Churchill: The Hollywood Years (2004)

In this irreverent parody, the British court and war government consist mainly of idiots and/or traitors. Hitler moves into Buckingham palace and plans to marry into the Windsors. A US Army... See full summary »

Director:

Peter Richardson

Writers:

Peter Richardson, Pete Richens,

Stars:

Jon Culshaw, Tom Clarke Hill, Hamish McColl

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jon Culshaw	...	Prime Minister
Tom Clarke Hill	...	Lieutenant Baker (as Tom Clarke-Hill)
Hamish McColl	...	Captain Davies
Christian Slater	...	Winston Churchill
Romany Malco	...	Denzil Eisenhower
Simon Rake	...	Reporter 1
James Long	...	Reporter 2
James Putnam	...	Reporter 3 (as James Puttnam)
Bob Mortimer	...	Potter
Vic Reeves	...	Bendle
Neve Campbell	...	Princess Elizabeth
Harry Enfield	...	King George VI
Jessica Oyelowo	...	Princess Margaret
Leslie Phillips	...	Lord W'ruff
Nigel Harrison	...	Jack

Storyline

In this irreverent parody, the British court and war government consist mainly of idiots and/or traitors. Hitler moves into Buckingham palace and plans to marry into the Windsors. A US Army officer claims the cigar-smoking iconic PM was an actor, Ray Bubbles, impersonating his own father, USMC lieutenant Winston Churchill, a genius spy who stole an enigma code machine and almost single-handedly won a very alternative battle for Britain.

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Plot Keywords:

sabotage | buckingham palace london | franklin d. roosevelt | nazi | fictional biography | 

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Taglines:

Based on an actual war.

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Genres:

Comedy | War

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 December 2004 (UK)

Also Known As:

Az ifjú Churchill kalandjai

Filming Locations:

Brixham, Devon, England, UK

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

£148,326 (UK) (3 December 2004)

Gross:

£148,326 (UK) (3 December 2004)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Little Bird Productions, Inside Track Films, Isle of Man Film Commission

Technical Specs

Runtime:

84 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The real life Winston Churchill was actually half-American. His mother Jennie Jerome (Lady Randolph Churchill) was born in Brooklyn in 1854. His grandfather, Leonard Jerome was a New York State Assemblyman.

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Goofs

At the end of the film, after sliding closed the canopy of the (ersatz) Spitfire, the film cuts to a close shot of a Hawker Hurricane taking off, then back to a flight of Spitfires.

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Quotes

Lieutenant Baker: Shakespeare was American?

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Crazy Credits

One extra scene and several outtakes are shown during the end credits.

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Connections

References Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

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Soundtracks

"Colonel Bogey on Parade"
Composed by Kenneth Alford
Courtesy of Bandleader Recordings Copyright 2000
By permission of Boosey & Hawkes Licensing

User Reviews

Criminal waste of comic talent

The idea probably looked quite funny on paper, but sadly this film fails to deliver any real laughs at all. What is the point of having all those comedy giants in the movie, but not actually giving them anything particularly funny to say or do. You can see that this could have been so much better. The director, Peter Richardson, has touched on this theme before in the genuinely funny, "Strike!". That film spoofed how Hollywood might just treat a big screen adaptation of the 1984 UK miners strike. It is spot on. But this is just so wide of the mark. I give credit to the cast, who seemed to be doing their best with a pretty mediocre script. Christian Slater at least gave his part his best shot, and he did have some of the better dialogue. It just seems that there wasn't enough to go round. A tragedy.