Back Coronel Blimp Catalan The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp Welsh Leben und Sterben des Colonel Blimp German Coronel Blimp Spanish زندگی و مرگ کلنل بلیمپ Persian Ystävykset Finnish Colonel Blimp French The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp Frisian Duello a Berlino Italian 老兵は死なず (映画) Japanese

The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp

The Life and Death of
Colonel Blimp
Cinema poster
Directed byMichael Powell
Emeric Pressburger
Written byMichael Powell
Emeric Pressburger
Produced byMichael Powell
Emeric Pressburger
StarringRoger Livesey
Anton Walbrook
Deborah Kerr
CinematographyGeorges Perinal
Edited byJohn Seabourne Sr.
Music byAllan Gray
Production
company
Distributed byGeneral Film Distributors
Release date
  • 10 June 1943 (1943-06-10)
Running time
163 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Budget£200,000 or US$2 million[1] or £188,812[2]
Box office$275,472 (US)[3]

The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp is a 1943 British romantic-war film written, produced and directed by the British film-making team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. It stars Roger Livesey, Deborah Kerr and Anton Walbrook. The title derives from the satirical Colonel Blimp comic strip by David Low, but the story is original. Although the film is strongly pro-British, it is a satire on the British Army, especially its leadership. It suggests that Britain faced the option of following traditional notions of honourable warfare or to "fight dirty" in the face of such an evil enemy as Nazi Germany.[4][5]

One film critic has described it as "England's greatest film ever"[6] and it is renowned for its sophistication and directorial brilliance as well as for its script, the performances of its large cast and for its pioneering Technicolor cinematography. Among its distinguished company of actors, particular praise has been reserved for Livesey, Walbrook and Kerr.

  1. ^ "Indies $70,000,000 Pix Output". Variety: 3. 3 November 1944. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
  2. ^ Macdonald, Kevin (1994). Emeric Pressburger: The Life and Death of a Screenwriter. Faber and Faber. p. 223. ISBN 978-0-571-16853-8.
  3. ^ Street, Sarah (2002), Transatlantic Crossings: British Feature Films in the USA, Continuum, p. 97.
  4. ^ Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger (18 September 2018). "Life and Death of Colonel Blimp_The" – via Internet Archive.
  5. ^ As is shown in the film in Theo's speech to Clive after Clive's broadcast is cancelled
  6. ^ Fleming, Colin (27 March 2013). "The Greatest British Film Ever is 'The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp'". The Atlantic.

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