The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943, dir. Emeric Pressburger & Michael Powell, UK) by Patrick McElroy

“40 years ago!”

Those are the words said by Major General Clive Candy, the main character in The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, and they were uttered by the film’s director Michael Powell 40 years ago when he presented the new restoration 40 years after it was originally released. This quote, like the film, makes you think about the passing of time, as few films explore the theme better than Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s 1943 masterpiece.

The title is inspired by the famous Colonel Blimp comic strip, but is itself an original story, as it follows Clive Candy (Roger Livesy) on his journey from lieutenant to general through the Boer War, World War I, and World War II.

The battles are never shown, but we see the time he spends with his German friend Theo Shuldorff (Walbrook), and the three women who fascinate him in each stage, all of them played by Deborah Kerr.

This would be the fifth collaboration between Powell  and Pressburger, where Powell would serve as more of the director, and Pressburger would be the writer, but they felt they contributed so much to each other’s work that they shared the writer/director credits.

This would be their first collaboration in technicolor, and few filmmakers had a greater sense of color than Powell. When looking at any frame from his movies it captures a fantastical sense of beauty in every detail from the sets to the costumes.

For the role of Candy they originally wanted Laurence Olivier, but the Ministry of Information wouldn’t allow him since he was serving in the Fleet Air Arm. This would result in them casting Livesy, who was better known for theater, and it’s hard to imagine anyone else in the role. Livesy ages through  four decades and is believable through every stage of it. He also has a voice that’s both rough and eloquent to show a man that’s both a general and a gentleman.

Wolbrook, who’s best known for playing the villainous role of Boris Lermontov in Powell and Pressburger’s masterpiece The Red Shoes, plays the role of Shuldorff with a sense of warmth and sympathy, for it’s the longest relationship Candy has throughout the film.

When Kerr was cast in the film, Powell fell in love with her, and they began a relationship, and his affection shows for her throughout, as he photographs her with affection.

When the movie was first released it was attacked by some for  having a sympathetic German character and not being more pro-British but would be the third-biggest hit in the U.K. box-office that year. When the movie was released in America, it was cut down, and shown in black and white. In the 50’s a young Martin Scorsese was greatly impacted  by it when he watched it on tv, and in 1983 along with his editor and wife of Powell, they would help restore the film and save it’s legacy.

Japanese British writer Kazuo Ishiguro would see the film when it was restored, and it inspired his 1989 novel The Remains of the Day, which also  explores a character who witnesses history through decades. Then in 1999 the British Film Institute would rank it at number 45 on their list of 100 greatest British films.

Like other films released in the 40’s such as Citizen Kane, Heaven Can Wait, and It’s a Wonderful Life, this is a  film that captures a man’s life through years, but Life and Death of Colonel Blimp is the one that addresses the feeling of time, so the more one watches it every few years or more, the more moving it is.

Patrick McElroy is a movie writer and movie lover based in Los Angeles. Check out his other writing at: https://www.facebook.com/patrick.mcelroy.3726 or his IG: @mcelroy.patrick