The Gathering Storm (2002)

Winston Churchill's wilderness years of the 1930s, when only he could see the threat that Hitler and a rearmed Germany posed to the world.

Director:

Richard Loncraine

Writers:

Larry Ramin (story), Hugh Whitemore (story)

Stars:

Albert Finney, Vanessa Redgrave, Jim Broadbent

Won 2 Golden Globes. Another 19 wins & 31 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Albert Finney	...	Winston Churchill
Vanessa Redgrave	...	Clemmie Churchill
Jim Broadbent	...	Desmond Morton
Linus Roache	...	Ralph Wigram
Lena Headey	...	Ava Wigram
Derek Jacobi	...	Stanley Baldwin
Ronnie Barker	...	David Inches
Tom Wilkinson	...	Sir Robert Vansittart
Celia Imrie	...	Violet Pearman
Hugh Bonneville	...	Ivo Pettifer
Gottfried John	...	Friedrich von Schroder
Anthony Brophy	...	Brendan Bracken
Edward Hardwicke	...	Mr. Wood
Tom Hiddleston	...	Randolph Churchill
Tim Bentinck	...	Marlborough (as Timothy Bentinck)

Storyline

In the 1930s, Winston Churchill was out of government, sitting as a backbench MP. His was a lonely voice warning about German rearmament and the coming of a second major war on the Continent. He lost a great deal of money in the Wall Street crash and now writes - a biography of his ancestor the Duke of Marlborough, a newspaper column - and it's his only means of support. He has a close-knit group of supporter not the least of whom is his wife Clemmie, who he loves very dearly. As he continues to press his concerns about Hitler, he is cast as a warmonger and frequently shouted down in Parliament by members on both sides of the aisle. With reliable information from a Foreign Office civil servant who feels the government is not accurately reporting on rearmament, he provides accurate figures to Parliament and the tide begins to turn. With the onset of World War II in September 1939, Churchill returns to government as First Lord of Admiralty.

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Plot Keywords:

winston churchill | 1930s | english politics | parliament | politics | 

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Taglines:

Germany was arming itself for war. But they didn't count on one man.

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | History

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Certificate:

G

Details

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 April 2002 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Lonely War

Filming Locations:

Chartwell House, Westerham, Kent, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$12,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

HBO Films,BBC Films,Scott Free Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min 120 min (Filmfest Hamburg)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Albert Finney (Winston Churchill), Vanessa Redgrave (Clementine Churchill), Hugh Bonneville (Ivo Pettifer) and Derek Jacobi (Stanley Baldwin) have all appeared in adaptations of the 1934 novel "Murder on the Orient Express" by Agatha Christie: Finney and Redgrave played Hercule Poirot and Mary Debenham respectively in Murder on the Orient Express (1974), Bonneville played Edward Masterson in Poirot: Murder on the Orient Express (2010) and Jacobi played Masterson in Murder on the Orient Express (2017).

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Goofs

The famous speech Churchill wants to revise (and later delivers in the House of Commons) in the beginning of the film ("To see Mr Gandhi, a seductive Mid-Temple Lawyer ... posing as a half-naked fakir in a manner quite well known in the East, striding up the steps of the Vice-Regal palace to parley on equal terms with the representative of the King Emperor") was actually delivered in 1930, whereas the film starts some years later.

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Quotes

Winston Churchill: You're very rude to me, Inches.
David Inches: *You're* very rude to *me*, sir.
Winston Churchill: Yes but I am a great man!
[Churchill leaves]
David Inches: No, you're not. You're a stupid ole bugger.

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Connections

Version of The Gathering Storm (1974)

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Soundtracks

Keep Young and Beautiful
Music by Harry Warren
Lyrics by Al Dubin
Performed by James Langton

User Reviews

Fair & Balanced Look At Churchill

How many movies do you see about Winston Churchill? Not enough, that's for sure, at least here in the U.S. Albert Finney plays the great British prime minister during the period before World War II and before he was in politics. Churchill was trying to warn his countrymen in the British Parliament of the dangers of Nazi Germany and most people weren't listening. (How ironic, with today's situation involving Islamic terrorists! Are WE listening?)

A big part of this film also details the romance between Churchill and his wife "Clementine" (Vanessa Redgrave). It's not some syrupy piece. It shows Churchill's warts, too, meaning his ego and temper. It's nicely filmed, a nice period piece and with just a handful of swear words. I was shocked, though, to hear one f-word, even if it was quoted from poetry. It seemed out of place in this TV film but obviously, television is more liberal in the UK.

This is a bit slow but a pleasant film I enjoyed.