Glorious 39 [DVD] [2010]

“It’s not always a good place to go…” warns Christopher Lee, “…the past.” And as the glorious English summer of 1939 fades into a dark autumn of war, actress Romola Garai learns things about her close-knit, adoptive aristocratic family that will make her head spin. Stephen Poliakoff acknowledges a debt to Hitchcock in his seductively staged melodrama, the cameras gliding past the opulent surroundings of country-house England to stare down shadowy corridors and secret conspiracies. Hitchcock scoffed at appeasement in 1938’s The Lady Vanishes and his second Hollywood film, following the Oscar-winning Rebecca, was Foreign Correspondent, an urgent wake-up call aimed at isolationist America. In fact, with its walnut cakes for high tea and garden marquee soirees, the wartime film Glorious 39 most vividly resembles is Fritz Lang’s paranoid thriller Ministry of Fear. What’s ultimately most satisfying about this intriguing picture is that there’s nothing remotely ‘Inglourious’ about it.

I enjoyed it . A bit slow for modern films . Good storyline Bill NYE as usual brilliant. I’m not sure if it’s a true story as I have not come across it before.

The reputation of Stephen Poliakoff as a writer and director attracted some big UK stars . Everyone from Julie Christie and Christopher Lee to Eddie Redmayne and David Tennant. There are so many that there are great actors, even in small roles. So lots of terrific performances. There are some glorious clothes and sets, contrasted with bleak.The title refers to the hot summer in 1939, just before and after Britain declared war.Spoiler alert! Including comments by Stephen Poliakoff in the extra which is a voiceoverThe film is about appeasement, focusing particularly in the context of a family. More than I realised is based on truth, such as how much people were examined and followed by the secret services,and what happened to pets (by the way, the horses weren’t real). There is an element that the way a bureaucratic system can do such things shows, is a much milder version, how a government could set-up an institution like Auschwitz.And how close it came to actually going with appeasement- allowing Germany all of Europe whilst the UK carried on as before, rather than going to war. There was also the element of upper class people being more alarmed by communism than fascism. And how people who said there should be war could be seen as a threat.There are a few unlikely situations (particularly at the end of the 1939 part), but I decided to allow some poetic licence, as they do work for the story.

The video was well made with a good cast , but the story line though interesting and a point of view not frequently stated was tedious and repetitative

This film exposes a hidden corner of the eve of World War II of which I'm sure many are unaware. Basically a plot to prevent Churchill becoming Prime Minister in the hope Chamberlain could appease Hitler, with inevitable occupation preferable to armed conflict with Germany. Royalty, Landed Gentry, MPs and MI5 all in colloboration in trying to achieve this at ANY cost. David Tennant excellent as a vociferous and unpopular anti-Nazi MP, while the brilliant BIll Nighy plays a compromised member of the landowning elite preferring inevitable occupation over uncertain war. Beautifully filmed amidst the opulent country houses and estates of Middle England which so many feared to lose.Shadow members of the powers that be engage in the sinister silencings of dissenters in all manner of skullduggery and as a sub plot, a little known fact about the fate of Britain's pre war cats and dogs. Stephen Poliakoff, potent, poignant playwright and producer of this film leaves the audience wrestling with uneasy tensions, rarely reported in history books as Britain approaches its moment of crisis. Syrupy hazy middle England now long gone, as the Swastika looms makes a perfect combination for the drama in the excellent film.

A few minutes into this movie, sync played up - an all too common fault. Does it just apply to Amazon?The plot was a bit of a curate's egg and the movie was a shade overlong. The theme - significant support for the Nazi cause among Britain's landed gentry - was far better depicted in Remains of the Day.

Despite its powerful cast, this movie got some bad reviews when it was released and hasn't been seen much on the main TV channels which I think is a real shame as I found it thoroughly enjoyable. It's a dark mystery thriller/drama centred around the disappearance of a young woman belonging to a well to do family back in 1939 and it unfolds to reveal some deeply sinister events within parts of the British establishment immediately prior to the Second World War. It has all the classic Poliakoff effects with superb location shooting and well paced scripts supported by cleverly attuned background music score which ratchets up the tension at just the right times. I would give it a re-watch rating of 8/10 just for the sheer quality of the production and acting. A must for Poliakoff fans and a high recommended for anyone else.