1 - Winston Churchill

Blenheim Palace; this alone is worth the price of thevideo. The review of Churchill's boyhood and schooldays is intercut with film clips of WSC commenting onhis early life. As the story of Churchill's life progressesin time, LeVien sprinkles into the film a vast treasuretrove of still and motion pictures of Churchill.The World War I section explores Churchill's earlysupport of air power, his nurturing of the developmentof the tank and the armored car and his assurance thatthe fleet would be ready. Perhaps no scene in any film Ihave watched so vividly supports Churchill's view ofwar ("what vile and wicked folly and barbarism it allis") than the armistice parade of hundreds of Britishwar veterans, all of them leg amputees, all on crutches.The end of the Great War finds Churchill (and theviewer) at Chartwell during the Wilderness Years.Churchill warns an unheeding nation about the dangersof a rearmed fascist Germany, but becomes distractedby the abdication of King Edward (to marryMrs. Simpson), an event covered through the extensiveuse of contemporary newsreels.All this leads up to what is truly Churchill's finesthour, his giving the roar to the British lion during WorldWar II. The progress of the war is tracked by film clipsof Churchill giving some of his most famous speeches, orby archival battle footage, accompanied by actor PatrickWymark reading from WSC's six volume The SecondWorld War There is extensive footage of Churchill vigorouslyon the move by rail, sea and air. Churchill's executivestyle of "leadership by memoranda" is well illustratedby Wymark reading just a small selection of theflood of correspondence WSC dictated to his generals,his cabinet and to President Roosevelt.With victory came Churchill's exit from office. Thefilm follows him through his painting, writing and "IronCurtain" speech. His knighthood, his second premiershiphis Nobel Prize and honorary United States citizenshipare covered in less detail than his wartime exploitsbut are not shortchanged.This is a marvelous film which does true justice toChurchill's life in a limited amount of time. OrsonWelles's robust narration is matched by Ron Grainer'sstirring musical score which offers just the right touchof military pomp. Until LeVien's seminal Churchill series"The Valiant Years" is available on video, FinestHours" will amply satisfy."Young Winston^llCA/Columbia Pictures HomeVideo, 2901 West Alameda Avenue, Burbank California91505; 124 minutes; color. Priced under $20.00 inthe United States.THOSE who have taken to heart the ICS goal of"Teaching the Next Generation" could ask for nobetter way to introduce pre-teens and teenagedchildren to the adventure and excitement of WinstonChurchill's early life than by showing them the videoversion of the 1974 film "Young Winston." Based uponChurchill's My Early Life: A Roving Commission, anddirected in grand and epic style by Sir Richard Attenborough,"Young Winston" explores WSC's story frombirth to his early political career. Simon Ward, lookingas if he just stepped out of the pages of Vanity Fair, isremarkable both as Young Winston on screen, and asthe off-screen narrating voice of the mature Churchillreading passages from My Early Life. Ward gives a restrainedperformance that strikes just the right balancebetween the young Churchill's political ambition andhis courage under fire, without lapsing into a lip-juttingcaricature. The distinguished supporting cast (eachgiven his or her own star turn in crucial roles) includesICS Honorary Member Robert Hardy (who is chilling asChurchill's sadistic headmaster), Jane Seymour asPamela Plowden, Sir Anthony Hopkins as LloydGeorge, Sir John Mills as General Kitchener, and EdwardWoodward (who later played Sir Samuel Hoare toRobert Hardy's Churchill in "The Wilderness Years") asa fellow South African prisoner of war. Churchill'smother, the great American beauty Jennie Jerome, isplayed to perfection by another American beauty, AnneBancroft.The film is stolen, however, right from under thesetop actors, by the towering presence of the late RobertShaw as Lord Randolph Churchill. Shaw starts out as ayoung, handsome, virile, impish, powerful and immenselylikable Lord Randolph and slowly, almost imperceptibly,degenerates into the prematurely aged andderanged shadow of his former self.Colorfully costumed and sumptuously photographedon location at Blenheim, Sandhurst and in Morocco,with a stirring soundtrack featuring the works of SirEdward Elgar, "Young Winston" has battle scenesaplenty, and more action in the South African trainwreck and escape scenes than one can find in an IndianaJones film, with the added advantage that the storyis all true (or at least true as the author rememberedit). "Young Winston" will grab the attention of theyounger members of your household and give them abetter understanding of the man you admire. If youdon't believe me, just ask Tom Triebwasser, age 12, orAlison Triebwasser, age 9, who gave the film the ultimatepre-teen accolade . . . "awesome."REVIEWS COMING UP• Great Battles and Leaders of World War II, by WSC. An outstandingtext and photos, marred by sloppy editing.• Churchill and Lloyd George, by Marvin Rintala: How friendshipchanged politics: an important book.• Churchill and the Prof, by Thomas Wilson. Finally, a newbook on the WSC-Lindemann relationship.• Resolution, Defiance, Magnanimity, Goodwill: a neededcompilation of Westminster College's Kemper Lectures• The Greatest of Friends: Roosevelt and Churchill, by KeithAlldritt. A new look at the duo by a Friend of ICSNEW BOOK SERVICE: All of the above will be available at20-25% discounts by the time you read this. Contact the editorfor exact prices or refer to NBS listings in USA. $FINEST HOUR 89/45