Colonel Blimp (United Artists) (1945)

Prepared Review—Current Features “Colonel Blimp” Most Lavish Technicolor Film Ever Made (Prepared Revieiv.) The eye-filling, color-splashed G. iC. F. film, “Colonel Blimp,” which opened last night at the . Theatre thru United Artists release, tells a gripping, romantic story which throws the whole pageant of Brit¬ ish life, from the Boer War to World War II. into relief against a moving panorama of great beauty and pulse-throbbing action. Written, produced in lavish Technicolor and directed by the famous team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, it is by far the most brilliant and enter¬ taining film to come out of the British studios in years. Co-star¬ ring in it are Anton Walbrook, well-known here for his work in “The Invaders,” and two fine Eng¬ lish players, Roger Livesey and Deborah Kerr. The Blimp played by handsome Roger Livesey is a sympathetic and somewhat idealized study of the British military type, well- meaning, one or more wars behind the times, always observing the code, and hurt and humiliated by his utter inability to grasp the vulgar needs of modern war. He is a hero in the South Afri¬ can war, proudly wearing the Vic¬ toria Cross for his heroic exploits. But, by the time of the first World War, he is already dated, still thinking war to be a game of cricket. In today’s war, as a Home Guard zone commander, he is again defeated in a practice exer¬ cise against the Army because he still tries to stick to hidebound rules. It makes him look ridicu¬ lous and almost breaks his heart. The acting of Livesey is superb. All the nuances of this well- rounded character are drawn with great sensitivity, especially the metamorphosis of the gay young lieutenant of 1902 into the middle- aged but still romantic general of World War I, and his gradual submersion into the typical stuffed-shirt “Colonel Blimp” of today who has been immortalized by the world renowned British artist and caricaturist, David Low in many brilliant sketches. As the three loves of his life, red-haired Deborah Kerr is beau¬ tiful and appealing and gives each separate role a distinction and charm of its own that will bring her right up front in the ranks of young English actresses. No less outstanding is the play¬ ing of Anton Walbrook, as a young German officer, who fights an ex¬ citing duel with Livesey in the swift-paced, romantic earlier scenes of the film. Walbrook, who distinguished himself in Holly¬ wood a few years ago, is superb in the later scenes as the Ger¬ man who renounces Hitler. He plays the tvpe of German that idealists still dream about—and sometimes meet. This is too brief a summary of a truly magnificent film to give any idea of the gayety, the ro¬ mance, the swashbuckling advent¬ ure that make up its footage. It is one of those films that should be a must-see on your list. To miss it is to miss one of the great film events of the year. It is our pre¬ diction that if you see it once, you will want to see it again and again! Gay Background Music in ‘Blimp’ The stirring music for the romantic comedy, “Colonel Blimp,” showing now at the . Theatre thru United Artists release, was especially composed for it by Allan Gray, former musical di¬ rector for Max Reinhardt. The theme of the picture covers a period of about forty years, from the time of the Boer War to the present, and Mr. Gray has composed music that admirably suits the three time sequences of the film . . . ballads, waltzes, stirring marches and even modern boogie-woogie. Single numbers include “I See You Everywhere,” a beau¬ tiful nostalgic foxtrot which expresses in music one of the central themes of the . film; “The Mill Goes Round and Round,” a jolly waltz; and the stirring Colonel Blimp March. Gray was born in Poland and studied music on the Continent. After working with Reinhardt he went to England where he has written music for many radio, stage and film successes. Starring in “Colonel Blimp” are Anton Walbrook, Roger Livesey and Deborah Kerr. Deborah Kerr Shines In Triple Star Role Deborah Kerr, beautiful British star, has made a new kind of record—she plays a triple role in “Colonel Blimp,” the gorgeous G. C. F. Technicolor film which had its premiere at the.Theatre on.thru United Artists release. There have been numerous examples of stars appearing as twins or otherwise doubling as mother and daughter, but it is believed ‘Colonel Blimp” is the first pic¬ ture in which a star plays three distinct parts. In the picture Miss Kerr plays three different girls in three dif¬ ferent periods, although they all look very much alike. The reason for the similarity is caused by the A BRIDGE GAME AT THE TURN OF THE CENTURY. Playing in this charming scene, which takes place after a duel between the two men so neatly swathed in bandages, are (left to right) Isabel Jeans, Anton Walbrook, Deborah Kerr and Roger Livesey. The film is the stirring “Colonel Blimp,” a G. C. F. produc¬ tion photographed in glorious Technicolor. It is now at the Theatre thru United Artists release. 4C—Three Col. Scene (Mat. .45) sentimentalism of Colonel Blimp, played by Roger Livesey, who likes one type of girl and never deviates from his preference throughout the story. However, he marries only one of them, los¬ ing another to Anton Walbrook, and being too old by the time third comes along. Although Deborah Kerr plays all three parts without added facial makeup, so subtle is her change of character and type that never once does the audience feel she is the same girl. It is a tri¬ umphant delineation that an older actress might well be proud of. Coming from one still so very young (she is just in her very early twenties) it is something to rave about. As Edith Hunter, the English governess in the early period of the film, about 1900, she appears as the somewhat prim, shirt- waisted girl of the type made famous by such artists as Charles Dana Gibson and Harrison Fisher. In the second period, during and after World War 1, she plays the charming society girl from the famous South Riding country in Yorkshire who goes to France as a Red Cross nurse. And, in the third period she is a modern Eng¬ lish girl who dons her swagger M.T.C. uniform with typical pres¬ ent-day smartness in the London of the blitz. Miss Kerr, whose name is pro¬ nounced like Car, is an unusually beautiful redhead. She served her apprenticeship on the stage in London’s famous “Old Vic” Shakespearean Theatre. She has also played in many films, ap¬ pearing in George Bernard Shaw’s “Major Barbara.” After the marvellous criticisms of her work in “Colonel Blimp,” when it was released in London, Sir Alexender Korda signed her up for a starring role in his film about the English Wrens. Exciting Duel Scene Highlight of "Blimp” The stiffness and formality of the old Prussian duelling code is graphically portrayed in the fascinating G. C. F. Technicolor film, “Colonel Blimp,” showing now at the .Theatre thru United Artists release. Playing top roles in this romantic story of high adventure are Anton Walbrook, as the German officer whose life is inextricably wound up with Colonel Blimp’s- (who is played by the handsome English actor, Roger Livesey) and the beautiful red-headed Deborah Kerr, Britain’s newest glamour threat to the Hollywood lovelies. The elaborate ’’protocol” which is inseparable from such “affairs of honor” has been caught with a whimsical eye by the camera. The pompous, strutting “seconds” in the affair, the punctilio with which each article of the “code” is labor- ROGER LIVESEY, handsom young English actor, plays the title role in “Colonel .. G. C. F. film at the Theatre thru United Artists release. Filmed magnificently in Techni¬ color, the story carries him through forty years of gay and adventurous living. Co-starring with him are Anton Walbrook, and a new Eng¬ lish beauty (Deborah Kerr) who plays the three loves of his life. tion of the Archers, photographed ' l glorious Technicolor, that has iously observed and the complete lack of humor which characterizes the Prussian military mind, are underlined with droll humor and easy jibes by a script which over¬ looks no opportunity to deflate pomposity and debunk the fatuous. The duelling sequences are of double interest today because they show how the “Heidelberg scar” tradition, bred in the mind of the young German from the time he is old enough to swing a sabre, aided materially in creating the brutal, ruthless psychology which could carry German barbarism into other lands to ravage, plunder and kill without compunction. The cold, formal note of the gymnasium of the Second Uhlan Regiment near Berlin, where the duel finally takes place, is indica¬ tive of the cold, precise Prussian mind which, impelled only by a sense of rigid adherence to a sadis¬ tic tradition, perpetuates a le¬ gend of torture and butchery. While the duel is going on, the camera pulls away from the scene and concentrates on a snow storm which whirls about the roof of the gym, underscoring by its purity and its beauty the ugliness of the butchery which German “Kultur” has lashed upon the contestants within. No effort has been spared to re¬ produce in fullest detail the atmos¬ phere of the period in the early reign of Kaiser Wilhelm II, dur¬ ing which the duel takes place. The goose-stepping military, the gaudy, over-elaborate uniforms, the child-like love of glitter and display—all are there. “Colonel Blimp” covers a period of over forty turbulent years, from the Boer War to the present time. David Low, world-famous British artist, created the char¬ acter around whom the stirring story is woven, and the noted team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger wrote, produced and directed the film. It is a produc¬ tion of the Archers, {’ SO MUCH IN LOVE. One of the many tender moments in the exciting G. C. F. Technicolor picture, “Colonel Blimp,” which premiered last night at the Theatre thru United Artists release. The scene is played by the lovely British star, Deborah Kerr, and Roger Livesey, who has the title role. Anton Walbrook is co-starred with them. 12B—Two Col. Scene (Mat .30)