Rent The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943)

4.1 of 5 from 212 ratings
2h 36min
Rent The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp Online DVD & Blu-ray Rental
  • General info
  • Available formats
Synopsis:
Roger Livesey brilliantly portrays a British officer, Clive Candy, through the trials and tribulations of three wars, three lovers and a lifelong friendship across enemy lines. During the Boer War, candy is sent to Berlin to trap a German spy. There he befriends a German officer, Theo (Anton Walbrook), who marries the girl (Deborah Kerr) Candy is in love with. During the First World War, Candy marries a girl who resembles his lost love and helps Theo - now a POW - to get repatriated. Candy comes back in the Second World War as Brigadier General and once again encounters Theo.
On joining a Home Guard exercise, Candy is captured, however, and the two are forced to either aid or betray each other.
Actors:
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Directors:
,
Producers:
Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
Writers:
Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
Studio:
Carlton Video
Genres:
Action & Adventure, Classics, Drama, Romance
Collections:
British WWII Films: The Home Front and Europe, Cinema and the First World War, Drama Films & TV, The Instant Expert's Guide, The Instant Expert's Guide to Powell and Pressburger, Top 10 British Actresses of the 1940s, Top 10 British War Films (1939-45), Top 100 BFI Films, Top Films, WWII Films: Beaches, Oceans and Camps
BBFC:
Release Date:
17/03/2003
Run Time:
157 minutes
Languages:
English Dolby Digital 1.0 Mono
Subtitles:
English Hard of Hearing
DVD Regions:
Region 2
Formats:
Pal
Aspect Ratio:
Full Screen 1.33:1 / 4:3
Colour:
Colour
Bonus:
  • 'A Profile of The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp'
  • This new and exclusive 25 minute documentary includes interviews with cinematogr
  • Stills Gallery
  • Biography
BBFC:
Release Date:
22/10/2012
Run Time:
156 minutes
Languages:
English Dolby Digital 2.0
Subtitles:
English
Formats:
Pal
Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen 1.78:1 / 16:9
Colour:
Colour
BLU-RAY Regions:
B
Bonus:
  • 'A Profile of The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp': This exclusive 25 minute documentary includes interviews with cinematographer Jack Cardiff, Powell and Pressburger biographer Ian Christie and fan of the film Stephen Fry
  • Martin Scorsese Restoration Piece
  • Stills Gallery
  • Biographies

More like The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp

Reviews (3) of The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp

A wonderful film - The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp review by Maureen

Spoiler Alert
08/02/2018

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.

4 out of 4 members found this review helpful.

Riveting and exceptional. - The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp review by CB

Spoiler Alert
21/11/2022

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. 

1 out of 1 members found this review helpful.

Wartime Comedy. - The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp review by Steve

Spoiler Alert
12/04/2023

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.

0 out of 0 members found this review helpful.

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