Churchill and the Generals

I love Churchill and have seen a number of movies on his life. Biograghies and documentaries generally better than fiction.

But this is particularly unsatisfying. First is the childish and almost feminine demeanor of the great wartime leader played by this actor. Hair raising. Next is the British point of view, with overstatement of strategic importance of military power of UK during wartime. Next is almost complete lack of any history except the few encounters they chose to depict. I guess this is in the service of total focus on the generals, per se, which admittedly is the stated goal of the film.

We managed to endure almost 2 hours before agreeing to exit.

Winston Churchill who rallied his nation and may very well have saved civilization by keeping the UK fighting against Nazism until the Soviet Union and the USA entered the war, had some serious flaws as a military strategist. There was only one way of beating Hitler, go right through the front door of Western Europe. Churchill however wanted to nibble at the sides, hence the Mediterranean campaign, the attempt to take Norway back.

The fear was understandable. Everyone on both sides in Europe feared the four year stalemate that was World War I with the trench warfare in France. Anything to avoid that again, so the British shied away from a cross channel invasion and a campaign in France.

Timothy West captures the mercurial part of Churchill's nature as well as the inspiring one. In his long career, Churchill was both First Lord of the Admiralty and Secretary of State for War, the former post he held twice. He was educated at Sandhurst though he left the army for politics, he fancied himself a military strategist.

This made for TV docudrama shows a Churchill who hired and fired generals in much the same manner that Abraham Lincoln did in the Civil War. But Lincoln was more result oriented, the Churchill we see here is someone who got rid of people basically because they didn't kiss up to him.

He got rid of generals like Wavell who defeated the Italians at Addis Ababa and Auchinleck who slowed the Nazi advance at the first battle of El Alamein for pretty much that reason. The man who replaced Auchinleck in North Africa, Bernard Montgomery took Auchinleck's battle plan and turned the Nazis at the second El Alamein.

After that, the direction of war planning came more and more from the American military. In fact one of the reasons I like Churchill and the Generals is it shows just how much different things were with FDR and his generals and Churchill and his. Roosevelt was smart enough to know when he was not in his element and he left strategic planning to George C. Marshall and Ernest J. King in the Navy. Next to West as Churchill, I liked Joseph Cotten as Marshall.

A great inspirational leader, but one who his generals wished had just confined himself to making speeches in Parliament.

Winston Churchill was no doubt a giant of a man who will never be forgotten; truly one of the great figures of the Second World War. This portrayal of him, however, seems to dwell more on his limitations than on his strengths. As the title would imply, the focus is on Churchill the military leader - there's precious little to be found of Churchill the inspirational orator, who kept up the spirits of the British people when all seemed hopeless. There's a small number of snippets (and very short ones) from some of his speeches, but nothing at all from his great "we shall never surrender" speech after the fall of France. No, the focus is on Churchill the soldier, and it really isn't a very flattering portrayal.

Actually, the thing that kept coming into my mind was how "Hitlerian" Churchill seemed in this regard. Unable to confine himself to the diplomatic or even overall strategic side of the conflict, Churchill constantly inserted himself into operational matters, argued with and often overruled his generals, sacked those who disagreed with him, and focused on objectives of limited strategic value (shown most powerfully by his insistence on invading and occupying the Greek Aegean islands against the wishes of the Americans, only to have to turn to the Americans for help when his plan didn't work out.) Just as Hitler was seemingly fixated on proving to his generals that a former corporal deserved to be their leader, so was Churchill striving to overcome a past that raised doubts - as the Americans astutely noted in observing that Churchill's fixation with the Mediterranean at the expense of Operation Overlord was really an attempt to redeem strategic mistakes he had made during World War I.

Timothy West was convincing as Churchill - but in a limited way, since he didn't have to match Churchill's oratory in this role. He does manage to portray a man both arrogant and sometimes child-like, concerned with his historical legacy and totally convinced of his own abilities, even if few others were. The casting of the various American characters was more problematic. Joseph Cotten handled the role of George Marshall fairly well, but I thought Arthur Hill as FDR and Richard Dysart as Eisenhower were both lacking somewhat. This is a made-for-TV docudrama, and definitely shows that, both in its sets, its overall production values and even its music, so one can't look for something the quality of a big screen epic. I liked the look at this side of Churchill, though, and overall found this very interesting. 7/10

A Well-crafted presentation of Winston Churchill and the interrelationships between the generals and the Prime Minister. The acting is superb, the dialogue captivating, and the war film footage brings back memories of the horrors and deaths of so many fine men and women. If only the memories could stop the future carnage of people.

This under-rated drama has a classic quality all of its own. It gives a superb insight into the complexities of Churchill as a man and a leader. It also provides an intriguing peek at both military and political thinking on both sides of the Atlantic during the Second World War.

Casting can only be described as brilliant. Not only were the leading characters played superbly by established and fine actors but most had a physical resemblance to the real people they played.

It was released in the States on VHS a long time ago, but currently someone has posted it all on You Tube.

If you are interested in understanding the War from a different perspective, do watch it.