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 Keywords:

Queen Of England | Air Raid | WWII | Satire | Storm Trooper

Awards:

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

Runtime:

84 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

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

Filming Locations:

Brixham, Devon, England, UK

Company:

Little Bird Productions

Trivia:

On the DVD commentary during the scene where US Churchill and Denzil Eisenhower exit the British War Office: director, Peter Richardson, dubs, "This is very r... relevant to the Iraq War".

Goofs:

Continuity: There are three consecutive shots of the scene where the Fuehrer crashes a car into a building. The first and third shots appear to be from the same take. The second shot, however, has the following anomalies: Martin Bormann ("Hollywood" version) and Lord W'Ruff appear closer to the car and more to the (viewers') left of it; a luggage tag has moved; a white cuff can be seen from beneath Bormann's jacket sleeve; W'Ruff's scarf is draped differently.

Quotes:

Prime Minister: Come on, guys. You *are* winding me up, huh? Winston Churchill, one of the greatest - British heroes - of the century, was actually an American GI? I mean that's like... meher.

Movie Connections:

References Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)

Soundtrack:

Happy Birthday

"God, I wish I was an American."

Is it time for a Comic Strip revival? I think so. Peter Richardson's new film is essentially an update of the CS's classic 'The Strike' (1986), but without that film's slightly off-centre approach to satirising Hollywood. Whereas 'The Strike' misguidedly tried to attack Hollywood vulgarity by caricaturing Al Pacino and Meryl Streep – probably the two least dumbed-down, vulgar actors in Hollywood today – the new film goes all the way by having Winston Churchill portrayed as a young, handsome American GI, patterned after Bruce Willis by a gleeful Christian Slater. His performance is astoundingly game, the work of a man who knows full well that all his bridges have been burnt. Neve Campbell tries to keep up as a similarly bastardised Queen Elizabeth, but can't quite manage it.

The film's main selling point is its who's-who of British comedy, and here's where it gets a bit hit and miss. Vic Reeves, Bob Mortimer and James Dreyfus play camp caricatures who feel a bit out of place in a parody of testosterone-fuelled action movies, and I am sorry to say that those waiting for a return to form for Rik Mayall may have to wait a little longer. On the plus side, Miranda Richardson's randy Eva Braun is a joy, there are splendidly memorable cameos for younger talent like Mackenzie Crook, Steve Pemberton and Mark Heap, and Harry Enfield's King George is absolutely brilliant – the kind of hilariously caustic live-action satirical cartoon that I'd nearly given up hope of him managing any more.

You could do a lot worse than see this, not least because, with its jokes about 'U-571' (2000) and 'Pearl Harbor' (2001), not to mention the impossibility of navigating the London transport system and the inanity of Royal public engagements, it represents a rare British comedy for a British market, rather than one with an increasingly desperate eye on the American market.