Colonel Blimp (United Artists) (1945)

Advance Features—Facts About The Film Three Romantic Stars In “Colonel Blimp” PRODUCTION NOTES The three stars in “Colonel Blimp,” now playing at the . Theatre thru United Artists release, are each at the top of their profession in this entertaining film, and the combination of their names is now making itself felt at the boxoffice. Anton Walbrook, the distin¬ guished Viennese actor who has made England his home for the past ten years has made an out¬ standing name for himself in roles of the gentle, sympathetic type— he played the Prince Consort in “Queen Victoria,” and the phil¬ osophical refugee in the English stage version of “Watch on the Rhine.” He also played a man of peace in the film hit, “The In¬ vaders,” released here a few years ago. In “Colonel Blimp,” he has the important role of a German Army officer who, though devoted to his country and career, cannot recon¬ cile himself to the brutal ideas and actions of the Nazis. When the latter are responsible for the com¬ plete estrangement of his two sons, he seeks refuge in England, the country his wife, now dead, had loved so deeply. Deborah Kerr has had an almost meteoric rise to stardom. After be¬ ing chosen from the “extra list” to play the part of the Salvation Army lass in “Major Barbara,” which starred the late Leslie How¬ ard and Wendy Hiller, she went from success to success. In two years she appeared in such important films as “Love On The Dole,” Hatter’s Castle” and “The Day Will Dawn,” and now tops her previous triumphs with a brilliant treble role in “Colonel Blimp,” in which she plays the three different women who in¬ fluence “Blimp’s” career. Roger Livesey is an extremely fine actor who has risen to star¬ dom through the hard school of touring companies and repertory work. “Colonel Blimp” gives him his first starring role. As Lieu¬ tenant Clive (Sugar) Candy,V.C., he takes full honors for a remark¬ able and moving portrayal as the “Blimp” of the picture. “Colonel Blimp” is a G. C. F. presentation in glorious Techni¬ color, produced, written and di¬ rected by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. OFFICIAL BILLING G. C. F. COLONEL BLIMP Anton Deborah Roger WALBROOK KERR LIVESEY A Production of the Archers Written, Directed and Produced by MICHAEL POWELL and EMERIC PRESSBURGER Released Thru United Artists IN TECHNICOLOR THE CAST WHEN GOOD FRIENDS GET TOGETHER! Anton Walbrook and Roger Livesey are touched by the simple charm of Deborah Kerr in this mate scene front the stirring G. C. F. Technicolor film, “Colonel mp.” She reminds them of women they both have loved and lost, is Kerr plays all three parts. A United Artists release, the film hows Then 7 B—Two Cot. Scene (Mai .30) DEBORAH KERR is the enchanting redhead who ploys an unusual triple role in the lavish G. C. F. Technicolor film, “Colonel Blimp,” due at the Theatre on . thru United Artists release. Co-starring with her are Anton Walbrook and Roger Livesey, both of whose lives arc romantically tied up with hers. 9B—Two Col. Scene (Mat .30) Color Interprets Each Age In Film Every age, in the opinion of Alfred Junge, has its color. He studies an era through its tint- types and not its tin-types. He prefers hues to history and shades to synopses. He is more interested in a generation’s plush than its f -- \ Gay Cafe Scenes Are Outstanding The meticulous attention to de¬ tail characteristic of the noted, British writing, producing and di¬ recting team, Michael Power and Emeric Pressburger, was never more attractively displayed than in the mammoth German cafe scene in the absorbing Technicolor film, “Colonel Blimp.” Hailed as one of the most au¬ thentically reproduced scenes ever- thrown on the silver screen, it creates the atmosphere of the gay days in the early reign of Kaiser Wilhelm II. In setting the stage for the dra¬ matic and breath-taking events that occurred in the cafe, these famous collaborators were pain¬ staking and thorough. In a Ger¬ man beer "Keller,” for instance, it is generally the boy who plays the flute who arranges the pla¬ cards which announce the follow¬ ing number. Another characteristic of Teu¬ ton cafes is the way the waiters go to the side of the restaurant and pick up newspapers to present to the patrons. Noted also are the authentic German “cake dishes,” the characteristic students’ caps and the middle-aged waiters which were as much a part of the pre- Nazi cafes as tall beer steins, mili¬ tary marches and ear-shattering conversation. Sharing starring honors in “Colonel Blimp” are Anton Wal¬ brook, Deborah Kerr and Roger Livesey. The film is aG.C. F. pro¬ duction due to open on . at the . Theatre thru United Artists release. push. The color spectrum and not the Carl Sandburgs are the thing. Mr. Junge was color designer on the British film “Colonel Blimp,” a G. C. F. Technicolor presentation, written, produced and directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger and re¬ leased here by United Artists. “Colonel Blimp” tells the story of a dashing young British officer, decorated in the South African campaign in 1900, who develops by slow stages into the legendary Colonel Blimp created by David Low, noted British artist. The film, due to open at the. Theatre on ., is packed with gay adventure and romance and color that is a joy to behold, and stars Anton Wal¬ brook, Deborah Kerr and Roger Livesey. The picture begins in the Vic¬ torian days of the Boer War when red plush was the “ne plus ultra” and the “dolce far niente” of anybody’s front parlor or box at the opera. The British soldiers wore red coats, the bookstands wore “The Red Badge of Cour¬ age” and the street-sweepers wore red noses. Junge made the Victorian se¬ quence red. When World War I came along he looked over a sea of khaki and changed the ochre dabs to olive drab. After the Armistice he found that the age was any¬ body’s color guess. Quiet shades predominated but no single shade dominated. Junge’s palette was in a pickle. Then he hit on the scheme of in¬ terpreting the twenties through tone rather than tints and varia¬ tions rather than vermillion. He subdued the spectrum and gave us the rainbow without rhinestones. The color tones in the film, “Col¬ onel Blimp,” are conceded by ex¬ perts to be exceptionally fine and true. This, according to Natalie Kalmus, Technicolor technician, is due to the fact that the water in England, which is used in the pro¬ cessing of the film, is exceptionally well adapted to the production of natural shades. THE CREDITS Produced | B > MICHAEL POWELL AND Directed ) EMERIC PRESSBURGER Technicolor Directed By Natalie Kalmus Photographed in Technicolor By Georges Perinal Production Designed in Color By Alfred Junge Music Composed and Arranged By Allan Gray Edited By John Seahourne Military Adviser Lt. Gen. Sir Douglas Brownrigg, K.C.B., D.S.O. THE STORY Gallant young Candy, V. C., is on leave from the Boer War. He decides to go to Berlin to trap per¬ sonally a German anti-British propagandist. Kaunitz, whom he knew in South Africa, and whose present activities he has learned of through Edith Hunter, an Eng¬ lish governess in Berlin. Edith and Candy trace Kaunitz, and during a brawl in a cafe Candy knocks him unconscious. Kaunitz’s friends insist that Candy has insulted the German Army and he is forced to fight a duel with a Uhlan officer, Theo Kretschmar - Schuldorff. In the nursing home to which they are both taken, Candy and Theo be¬ come firm friends, and Edith, who has become the official reason for the duel in order to avoid inter¬ national complications, gets en¬ gaged to Theo. Too late Candy realizes that he, too, is in love with Edith. We next see Candy, now a Col¬ onel, in France just before the end of the 1914-18 war. He has become slightly old-fashioned in his ideas of warfare, and, though deploring the German atrocities, insists that Britain should employ the “above- board” methods of his Boer War campaign days. Back in England, he marries a war nurse he sees in France who bears a striking re¬ semblance to Edith. He learns that Theo is a prisoner of war in England and hurries off to see his old friend. Theo refuses to see him, but later, before returning to Germany, relents and meets Candy. The present struggle finds Can,dy on active service and Theo a refugee from Nazidom. The War Office “axe” Candy because his ideas have not kept pace with the years, but Theo and ‘Johnny’ his M. T. C. driver (who also looks like Edith Hunter), persuade him to throw his energies into the newly formed Home Guard. Under his command the H. G. prepares for an exercise attack. Six hours before the time set for zero hour Candy is taken “prisoner” while enjoying a Turkish bath. Protest¬ ing that the exercise will be a farce, Candy is informed by young Lieutenant “Spud” Wilson, in charge of the attackers, that his orders were to make the attack like the real thing, and that the modern army, fighting total war, has no knowledge when or where the enemy will strike; he must al¬ ways be ready. Candy realizes he is antiquated. Theo comforts him and manages to persuade him that total war needs modern weapons and new ideas, and that in spite of changes, the 1943 British soldier is still the best in the world. DOWN THE HATCH says Deborah Kerr in her crisp modern way, while Anton Walbrook looks at her tenderly because she reminds him of a woman he once had loved very much. The scene is from the romantic G. C. F. Technicolor film, “Colonel Blimp,” opening on at the Theatre thru United Artists release. Roger Livesey plays the title role in the film. TITLES WOVEN ON TAPESTRY When you see the G. C. F. pro¬ duction of “Colonel Blimp,” which has its premiere at the. Theatre on . thru United Artists release, you will be enchanted with the exquisite tap¬ estries on which all the introduct¬ ory titles have been woven. These tapestries were created especially for the film by the Royal Needle¬ work Guild of England. It is the most lavish, and, at the | same time, the most breath-taking method of calling attention to film titles ever adopted by a studio. Filmed magnificently in Techni¬ color, the tapestries are woven in deep, lush colors that are a joy to the eye and serve as a fascinating preview to the film itself. Starring in this tale of high ad¬ venture and romance are Anton Walbrook, well known here for. his work in “The Invaders,” and two fine English players, Deborah Kerr and Roger Livesey. Page Eleven