Churchill: The Hollywood Years
| Churchill: The Hollywood Years | |
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 UK Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Peter Richardson |
| Produced by | Jonathan Cavendish, Dixie Linder, Ben Swaffer, Steve Christian, Brian Donovan, Nick Hirschkorn, François Ivernel, Cameron McCracken, James Mitchell |
| Written by | Peter Richardson, Pete Richens |
| Starring | Christian Slater, Neve Campbell, Miranda Richardson |
| Music by | Simon Boswell, Rod Melvin |
| Cinematography | Cinders Forshaw |
| Editing by | Geoff Hogg, Duncan Shepherd, John Wilson |
| Distributed by | Pathe Films |
| Release date(s) | 3 December 2004 (UK) |
| Running time | 84 min. |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
Churchill: The Hollywood Years is a 2004 film, directed by Peter Richardson. It stars Christian Slater as Winston Churchill, and Neve Campbell as Elizabeth II. Academy Award nominee Miranda Richardson and Anthony Sher also star.
The film is a satire on the Hollywood take on history, such as U-571 (portraying the capture of an Enigma machine as being by the Americans rather than the Polish and later British) and Pearl Harbor (where American participation in the Battle of Britain was exaggerated).
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[edit] Production
It was filmed between 24 March and 12 May 2003. Mainly filmed at the Royal William Yard, Stonehouse, Plymouth
- Oldway Mansion doubles as Buckingham Palace
Oldway Mansion is in Paignton, Devon and was the home of Isaac Singer, the sewing machine magnate
- The old fish quay at Brixham, Devon doubles as Plymouth Docks.
[edit] Cultural references
- The scene between Charoo and the waitress in a station tearoom, and Elizabeth's response on Churchill's arrival there, are parodies of scenes from Brief Encounter, between Stanley Holloway and Joyce Carey, and Trevor Howard and Celia Johnson, respectively.
- The cab driver and the King mistake Adolf Hitler for Charlie Chaplin, who played a spoof of Hitler in the satirical film The Great Dictator.
- The "Siegfried Line" rap takes its title and (loosely) some of its lyrics from the British wartime song "We're Going to Hang out the Washing on the Siegfried Line". The introduction to the song is a reference to Top Gun.
- The song "Hitler Has Only Got One Ball" is frequently referenced, including once where it is delivered by Tommy Trinder.
- The presence of "Irish Cockneys" is a reference to the steerage passengers in Titanic.
- Churchill's final exit in a Spitfire references the portrayal of the American contribution to the Battle of Britain early in the film Pearl Harbor.
- Brian Perkins' commentary on Hitler and Elizabeth's wedding is a parody of Richard Dimbleby's hushed radio commentaries of royal events.
- Eva Braun is shown listening to the end of an episode of The Archers, even though it did not start until six years after the war ended.
- Jimmy Charoo takes his name from a song Dick van Dyke sings in Mary Poppins (he also lives on "Ye Olde Dick Van Dyke Street")
[edit] Cast
[edit] Historical characters
- Christian Slater – Winston Churchill
- Neve Campbell – Princess Elizabeth
- Miranda Richardson – Eva Braun
- Anthony Sher – Adolf Hitler
- Harry Enfield – King George VI
- Jessica Oyelowo – Princess Margaret
- Henry Goodman – Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Jon Culshaw – Tony Blair
- Romany Malco – Denzil Eisenhower
- David Schneider – Joseph Goebbels
- Phil Cornwell – Martin Bormann
- Steve O'Donnell – Hermann Göring
- John Fabian – Victor Sylvester
[edit] Other
- Rik Mayall – Baxter
- Bob Mortimer – Potter
- Vic Reeves – Bendle
- Sally Phillips – Waitress
- Steve Pemberton – Chester
- Hamish McColl – Captain Davies (present day)
- Leslie Phillips – Lord W'ruff
- Mackenzie Crook – Jimmy Charoo
- Brian Perkins – Radio Presenter
- James Dreyfus – Mr. Teasy-Weasy
[edit] Reception
Phillip French writing in The Observer called the film "a hit and miss affair"[1] Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian gave it three stars and said "It's wildly uneven and very broad, but there are some laughs in Peter Richardson's Comic Strip fantasy of Churchill's real life as a kickass action hero."[2] However Nev Peirce on the BBC's website panned the film, saying "Sadly, Peter Richardson suffers the fate of many satirists; in trying to mock bad movies, he's simply made a bad movie"[3] The film grossed only £148,326 on its opening weekend across 170 screens in the UK[4]
[edit] References
- ^ French, Philip (5 December 2004). "We'll fight them on Sunset Boulevard...". The Observer. http://www.guardian.co.uk/theobserver/2004/dec/05/features.review17. Retrieved 6 December 2011.
- ^ Bradshaw, Peter (3 December 2004). "Churchill:The Hollywood Years". The Guardian. http://arts.guardian.co.uk/fridayreview/story/0,,1364948,00.html. Retrieved 6 December 2011.
- ^ Pierce, Nev. "Churchill: The Hollywood Years (2004)". BBCi Films, 02 December 2004. BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2004/11/29/churchill_the_hollywood_years_2004_review.shtml. Retrieved 6 December 2011.
- ^ "Churchill: The Hollywood Years". Box Office Mojo. IMDb.com, Inc. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0359078/business. Retrieved 6 December 2011.
