The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp is one of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's masterpieces. It covers the life of the Colonel, played by Roger Livesey, over WW1 and WW2 and is a mixture of comedy, pathos and propaganda. Messrs. Powell and Pressburger had a golden ten year period of highly original films, of which this is one. So many other film makers are content to churn out a series or to resort to a remake of an old film with a different cast, a very lazy approach. Colonel Blimp joins Black Narcissus, A Matter of Life and Death, A Canterbury Tale, I know where I'm going, The Red Shoes and many more as something original, unlike any other films made then, the 1940s and 50s, or later. If you haven't seen it do put it on your list.
George - Shropshire.
A challenging film to make during WW2, but what a result. Nothing was skimped in the making of the film.
What it really comes down to is getting an actor who is
a) bloody good and b) able to transform from relative youth to ageing Colonel.
Livesey is brilliant in the role which is not an easy one.
The only British war film made in colour between '39 and '45 is a characteristic Powell and Pressburger reflection on English national identity. In this case, the stubborn, sentimental conservatism which was the friction in the British war machine. This is personified by the newspaper cartoon of Colonel Blimp, a rotund, blustering relic of the empire.
The central theme is that a sense of fair play was compromising the British military effort against the total war of the Nazis. This celebration of moral superiority might now surprise historians of empire and slavery, but may be excused in a time of national crisis. This is a propaganda film, which goes on to promote the Home Guard.
We follow Clive Wynne-Candy (Roger Livesey) from the headstrong adventurer of the Boer War, through the Great War to the stubborn diehard of WWII. He makes a lifelong companion of a German officer (Anton Walbrook) and is involved with three women (all played by Deborah Kerr). The war office wanted to ban the film for being insufficiently patriotic.
It is actually an unreservedly pro-British film. The objection could have been better framed as not being adequately anti-German. The screen is dominated by a boisterous performance by Livesey, aided by makeup, as he ages 40 years. It's a handsome, epic presentation by Powell and Pressburger. Many critics feel it is their best work. Certainly, it is typically unorthodox.