Anyone see this last night ? Although good acting i thought it jumped around far to much. Still one or two of the speaches still bring a lump to the throat.
It was billed as the follow on to "The Gathering Storm" (2002) that had Albert Finney as Churchill and the wonderful Ronnie Barker as his butler. I was very disappointed with last nights offering. As GH observed the film jumped around all the time and the actor playing Churchill was nowhere near as good as Albert Finney's portrayal. I try and see The Gathering Storm whenever it's repeated, if only to see Ronnie Barker's performance again.
I've heard it was very good, got it on my planner. Why was this tucked away on a Monday night on BBC2 though? Surely it warranted a weekend slot at least? I mean, however inoffensive, quaint and occasionally interesting Antiques Roadshow is, does it really belong on primetime Sunday night viewing?
Saw the Great Escape prog as well. Seems the chap Gordon Jackson played actually did say 'Thank you very much' to the German who wished him a safe trip in English. Very interesting and little known story.
[cite]Posted By: March51[/cite]Saw the Great Escape prog as well. Seems the chap Gordon Jackson played actually did say 'Thank you very much' to the German who wished him a safe trip in English. Very interesting and little known story.
The father of a friend of mine was in the Great Escape - the real thing not the film. He was one of the few who didn't get shot by the Gestapo when they were re-captured, which he put down to his surname being "Churchill", although he wasn't related to Winston.
BFR: had a look at a book what I've got which says......'..Dick Churchill:Sidney Albion 'Dick' Churchill ended up in the camp after his light bomber was shot down by an Me.109 over Ludwigshafen in September 1940. ' After a short description of the tunnel etc he says 'But I'd rather not dwell on what happened over 60 years ago, I'd rather concentrate on what my grandchildren are going to do with their lives.' Is this your man? Two other Churchills are mentioned (Jack and Peter) but Dick seems to be the only one who escaped from Stalag Luft III.(Source: The Great Escapers by Tim Carroll, Mainstream Publishing).
I watched it. If you've read a bit about Churchill, they picked out some key events. I was disappointed when I heard that Finney and Redgrave were missing as it was clearly billed at the sequel to The Gathering Storm which I loved. In the end I thought that the bloke playing him and the woman playing Clemmy made a decent fist of it.
For me the disappointment was as much in what was left out as put in. It was clearly made for an American audience and they judged that 90 minutes was as much as the "man at the back of the Pittsburg Greyhound" could take. For a man like Churchill and for an event like WW2, it just wasn't long enough. The show piece events like Dunkirk, the Battle Of Britain etc were covered very much in precis. For me it was like the proverbial Chinese Meal, it just left you feeling hungry for more.
It wasn't terrible, it was not at all bad, just not enough.
[cite]Posted By: ThreadKiller[/cite]no, but i did catch the great escape : the reckoning. which told of the hunt for the nazi's that murdered 50 odd that escaped from stalag luft iii.
I missed that, do you know if they plan to repeat it?
[cite]Posted By: March51[/cite]BFR: had a look at a book what I've got which says......'..Dick Churchill:Sidney Albion 'Dick' Churchill ended up in the camp after his light bomber was shot down by an Me.109 over Ludwigshafen in September 1940. ' After a short description of the tunnel etc he says 'But I'd rather not dwell on what happened over 60 years ago, I'd rather concentrate on what my grandchildren are going to do with their lives.' Is this your man? Two other Churchills are mentioned (Jack and Peter) but Dick seems to be the only one who escaped from Stalag Luft III.(Source: The Great Escapers by Tim Carroll, Mainstream Publishing).
Thanks, I'll look out for the book. I know his son but have never met his father who I think lives on the south coast somewhere (Devon I think). If I remember correctly this Churchill escaped with someone who's surname was Nelson and he also escaped being executed and the speculation was that was because the Gestapo thought he might be related to Horatio.
I read some time ago "The Great Escape" by Paul Brickhill who was a Spitfire pilot and was shot down and interned in Stalag Luft III and therefore wrote about the GE as a first hand witness. That book was turned into the film of the same name. He also wrote the Dambusters book and Reach for the Sky about Douglas Bader which are worth reading and were also turned into films.
Yes BFR,'tis the same chap as the book does mention him living in Devon at the time of writing (2004), when he was one of seven escapers still alive. Bob Nelson does get a mention but only in connection with the design/installation of the ventilation pumps in the tunnels although he is listed in the names of the 76 escapees and not one of the 50 that were executed. I'm always puzzled why (in the film) a German despatch rider is on a 1962 Triumph Trophy 650! Chap was ahead of his time. (Then again perhaps it's something to do with Steve McQeen riding one for the USA scrambles team).
[cite]Posted By: March51[/cite]BFR: had a look at a book what I've got which says......'..Dick Churchill:Sidney Albion 'Dick' Churchill ended up in the camp after his light bomber was shot down by an Me.109 over Ludwigshafen in September 1940. ' After a short description of the tunnel etc he says 'But I'd rather not dwell on what happened over 60 years ago, I'd rather concentrate on what my grandchildren are going to do with their lives.' Is this your man? Two other Churchills are mentioned (Jack and Peter) but Dick seems to be the only one who escaped from Stalag Luft III.(Source: The Great Escapers by Tim Carroll, Mainstream Publishing).
Thanks, I'll look out for the book. I know his son but have never met his father who I think lives on the south coast somewhere (Devon I think). If I remember correctly this Churchill escaped with someone who's surname was Nelson and he also escaped being executed and the speculation was that was because the Gestapo thought he might be related to Horatio.
I read some time ago "The Great Escape" by Paul Brickhill who was a Spitfire pilot and was shot down and interned in Stalag Luft III and therefore wrote about the GE as a first hand witness. That book was turned into the film of the same name. He also wrote the Dambusters book and Reach for the Sky about Douglas Bader which are worth reading and were also turned into films.
He also wrote Escape Or Die which is a compilation of stories of RAF escapers during WW2. The first story (also the name of the book) is an incredible story of an escape from a Japenese POW camp. Worth a read.
Reach For The Sky is a great book of its type and time, written after the war it has a charm of it's own.
Another good read is Fly for Your Life (can't remember the author) about one of Baders contempories Bob Stanford Tuck. He also ended up at Sagan around the time of the GE. He was best mates with Roger Bushell (called Roger Bartlett in the film) who was Big X and mastermined the escape.
If you're into the Dambusters, you should also read Enemy Coast Ahead by W/C Guy Gibson who lead the raid. Written during the war and highly censored, it sits well along side Dambusters especially that part that deals with the Dams raid itself. The Dambusters squadron (617) went on to sink the Tirpitz, and wipe out the flying Bomb and Rocket sites in France and Belgium.
Lead for a time by Leonard Cheshire it was an incredibly effective fighting force. Cheshire who won the VC whist flying in 617 is a fascinating character who after the war formed the Cheshire Homes for The Terminally Ill flew an incredible number of sorties and ended the war as Attlee's representative who witnessed the dropping of the Atomic Bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. His Biography called No Passing Cloud is also worth a read.
Comments
The father of a friend of mine was in the Great Escape - the real thing not the film. He was one of the few who didn't get shot by the Gestapo when they were re-captured, which he put down to his surname being "Churchill", although he wasn't related to Winston.
For me the disappointment was as much in what was left out as put in. It was clearly made for an American audience and they judged that 90 minutes was as much as the "man at the back of the Pittsburg Greyhound" could take. For a man like Churchill and for an event like WW2, it just wasn't long enough. The show piece events like Dunkirk, the Battle Of Britain etc were covered very much in precis. For me it was like the proverbial Chinese Meal, it just left you feeling hungry for more.
It wasn't terrible, it was not at all bad, just not enough.
I missed that, do you know if they plan to repeat it?
Channel 4 on-demand
hope the link works.
Thanks, I'll look out for the book. I know his son but have never met his father who I think lives on the south coast somewhere (Devon I think). If I remember correctly this Churchill escaped with someone who's surname was Nelson and he also escaped being executed and the speculation was that was because the Gestapo thought he might be related to Horatio.
I read some time ago "The Great Escape" by Paul Brickhill who was a Spitfire pilot and was shot down and interned in Stalag Luft III and therefore wrote about the GE as a first hand witness. That book was turned into the film of the same name. He also wrote the Dambusters book and Reach for the Sky about Douglas Bader which are worth reading and were also turned into films.
He also wrote Escape Or Die which is a compilation of stories of RAF escapers during WW2. The first story (also the name of the book) is an incredible story of an escape from a Japenese POW camp. Worth a read.
Reach For The Sky is a great book of its type and time, written after the war it has a charm of it's own.
Another good read is Fly for Your Life (can't remember the author) about one of Baders contempories Bob Stanford Tuck. He also ended up at Sagan around the time of the GE. He was best mates with Roger Bushell (called Roger Bartlett in the film) who was Big X and mastermined the escape.
If you're into the Dambusters, you should also read Enemy Coast Ahead by W/C Guy Gibson who lead the raid. Written during the war and highly censored, it sits well along side Dambusters especially that part that deals with the Dams raid itself. The Dambusters squadron (617) went on to sink the Tirpitz, and wipe out the flying Bomb and Rocket sites in France and Belgium.
Lead for a time by Leonard Cheshire it was an incredibly effective fighting force. Cheshire who won the VC whist flying in 617 is a fascinating character who after the war formed the Cheshire Homes for The Terminally Ill flew an incredible number of sorties and ended the war as Attlee's representative who witnessed the dropping of the Atomic Bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. His Biography called No Passing Cloud is also worth a read.