The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp

SYNOPSIS

Winston Churchill ordered this film to be banned from exportation during the Second World War in case it gave the wrong impression of the British fighting man. Based on the comic-strip character created by David Low, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's film does indeed take a pop at the complacency of the top brass, yet, thanks to Roger Livesey's astonishing performance in the lead, it is also a tribute to the more laudable peculiarities of the British character - honour, loyalty and a genius for making the most of a bad lot. Anton Walbrook also excels as Livesey's Prussian rival who becomes a lifelong friend, while a young Deborah Kerr makes her mark playing the three women in Livesey's life. This is one of British cinema's undisputed masterpieces.