A true epic

jancyclops

The "Colonel Blimp" of the title is Brigadier-General Sir Clive Wynne-Candy, portrayed by Roger Livesey in probably his best ever role. The film is almost entirely in flashback, starting with the end of his military career when he, still believing that gentlemanly conduct is a requirement for an officer, is beaten in an exercise by the underhand tactics of a much younger man.  He is seeing the light much later than his German friend (and former duelling opponent) Theo Kretschmar-Schuldorff, played to perfection by Anton Walbrook, who has escaped from Nazi Germany. The story then harks back to 1902 when, as Clive Candy VC, he has just returned from the Boer War and then follows his life as a soldier, concentrating on the times when his path crosses with Kretscmar-Schuldorff's, to the point where he finds he is no longer needed by his country - a crushing blow for such a patriotic Englishman. Apart from Walbrook, Deborah Kerr is the other link throughout the story, playing three very different young women, one of whom becomes Theo's wife, one Clive's wife and one the older Clive's driver.

Add to that a cast which includes as bit-parts such greats as Valentine Dyall, A E Matthews (in the days when he bothered with a script), John Laurie and Felix Aylmer and this is one of my favourite films of all time.

When it was made, during World War 2, the film was not allowed to be shown because it had a sympathetic German in a lead role.

score 10/10

jancyclops 19 May 2002

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw0028938/