Based on its awkward title, I’d always assumed Colonel Blip was a “zany”(if dark and probably tedious) “anti-war” comedy (a la The Bed Sitting Room) about the famous British comic strip character. Created by a left-wing cartoonist in the 1930s, the walrus-like blowhard “Blimp” spouted nonsensical patriotic cliches, and represented everything right-thinking young Englishmen hated about their “stiff upper lip” Establishment parents.
David Low's original "Colonel Blimp"
So to get a sense of what an amazing accomplishment …Colonel Blimp is, imagine Martin Scorsese taking Homer and Marge Simpson and, without a single ironic wink, fashioning a cinematic masterpiece to rival Bergman’s Scenes from a Marriage.
Colonel Blimp is a paragon of parodox. It isn’t an anti-war satire, but it isn’t pro-war, either. (And either way, there isn’t a single battle scene.) The titular hero is almost overshadowed by his best friend, who starts out as his greatest enemy. The movie is a bittersweet romance about a lifelong unrequited love (and it doesn’t have a “love scene,” either).
When we meet “Colonel Blimp” – the character’s name is actually Clive Candy — he’s a fat, balding old fellow, dozing in the officer’s steam room. World War II has only just begun, and a cocky young officer pulls a prank on the old man under the guise of practicing “maneuvers.”
Candy blusters in response:
“You laugh at my big belly, but you don’t know how I got it. You laugh at my mustache, but you don’t know why I grew it. How do you know what sort of fella I was when I was as young as you are, forty years ago?”
With that, we’re off on a sweeping, epic journey back to Edwardian England to meet the then “handsome and tall” Clive Candy. He soon encounters the two most important people in his life: his arch-rival and Prussian officer counterpart turned best friend, Theo Kretschmar-Schuldorff, and beautiful nurse Edith Hunter.
I remember watching this on TCM or some other channel back in the 1980′s. The scene where Blimp and his batman realize WW1 is over still haunts me even now.
In Marxist Critical Pedagogy, social standing, in this example the obscurity of the films you like, trumps competence, in this case, popular films.
This skirts awfully close to contrary for its own sake or simply inverting success and failure and doling out talent and morality accordingly. It sounds an awful lot like Political Correctness, which is a factory wherein endless excuses and mitigation is used to explain away lack of success.
We all have lists of films we like that we have trouble understanding why they never were appreciated. However I have seen film lists of “best of” that seem to consist of little more than films no one has ever heard of and would seem to serve the purpose of showing how independent of thought the lister is and how much above the common man they are.
Good stuff is where you find it and much of it is very popular and with good reason. Are these films for grown ups or the massively better informed cognoscenti cuz the latter is a source of well known pains in the neck.
I once suggested a musical artist to a friend and he replied, “She’s too popular.” That was the stupidest thing I ever heard that man say.
Reminds me of a bit in “Cold Comfort Farm” where intellectual bohemian Mr. Mybug meets Earl P. Neck, American Film Czar, who is scouting for new talent:
“Have you ever seen Alexandre Fin? asked Mr. Mybug. “I saw him in Pepin’s last film ‘La Plume de Ma Tante’, in Paris last January. Very amusing stuff. The all wore glass clothes, you know, and moved in time to a metronome.”
“Oh, yeah? said Mr. Neck. “A frog, eh? Frogs is all under five feet. I want a big, husky fella: the kinda fella that would look good cuddling a kid…
“Yeah,” he went on. “I seen that film in Paris, too. It gave me a pain. Gave me a lot of new dope, though. What not to do, and all that. I’ve met Pepin, too. The poor egg’s cuckoo.”
“He is much admired by the younger men,” said Mr. Mybug, daringly, glancing at Flora for her approval.
“That helps a whole heap,” said Mr. Neck.
“Then you interest in the cinema, Mr. Neck, is *entirely* commercial? I mean, you think nothing of its aesthetic possibilities?”
“I gotta responsibility. If your frog friend had to fill fifteen thousand dollars’ worth of movie seats every day, he’d have to think of a better stunt than a lot of guys wearin’ glass pants.”
I also appreciate your comment about music. At some point, garage music became hipper than mainstream music. Using digital recording technology and the Internet, anyone can “cut an album” and be heard by millions – or at least dozens. These days, the most popular groups are, as you say, ones nobody has ever heard of. Evidently, the coolest thing is to be part of the extremely tiny fan base of an extremely obscure group whose name you can drop in conversation. The fewer people know what you’re talking about, the hipper you are.
I don’t know if the lack of musican concensus is entirely a good thing, though. For all the faults of the old music industry, its gatekeepers – producers, djs, and critics – at least helped to maintain a minimal standard of musical quality. Today, you have to wade through an awful lot of self-produced crap to find anything listenable. How can you tell what’s “good” if everybody has a separate standard?
To those who know a little film history, Powell and Pressburger are not obscure but the most brilliant (in various senses of the word) film making team of all time.
Personally, while I think Blimp is great, I prefer The 49th Parallel, which is a more obscure film. But I would not be so naive as to think there is some obvious reason for my preference. The reason for a great work of art is not something we can we reduce to any formula, it is only something we can talk endlessly about. What’s more, the dichotomy between high and popular culture is founded on some very real and inescapable historical and anthropological ground. It may be that the postmodern is a time when the two are increasingly intertwined but that’s no excuse for turning superscilliousness around.
Here are just a couple of films that have fallen through the cracks that I think are genuinely bright films:
“Li’l Abner” (1959) is in my opinion and without qualifications, the best American dance musical no one has seen.
“Soldier In the Rain” (1963) with Jackie Gleason and Steve McQueen lives in obscurity for having the bad luck to be released when Kennedy was assassinated; it is brilliant.
“No Time For Sergeants” (1958) starring Andy Griffith and Nick Adams is a very bright comedy and very popular in its day.
“Conflict” (1945) is another mystery candidate for such utter obscurity considering it’s Bogart. It is a fine murder mystery.
Usually film buffs are all over stuff like this but even TCM has missed the boat on these. These are not films that are odd ducks or that have unpopular themes but have simply fallen into a bad place for no reason.
I agree with you, Bill Hodgson, about “Soldier in the Rain”–a very good movie. Haven’t seen the other ones yet, but I’m glad for the recommendations.
I’d like to recommend another British movie which is a very good character study of army officers: “Tunes of Glory.” It doesn’t have a single combat scene, taking place in Scotland not long after World War II, yet it is gut-wrenching. And it has several great actors such as Alec Guinness, Dennis Price, Kay Walsh, John Mills, and some other faces which will be familiar to lovers of British television and film.
Its another movie which can make grown men cry.
Thanks, Egil. I was going to mention this wonderful film as well. The Guinness-Mills conflict therein is one for the ages.
You’re welcome, Raven. You know what they say about “great minds”!
And you’re right about the conflict aspect of the movie. Its been a few years since I last watched “Tunes of Glory,” but it gives me goosebumps just thinking about the characters and what happens.
I agree: “Tunes of Glory” is brilliant but not obscure in the true sense of the term. It’s on TCM regularly and was once a PBS staple and I’ve seen it 20 times, every time on broadcast TV.
Thanks for your tribute to this genuinely beautiful and profoundly decent film. Every time I see it I find more to appreciate about “Colonel Blimp” (which is also true about every other Michael Powell film.) Roger Livesay’s performance is a revelation, particularly to modern audiences. Clive Candy should be preposterous and foolish yet he isn’t. Livesay’s portrayal of the elderly Candy is superb – warm, dignified, a little stuffy and deeply aware how time has passed him. You’re absolutely right – This IS a film for grown-ups.
@2. Bill Hodgson
All the same this is a very fine film; the timing and circumstances of its release are largely the reason for its obscurity. By all the technical and professional standards that films are “scored” by thisa iis excellent work. The character study of Col. Blimp is profound and touching, I first saw it when I was very much a younger man and found it amusing, now I see it with different eyes; ones that from time to time shed a tear.
“imagine Martin Scorsese taking Homer and Marge Simpson and, without a single ironic wink, fashioning a cinematic masterpiece to rival Bergman’s Scenes from a Marriage.”
And imagine him doing that while Los Angeles is under curfew and being bombed every night…
Wow, Bill, thanks for confirming the stereotype of the American conservative male as a philistine who don’t care much for them fancy three dollar words, and hasn’t seen a movie older than Star Wars.
I expect to see those guys in the comments at Hot Air but not here.
Hint: Bragging about how stupid you are is not attractive.
I do not like this film to be “contrary” i.e. “for no reason.” I’ve listed the reasons I liked it. Others have too.
YOU are the one who is being intentionally obtuse.
I suspect seeing a female byline on any article unrelated to handbags or making your own baby food confuses and disturbs you.
Please grab another beer and enjoy the college football game. Leave the grown ups to have their conversation.
Ah!
That’s why Steyn loves you.
Smart Man!
How do you know so much about me?
One of the very best post-war actresses, Deborah Kerr (“The King & I”; “From Here to Eternity”) debuts, in this exquisitely British film, at age seventeen. Anyone who responds positively to the sentiment (honest, not sentimental) of “Blimp” ought definitely to also see Noel Coward’s four-star “In Which We Serve.” Coward — a legitimate theatrical genius– reinvented his de-luxe persona to play, essentially, his good friend Lord Louis Mountbatten in, arguably, the best British war-at-sea movie ever made.
The title of the movie might be the reason for it’s obscurity. It sounds like a goofy art movie.
I would like to recommend another Powell and Pressburger, Roger Livesey gem,” A matter of Life and Death”:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038733/
I have a loooong list of obscure movies you’ve probably never heard of, but should watch anyway…
The antidote to all WW II Brit movies is a speech by Enoch Powell, delivered in the 70s I believe, and referred to as the “Rivers of Blood” speech. Although every single event he predicted has come to pass, in spades, the speech is still considered beyond the pale. Always a red flag when the truth is deemed too dangerous to hear! England is swarming with blacks from the Commonwealth and Mohammedans from N Africa/SW Asia. An office worker is (succesfully) sued because she kept a porcelain pig on her desk. Glad we defeated those Nazis — we could’ve lost England forever.
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp will be shown on TCM again January 12, 2012 at 8pm Eastern time.
http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/81321/Life-and-Death-of-Colonel-Blimp-The/
A truly great film. Anyone who thinks Powell/Pressburger films are “obscure” is not much of a movie person. Kinda like hipster “music fans” who don’t recognize the Sloan/Barri songwriting team. Strictly squaresville, daddy-o…
Good on you Kathy, for discovering this. One of my all-time favourites, and a rare example of the ‘Men’s weepie’ – a film about love and loss as experienced by men. Hard to resist a lump in the throat when the young Clive Candy realizes, but only too late, that he’s in love with Deborah Kerr. I can warn you against the British Film Institute monograph on ‘Blimp’: a tedious piece of work by some whiny English leftist who thinks we’re more interested in her politics, and whether she “approves” of the movie (she mostly doesn’t).
Because of yout recomendation,I watched “Blimp” yesterday streaming on Netflix. Thank you! It was an inspiring movie.
Kathy, a great essay on a wonderful subtle movie. Another Archer’s masterpiece is ‘I Know Where I’m Going’, with Livesey and Wendy Hiller. I’d love to read what you think about it.
Powell and Pressuburger’s 1944 ‘A Canterbury Tale’ is possibly the greatest war propaganda film of all time. Its simple message is that ordinary people are what make a nation great. Unforgettable.
I agree “Canterbury Tale” is an excellent flick — I recommended it to all my friends after it premiered on TCM a couple years ago. But the best wartime propaganda film of all time is Clarence Brown’s “The Human Comedy” (1943), yet another movie with nary a scene of combat. Mickey Rooney gives the performance of his life.
If you get a chance then check out some of Powell and Pressburger’s other films. “A matter of Life and Death” is an extraordinary romance with surrealist and psychological themes. It is all about anglo-american relations during WW2 and all the tensions and strains of former enemies uniting. I have been watching it since I was a child and know every line. Niven and Livesey are superb. It features the original “stairway to heaven” as well,an image not a song.
I have always enjoyed The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp. I have seen it several times, and find myself drawn in each and every time. It is an absorbing, compelling and uplifting tale of one man’s dedication to values, honesty, character and valour. A lot of modern film makers should watch it.
Watched TLADOCB after becoming a fan of Roger Livesay’s portrayal of the Duke of St. Bungay in the BBC production of The Pallisers. Blimp is one of my three all-time favorite movies, along with 12 O’Clock High and Bridge on the River Kwai — one of the few examples of the movie being better than the book. Kwai the book and all commentary I’ve seen on the movie seem to portray Col. Nicholson as a Blimp-like figure whose dulness almost foiled a brilliant exploit of sabotage. IMO, Col. Nicholson is the hero of the movie, whose courage and dedication to his duty as leader of the surrendered Engineering Battalion allows it to survive, bringing “victory out of defeat,” as he says in the post-project Camp variety show. To my mind, Col. Nicholson’s accomplishment in ensuring his men’s survival is the equal of the accomplishment of blowing the bridge. Now that I think of it, there are parallels between Blimp and Kwai. Col. Saito, the Japanese Camp Commander seems to me to be as sympathetic a figure in the end as Theo.
Thanks for writing about this wonderful film, which amazed me when I first saw the restored version some years ago. Any Powell-Pressburger film is worth a look, though ‘Blimp’ is perhaps their masterpiece, and also scores by speaking to our ungentlemanly times in unexpected ways.
Please don’t tell me I’m entirely wrong: your film choices as a default position posit that success is failure and failure success. In fact popularity not only represents failure to you but is juvenile besides.
The reference to Star Wars is a dead giveaway. A truly adult take on such things will divorce subject matter from the quality of the delivery of its subject matter and not simply call anything not science fiction as having some automatic adult status.
You are mistaking “serious” with “sober” and sober is not in and of itself an adult characteristic but rather a cultural conceit that resides in the same place as the idea that wine is adult and soda pop for children.
A good teleplay is a good teleplay and in this regard an episode of The Flintstones and be said to be every bit as well written as an episode of Hill Street Blues. Good writing is something that is judged separately from its subject matter except insofar as it addresses that subject matter.
Yes, Hill Street Blues can be said to be an adult show in a larger sense and The Flintstones a kids show (although it was in fact marketed to adults with Winston cigarettes as a sponsor) but how each addresses its artistry is a separate issue. Don’t try and tell me “The Mummy” or “Die Hard” didn’t have major league screen plays which are somehow short circuited because a lot of people responded to the artistry.
I said earlier, good stuff is where you find it and automatically relegating college football to the realm of the stupid is itself a devilishly stupid stereotype.
Films have been made with people like you, the self-appointed elite, in mind where the inside joke consists of a perceptual trap. Alien (1979) was such a film and I doubt you could tell me what the nature of this trap was although it is right there in front of you; the truth is that as an “adult”, you have been trained not to “see” past subject matter. How adult is editing, screen plays, cinematography, staging, art direction and directing regardless of the nature of the story? Such considerations can lift the juvenile into the realm of the great and place the great into the realm of the juvenile.
Science fiction is the default realm for the cognoscenti wherein no “adult” films exist although they clearly do and fans of SF films laugh to themselves at the level of blindness involved in imagining “Dune” is less subtle or “adult” than upgunned romance novels like “Jane Eyre” or “Pride and Prejudice” which are nonetheless 2 of my favorite novels.
As for being a woman good stuff is where you find it so when it comes to writing gender is completely irrelevant to me. C.L. Moore was one of the great SF writers of her generation and one capable of the greatest artistry and nuance as her story co-authored with her husband Henry Kuttner called “Vintage Season” shows.
I’ll be waiting for your take on the “Alien” joke: don’t bother Googling it; it isn’t there. It is the for real perceptual trap and true test and then we’ll see how stupid I am. When you’re done with that you can get to work on the “stupid” cowboy movie, “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance” where more awaits. “Adult?” What is “adult.”
Its really nice to see that Kathy Shaidle and many commenters on her pages show that there are still at least a few people with a strong interest in and appreciation for older movies in general. “Chronological snobbery” rules much of our world now, yet most commenters here are not guilty of that, at least.
I think that sometimes newcomers to older movies rely a little too heavily on Turner Classic Movies, Criterion and cognoscenti such as Scorsese to decide what is worthwhile to watch, yet at least those newbies are giving it a try.