Jmhl3 Reviews

Passport to Pimlico (1949)

Brilliant Ealing Film

[1 November 2006]

Passpot to Plimco is simply a wonderful little film about the residents of the London district of Pimlico. After the accidental discovery of an early medieval treaty and some treasure, the residents find out that they are actually part of the Duchy of Burgundy. Henceforth, they are independent from Great Britain. They organise a government, with the local shopkeepers and bank manager. And for the rest of London it is a godsend, as rationing does not apply to Pimlico, and goods can be bought cheaply. So hundreds of market trader flood the streets. Eventually it is decided to close the "border" with Pimlico. The children are evacuated and food is stored away. Meanwhile the Duke of Burgundy turns up and is procliamed the sovereign. Eventually after several humorous adventures, the inhabitants faced with starvation, decide to rejoin Britain. Its a great film thats bursting with that great humour that Ealing Studios were known for. Well worth a watch

Empire of the Sun (1987)

Grossly Overrated

[1 November 2006]

When I first sat down to watch this film, I was expecting an engrossing portrayal of civilian life in a Japanese internment camp. Instead I wasted my time watching a load of cowardly English aristocrats, superhero yanks and a disturbed adolescent boy screaming his head off. Firstly I have not read Mr Ballard's book, but I seriously doubt whether any boy of his age at that time ran about acting like a three year old. Also the very strange way he can order the Japanese about. Good god, the Japanese prison camp guards were bloody sadists. Do you seriously think they'd take orders from a young boy who is an enemy. My backside they would. Another thing. Mr Spielberg seems to have a fetish for putting Brits, English people in particular as cowardly suck ups to Americans. This can be said of our current prime minister Mr T Blair, but not of your average Brit in the war. Absolute garbage, does not deserve any praise. Just a badly acted, stereotyped, film.

All the King's Men (1999 TV Movie)

Very Sad but Very True Story

[13 August 2006]

This is the story of the Sandringham Company of the Royal Norfolk Regiment. The Sandringhams were made up out of servants or tenants of the Royal Family's estate at Sandringham. It follows there loves, hopes, fears throughout early 1915, as some lads want to see the world, another wants to marry before leaving, the officers are the same. The Medical Officer's wife has left him but is quite happy to go around with other women, other officers are uneasy about leaving home or their inexperience gets to them. The main character is Captain Frank Beck a respected figure at Sandringham and friend of the Royal Family, together with most of the others in the film he was a person in real life. The film passed to the Sandrighams deployment to the Dardenelles. It shows the chaos at Gallipoli with regards to logistics and discipline. Now we come to the attack the Sandringhams make. The film erroneously portrays the Sandringhams as going over the top without a preparatory barrage and from behind a sandbag barricade. In actual fact they went over with their brigade, with a short barrage and from trenches, the Sandrighams objective was to capture a farm. They were not led by Captain Beck, they were led by Lt Col Proctor with Beck as second in command, their battalion commander. The film gets it correct in showing the Sandringhams getting minced up by shell and sniper fire and there being few left once they reach the farm. They pushed the Turks out of the farm but the Turks regrouped and surrounded the farm. Proctor decided to surrender. The 40 or so survivors out of a company of 150 were marched out of the farm by the Turks and forced to kneel where they were then shot in the back of the head. The film shows Beck getting executed but it was later reported that he was fatally wounded just as the men got out of the trenches. After the war their remains were discovered and given a proper burial albeit there was nothing to identify a person with though except for the Royal Norfolk shoulder flashes. This film is very good and I believe the historical adviser wrote a fine book about the Sandringhams which should be interesting to many. If you want to see the forgotten story of a very sad but heroic tale, then this is the film for you.

A Matter of Life and Death (1946)

Simply Beautiful

[13 August 2006]

A Matter of Life and Death had me stunned when I first saw it. The marvellous opening, makes you feel like you are floating among the stars in a place of your own. Then it moves to the horrors of war and the down side of life, men dead and more to follow. The story has already been told a thousand times by other reviewers who were as enchanted by this film as I was. The cinematography, the story, everything was just right. In my book it is the greatest film ever made. I liked the way that the earth is in sometimes beautiful, sometimes gritty Technicolour, then what is above is in mystical Black and White. To my dying days I will always love this film. See it before you die.

Mosley (1998)

Resonably Good Portrayal of A Great Politician

[13 August 2006]

This program charts the political career of Sir Oswald Mosley. It was a very good program but there is nothing much to say as the other reviewers have said it most of the good things already. But the program did have its flaws. It was a fairly good portrayal of Mosley's political and private life including his tackling of the unemployment problem, his views on the Irish question, what made him "cross the floor", his embracement of fascism etc. Although there were several unnecessary sex scenes which added a sort of cheapness to the film, also the ending was very rushed. For instance it missed out the abdication crisis (Mosley was a supporter and personal friend of Edward VIII). Winston Churchill is shown as Mosley's enemy whereas both men were friends. The program was good in pointing out that Mosley was never an anti-semite and that William Joyce aka "Lord Haw-Haw" briefly turned him into one. Perhaps a nice touch would be that as Mosley is in prison Joyce comes on the radio with his far fetched tales of how the Nazi's are going to win the war. The program had been very pro Mosley but had to be ruined by an anti Mosley and very rushed ending as I have said before. Do not let this put you off a very good program like this. Just know the facts before you view.

When Hitler Invaded Britain (2004 TV Movie)

Poor history, badly researched, too many reconstructions

[8 July 2006]

To many alternate history buffs it would seem inevitable for TV shows about Operation Sealion airing. Channel Five just pulled it off with Hitlers Britain (see my other review) but this horrid ITV adaption was just painful to watch. The program was badly researched, the only mention of the British invasion defence's was a brief, downplaying of the defences of the South Coast of England, the program suggested that it was futile for Britain to defend itself. There was no mention of the plan to withdraw the RAF to the North of Britain if things got worse for them. Important defence organisations like the Home Guard or the Auxiliary Units were only given about two minutes worth of time! The program also for some reason seemed to accept that the German invasion plan would go according to plan and nothing could stop it! Also the most criminal thing left out by the program was the Royal Navy which as the Sandhurst War Game showed would have played a crucial role in destroying the German invasion fleet and supply fleet. Very shoddy research indeed. Now I come to the reconstructions. Nicholas Jones and Clifford Rose were very good in their parts as General(later Field Marshal) Alan Brooke and Admiral Raeder, respectively. But the other actors were god awful. Especially the actor who played Heydrich, he included the worst German accent I had ever heard and even included the dreaded "vers" and "vots", makes me cringe thinking about it! Also why do documentaries need to show reconstructions. Reconstructions are good is to show tactics, the situation and get the feel of something, and they must be well acted out. Some docu-dramas are good at this like "Ten Days To D-Day" or "The Somme". But for this program whats wrong with the actual archive film of the British and the German invasion preparation photographs and archive photographs? Overall you are better trying to look out for Hitlers Britain than this badly researched garbage.

The Patriot (2000)

Long Live Banastre Tarleton

[9 May 2006]

Please if you have'nt seen this inaccurate Hollywood attempt at the American Revolution, then steer well clear.

The character of Colonel Tavington makes a villain out of Britains military hero Major-General Sir Banastre Tarleton. A man who led a valiant loyalist force against the rebels. Brag all you want but the amount of Loyalists compared to Rebels is far greater. You can talk all you want about the "Waxhaw Massacre" but the fact remains a rebel shot Tarletons horse and his troops had a right to open fire at the spur of the moment, fearing they were going to be fired at.

Anyway I won't go on anymore about Hollywoods attempts to make Tarleton a villain. The fact remains it is a bad film that does make the uneducated viewer believe the wrong things. EG :African-Americans overwhelmingly supported Britain and many units of these fine men were formed. :The Native Americans who for years have been portrayed far worse than us in Hollywood, also fought for us.

I know there are many good Americans out there who recognise these errors and I applaud them for that. The fact remains though that Hollywood is turning Great Britain into a nation of villains.

And another thing, stop calling us "English". WE ARE British. England, Scotland, Wales, Nothern Ireland even some Gibraltarians consider themselves British. Thats what we are. I can't tell you, that you must never call a Scotsman an Englishman. My mates were up in arms at this point.

I'm not turning this into an Anti-American rant. On the contrary America is a fine country with much to offer, only Hollywood is educating Americans about the rest of the world for the worst.

Hitler's Victory (2002 TV Movie)

Pretty Good

[8 May 2006]

Hitler's Britain. This documentary sets out a Britain where we had been defeated and lay under the Nazi jackboot.

Many of you military historians out there may have noticed that the idea for a successful German invasion, that the program puts forward, kinda falls down when it comes to crossing the channel and not mentioning the Royal Navy, which as the Sandhurst War Game proved, could have straddled the German's supply and reinforcement line via the Channel. It also mentions the successful German paratroop landings. Which would'nt have been possible. Even in October 1940 the German Airborne divisions were still re-equipping and training replacement recruits for their losses in France and the Low-Countrys. Even if the BEF had been cut off at Dunkirk the Royal Navy would have made a massacre of the invasion fleet which consisted mainly on Rhine River Barges. About a quarter would have capsized in the Channel anyway. So there's the history.

Whilst the actual invasion itself was poorly thought out by the writers the content of the program was fascinating. The German's prepared a list of about 2,300 Britons to be "detained" if Britain was taken. With Einzatzgrupen sqauds (Death Sqauds) at London, Liverpool, Bristol, Manchester, Birmingham and Edinburgh. Also mentioned was the treatment of Freemasons and Jews but most of you pretty much know all about this so I wont go into it. How the Britsh police force was to be handled. And of course the big question, who was going to be the Prime Minister ? (The program killed Churchill off in an air raid). The first name that will pop into someones head is probably Oswald Mosley the interned leader of The British Union of Fascists. You might be screaming TRAITOR, TRAITOR at Mosley but it was not to be the case. The Nazi's rarely let local Fascist or Nazi party's run occupied country's governments and anyway Mosley announced he was supporting the British war effort and called on BUF men and women to resist the invaders. The program settles on Lord Halifax becoming leader and surrendering the country after the British counter attack is defeated due to lack of armour. (Which also doesn't stand up as we had an armoured division that was nearly fully equipped and also that Air Chief Marshall Dowding had a plan to withdraw what was left of the RAF to the Midlands, and don't forget there was also a considerable force in Scotland and the North of England at that time). So anyway the the writers have the Royal Family as we know it George VI, Queen Elisabeth (later Queen Mother), Princess Elisabeth (later Queen) and Princess Margret, fleeing to Canada. It has Edward VIII being instated as Prince Regent and Wallis Simpson, his Princess. They rule from Balmoral Castle in Scotland. I'm guessing they rule the North of England, Scotland, Nothern Ireland and a part of the British Empire (as the Dominions, the West Indies, the South Atlantic Islands and some African colonies would remain loyal to King George.) Others like India would stay loyal to the puppet government so that Germany could restrain Japan from trying to seize British colonys there.

Anyhow it ends up with another program on the Auxiliury Units or "The British Resistance". The Auxiliury Units were set up in mid 1940 to act as a resistance movement in case the country was occupied. This is the most interesting program as it has interviews with former members and charts a fictional one in a what-if scenario.

All in all it's a good documentary, if flawed on the historical side. Worth a watch though and much better than ITV's horrible attempt to put their view of it in "When Hitler Invaded Britain".

Line of Fire: The Somme (2005 TV Movie)

Accurate and Moving

[22 November 2005]

On the 1st of July 1916 thousands of British and French troops rose out of their trenches and attacked the German lines. It resulted in widespread slaughter, mainly on the British troops. This documentary explores all three combatants, a company of the Royal Manchester Regiment, a German officer and private's experience, and finally the French get a mention in the form of a field hospital operated by an American nurse and a front line officer. Also the popular image of the Somme is dispelled. The initial French victories are at last recognized. And for once, the British are not portrayed as getting shot down the instant they go over the top, instead the firing starts about 200 yards of the German lines, as it really happened. The accounts of poetic Captain May and his valiant Sergeant will not fail to move the viewer, as May writes heart wrenching letters to his wife and young daughter. The Christian Socialist Sergeant, May's friend who inspires the men is the best possible image of the British NCO. The documentary also focuses on the delicate subject of murdering prisoners which on the first day, which on the British sector did happen. The German's are also portrayed well, the professional "by the book" officer who successfully defends his trench and the private's who viewed the Somme as a cushy sector before getting killed in the battle. Unfortuanatly the French army is usually left out of these programs, so it was good to see their achievements portrayed accuratley.

The only slight criticisms of the program I have are

1. We don't see the explosions of the underground mines in the British sector.

2. We don't see the legendary pipers of the Highland Regiments who played their pipes as bullets and shells landed all around them, encouraging the men who eventually would take their objectives.

3. Finally it would have been good to see the Ulster Division in action with some of there officers wearing their famous orange sashes.

These complaints are minor. This is a breathtaking documentary that should be released on DVD. Ch4 again beats the politically correct BBC who alter events to suite the modern age eg look what happened in the horrible Docu-Drama Dunkirk. But thats another story.

Watch this documentary for the true story of the Battle of the Somme.