Churchill: The Hollywood Years

Churchill: The Hollywood Years
UK Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Peter Richardson
Produced by	Jonathan Cavendish
Written by	Peter Richardson Pete Richens
Starring	Christian Slater Neve Campbell Miranda Richardson
Music by	Simon Boswell Rod Melvin
Cinematography	Cinders Forshaw
Edited by	Geoff Hogg Duncan Shepherd John Wilson
Distributed by	Pathe Films
Release dates	3 December 2004 (UK)
Running time	84 min.
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Box office	£148,326

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. Miranda Richardson and Antony Sher also co 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 British) and Pearl Harbor (where American participation in the Battle of Britain was exaggerated).

Plot

In this parody, the British court and war government consist mainly of idiots and traitors. Adolf Hitler moves into Buckingham Palace and plans to marry into the Windsors. A US Army officer claims the cigar-smoking iconic PM was an actor named Roy Bubbles however, he was actually USMC lieutenant Winston Churchill who had stolen an enigma code machine and then almost single-handedly won a very alternative battle for Britain

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
• Powderham castle, Exeter
• The old fish quay at Brixham, Devon doubles as Plymouth Docks.

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 taxi 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.
• Jim Jim Charoo takes his name from a song Dick van Dyke sings in Mary Poppins (he also lives on "Ye Olde Dick Van Dyke Street")

Cast

Historical characters

• Christian Slater – Winston Churchill
• Neve Campbell – Princess Elizabeth
• Miranda Richardson – Eva Braun
• Antony 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

Other

• Rik Mayall – Baxter
• Bob Mortimer – Potter
• Vic Reeves – Bendle
• Ashleigh Caldwell – Bette
• Sally Phillips – Waitress
• Steve Pemberton – Chester
• Hamish McColl – Captain Davies (present day)
• Leslie Phillips – Lord W'ruff
• Mackenzie Crook – Jim Charoo
• Brian Perkins – Radio Presenter
• James Dreyfus – Mr. Teasy-Weasy

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]

References

1. French, Philip (5 December 2004). "We'll fight them on Sunset Boulevard...". The Observer. Retrieved 6 December 2011.
2. Bradshaw, Peter (3 December 2004). "Churchill:The Hollywood Years". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 December 2011.
3. Pierce, Nev. "Churchill: The Hollywood Years (2004)". BBCi Films, 02 December 2004. BBC. Retrieved 6 December 2011.
4. "Churchill: The Hollywood Years". Box Office Mojo. IMDb.com, Inc. Retrieved 6 December 2011.

External links

• Peter Richardson TV
• Churchill: The Hollywood Years at the Internet Movie Database
• Churchill: The Hollywood Years at Rotten Tomatoes
• Review - The Observer
• Review - The Guardian