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IMDbPro

The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp

  • 1943
  • Not Rated
  • 2h 43m
IMDb RATING
8.0/10
16K
YOUR RATING
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943)
From the Boer War through World War II, a soldier rises through the ranks in the British military.
Play trailer3:01
1 Video
99+ Photos
DramaRomanceWar

From the Boer War through World War II, a soldier rises through the ranks in the British military.From the Boer War through World War II, a soldier rises through the ranks in the British military.From the Boer War through World War II, a soldier rises through the ranks in the British military.

  • Directors
    • Michael Powell
    • Emeric Pressburger
  • Writers
    • Michael Powell
    • Emeric Pressburger
  • Stars
    • Roger Livesey
    • Deborah Kerr
    • Anton Walbrook
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    8.0/10
    16K
    YOUR RATING
    • Directors
      • Michael Powell
      • Emeric Pressburger
    • Writers
      • Michael Powell
      • Emeric Pressburger
    • Stars
      • Roger Livesey
      • Deborah Kerr
      • Anton Walbrook
    • 122User reviews
    • 88Critic reviews
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 1 win & 2 nominations

    Videos1

    Official Trailer
    Trailer 3:01
    Watch Official Trailer

    Photos121

    The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943)
    The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943)
    The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943)
    Deborah Kerr in The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943)
    Roger Livesey and Anton Walbrook in The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943)
    Deborah Kerr in The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943)
    Deborah Kerr in The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943)
    Deborah Kerr and James McKechnie in The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943)
    The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943)
    Roger Livesey in The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943)
    Roger Livesey and Anton Walbrook in The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943)
    Deborah Kerr in The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Roger Livesey
    Roger Livesey
    • Clive Candy
    Deborah Kerr
    Deborah Kerr
    • Edith Hunter…
    Anton Walbrook
    Anton Walbrook
    • Theo Kretschmar-Schuldorff
    James McKechnie
    James McKechnie
    • Spud Wilson
    Neville Mapp
    Neville Mapp
    • Stuffy Graves
    Vincent Holman
    • Club Porter (1942)
    David Hutcheson
    • Hoppy
    Spencer Trevor
    Spencer Trevor
    • Period Blimp
    Roland Culver
    Roland Culver
    • Colonel Betteridge
    James Knight
    • Club Porter (1902)
    Dennis Arundell
    Dennis Arundell
    • Café Orchestra Leader
    David Ward
    David Ward
    • Kaunitz
    Jan Van Loewen
    • Indignant Citizen
    Valentine Dyall
    Valentine Dyall
    • von Schönborn
    Carl Jaffe
    Carl Jaffe
    • von Reumann
    • (as Carl Jaffé)
    Albert Lieven
    Albert Lieven
    • von Ritter
    Eric Maturin
    • Colonel Goodhead
    Frith Banbury
    • Baby-Face Fitzroy
    • Directors
      • Michael Powell
      • Emeric Pressburger
    • Writers
      • Michael Powell
      • Emeric Pressburger
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Winston Churchill hated the film and wanted it banned. Failing that (for legal reasons), he tried to keep it from being exported because he thought it was a threat to wartime morale, and he also failed at that.
    • Goofs
      Clive Candy goes to confront Kaunitz in Berlin, which is in Prussia, but Kaunitz's Stammtisch (regular table for meeting of friends) are drinking from Hofbräuhaus krugs (steins), noted by the 'HB' insignia. The Hofbräuhaus is in Munich, which is the capital of Bavaria, 360 miles away.
    • Quotes

      Theo Kretschmar-Schuldorff: You know that, after the war, we had very bad years in Germany. We got poorer and poorer. Every day retired officers or schoolteachers were caught shoplifting. Money lost its value, the price of everything rose except of human beings. We read in the newspapers that the after-war years were bad everywhere, that crime was increasing and that honest citizens were having a hard job to put the gangsters in jail. Well in Germany, the gangsters finally succeeded in putting the honest citizens in jail.

    • Crazy credits
      Deborah Kerr's characters are listed separately, in order of appearance, so her name appears three times in the movie credits.
    • Alternate versions
      The original version (the one restored to Criterion Collection DVD and laserdisc) runs 163 minutes. When Winston Churchill expressed his vehement dislike for the film, the British distributor, Rank Films, cut it to 140 minutes. The film was chopped to pieces when it was imported to the United States in 1945, running around 120 minutes (in which the film's vital flashback structure is eliminated and the story is told from beginning to end). The film was further cut to 90 minutes and ran on public television often in the 1970s; for years, it was thought that this was the only extant version. In 1983, with the cooperation of the Archers, the film was restored to the full 163-minute length. The restored film retains the original flashback structure and many World War I scenes, including the appearance of a black soldier.
    • Connections
      Featured in Arena: A Pretty British Affair (1981)
    • Soundtracks
      Je suis Titania
      (uncredited)

      from "Mignon"

      Music by Ambroise Thomas

    User reviews122

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    9/10
    pacy, breathless brilliance since unparalleled on the big screen
    Neither war films nor romances rate amongst my favourite film genres. Colonel Blimp is both of these and has to rate as my runaway favourite film. Made in 1943 by the irreplaceable icons of British film making Powell and Pressburger it displays a pacy breathless brilliance since unparalleled on the big screen.

    The film follows the life and times of General Wynne-Candy from when he is an idealistic young officer returned on leave from the Boer War through to his retirement as an anachronistic and obdurate Major General.

    The film is structured in three acts set in the aftermath of the Boer War, the first world war and the present (at the time of making the film) the height of the 2nd World War. But it is not just an examination of these conflicts. Its real power lies in Candy's pursuit of his ideal woman throughout each of these stages. All three women are played beautifully by Deborah Kerr who never surpassed the power of her performance in this film.

    The other constant in the film is Anton Wallbrooks character of the sympathetic German with whom Candy builds a lifelong friendship and ultimately is probably Candy's only ever really satisfying relationship throughout his life.

    For me the film operates on many complex levels. The romantic element is as affecting as anything you are likely to witness in the cinema. It achieves everything in the unrequited love department a la "the remains of the day" in a fraction of the time and as only part of the overall plot.

    It deals with the moral complexities of war in a way that will have you debating the issues in your mind long after you have seen the film. This particular theme reaches its climax towards the end of the film when Candy is "retired" by the war ministry probably as a result of his outdated approach to strategy for the 2nd World War. Anton Wallbrook then delivers a setpiece speech which starkly outlines the evils of Nazism and the necessity to use any means to defeat it for the sake of freedom and humanity for coming generations.

    Colonel Blimp with its pristine performances, absorbing plot, dazzling colour photography and economic flawless script easily gives Citizen Kane a good run for its money as the best film of all time.
    helpful•100
    8
    • chua
    • Jul 7, 2001

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • August 30, 1944 (Sweden)
    • Country of origin
      • United Kingdom
    • Languages
      • English
      • French
      • German
    • Also known as
      • Colonel Blimp
    • Filming locations
      • 139 Park Lane, Mayfair, Westminster, Greater London, England, UK(Home Guard HQ, entrance is in North Row)
    • Production companies
      • The Archers
      • Independent Producers
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

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    • Budget
      • £188,812 (estimated)
    • Gross worldwide
      • $30,129
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • Runtime
      2 hours 43 minutes
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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