Churchill: The Hollywood Years (2004)

Director:

Peter Richardson

Writers:

Peter Richardson (written by) and
Pete Richens (written by) ...

Release Date:

3 December 2004 (UK)

Genre:

Comedy | War

Tagline:

He's got the tool and he'll finish the job.

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

London England | Hairdresser | Goering | Prime Minister | Rap

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

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

Runtime:

84 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Indonesia:Dewasa | Australia:M | South Korea:15 | Netherlands:12 | Finland:K-11 | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Brixham, Devon, England, UK

Company:

Little Bird Productions

Trivia:

'Winston Churchill ' receives his first ever "actor" credit in this film, playing the part of Roy Bubbles. However, the role was played unwittingly, as the film uses archive footage of Winston in public to fit the part.

Goofs:

Continuity: A royal servant throws Prince Mario's gift into a sack. The same gift reappears back in the royal servant's hand immediately after, only to be re-thrown into the same sack - in the same manner as before.

Quotes:

Hitler: [to pet pug dog] Oooh, Waaaffles! Oh, my little Waffles. Little Liebchin, Waffles. My wuffly, puffly, woofly, poofly. Woof, woof, woof. Little Waffles, my little aeroplane. Yes, you are.

Movie Connections:

References Pearl Harbor (2001)

Soundtrack:

Elgar- Pomp and Circumstance March No. 4

'Carry On' is dead.......long live Pete Richardson

I'd had this sat on my shelf for a while having bought it as part of a job lot of DVDs. But I was pleasantly surprised.

The film is much more clever than it seems with several in jokes and knowing nods to those who know there 'Comic Strip' and also enjoy taking the mickey out of jingoism, of any nation. To those who don't get that this is a satire more than a parody, note the way that 'Churchill' delivers the Enigma machine to Lord W'ruff within one of the first few scenes.

So it's not rip roaring - so what ? If you want the same old re-heated jokes then the Scary Movie franchise is probably more up your street. This is more the Pete Richardson of 'The Strike' or 'GLC'. It's brave of film producers to throw money at this kind of production, rather than letting it fall to TV and have to make compromises. The money is on the screen. It's a good time film.

For me Reeves and Mortimer play perfectly to form in their hammy cameos. Slater gets the joke and takes a leaf from Charlie Sheen and the Hot Shots movie. The only disappointment is that Miranda Richardson is so under used.

Not a popcorn film for the modern world of MTV and Big Brother, but certainly one worth watching just the once as a balance against the Michael Bay whore fests such Pearl Harbour or Armageddon.