Laserdisc Title: "THE LIFE AND DEATH OF COLONEL BLIMP (1943)"
Edition: The Criterion Collection (Double-Disc Set)
Directed By: Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger
Starring: Roger Livesey, Anton Walbrook, Deborah Kerr, Roland Culver, Harry Welchman, Arthur Wontner, Albert Lieven, Muriel Aked
Production / Year: 1943 General Films Distributors, Ltd Great Britain
Running Time: 163 Minutes / Color
Audio Format: Monaural
Video Format: NTSC, CLV (Extended Play)
Miscellaneous Features: Not Rated
Distributed By: The Voyager Company (First Printing 1988)
Catalog / Spine Number: CC1137L (Criterion Spine Number 37)

IMPORTANT: This is a 12-inch Diameter Laserdisc, which is NOT the same as DVD and cannot be played on a DVD player!

Cosmetic Condition:
Disc (s): Excellent - Hardly noticeable to very minor hairline surface swirls, if any
Jacket: Excellent - Normal shelf wear, few creases, slightly worn-out corners or edges but no signs of spines splitting

Synopsis:

The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp is one of the best films made by the Powell & Pressburger team. It is the best British film of the mid 1940's that I have seen. It is filmed in color and is stunning. It is inspired by the British comic strip, Colonel Blimp written by David Low.

This low-key epic begins with the Boer War, when Blimp is a young (too) gung-ho officer to the time the film was made--mid-war 1943. The cast is superb. Roger Livesey gives one of the best performances imaginable.

Deborah Kerr (18) at the time, gives a tour-de-force performance as the three different women Blimp falls for in the 40-year span of the film. Anton Walbrook Is so brilliant in this film. This man I am now convinced was one of the greatest actors of the 20th Century. His controversial character is a German officer Blimp befriends in the Boer War and they become life-time friends, with Blimp vouching for him being permitted to stay in England during WW II. Walbrook's scene explaining why he has left Germany is as great, if not greater than his curtain speech in "Red Shoes."

Most other actors would have turned this into maudlin sentimentality. Walbrook instead gave me a giant lump in my throat. I don't lump easily.

The film covers the life of a British soldier, Clive Candy, played by the great actor Roger Livesey, best known for his voice, who has been other Powell & Pressburger films. It starts around the turn of the century during the war in South Africa. When he spends time in Germany, he befriends a soldier while in a hospital. The film covers the two world wars and a reunion of th two soldiers.

SPECIAL FEATURES

On Audio Track Two - Over forty years after the making of The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, director and co-producer Michael Powell reminisces about the actors, the productions, and his unique relationship with co-filmmaker Emeric Pressburger. Director Martin Scorsese provides analysis and specific commentary, telling of the impact these two filmmakers have had on his career. The result: a compelling and significant contribution to film history.

This commentary was produced by film historian Ronald Haver and can be listened to separately while watching the film.

THIS IS NOT A DVD!!! THIS IS A 12" LASERDISC AND WILL NOT PLAY IN A DVD PLAYER

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