when she and Candy part is also something to behold.

Anton Walbrook, as Theo, gives a note-perfect performance, especially in the scene when he recounts what has led him to Britain as a refugee.

Besides being a film about the changes in the way war has to be conducted, this is an emotional epic about aging, which also contains many moments of great romance and comedy.  It is funny and melancholic.  It pokes fun at Britain but values patriotism and honour.  

It is not hyperbole to describe it as the British 'Citizen Kane'; there's even a showy camera movement during the duel reminiscent of a similar one in Welles' masterpiece.  Yet in 1999 it came only 45th in the BFI's list of top 100 British films.   

The idea that films such as 'Chariots of Fire', 'The Long Good Friday', 'Four Weddings and a Funeral', 'The Full Monty' or 'A Fish Called Wanda', for example, can hold a candle to this masterpiece is too ridiculous for words.  

RATING: ✓✓✓ Absolutely Fabulous