Powell and Pressburger's The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp and A Canterbury Tale by Kevin Patrick Mahoney
When
we meet Clive Candy again `somewhere in Flanders' (Christie, p.182), he is
forty two. He has put on some weight and his hair is thinning, and his
moustache is made to look just that much thicker. Alfred Junge's sets are meant
to evoke memories of the period, so throughout the First World War sequence,
there is an overwhelming abundance of Khaki and greyness, except for the red
tabs on Candy's uniform. When the General arrives at the convent, he really has
fallen on his feet as the matron comments, and this is signalled by the bright
red cross on the nurses' uniforms. This is in contrast with the set, which is
stony grey. Junge has a great talent for painting matte backgrounds, such as
the war landscape he creates in the next scene. It is impossible to discern
where the studio set ends and the backdrop begins. This was especially so in A
Canterbury Tale. Since the Cathedral was boarded up for the duration of the
war, the Archers had to rely on Junge's artistry to create the illusion of the
modern pilgrims being inside it. To the casual observer, there appears to be no
difference between the studio bound set and the real Cathedral interior.
Colonel Blimp is not a naturalistic film. So many scenes have the appearance of
being paintings that it comes as a real surprise to discover that the convent's
stairs are real when the nurses depart.
There is a hint that Powell and Pressburger have been influenced by
another film in this segment. The local Bradford newspaper is imposed upon a
background of working machinery: a device used to much the same effect in
Citizen Kane. Yet the Archers have defamiliarized this convention of whirling
newspapers, by using weaving machines instead of the usual printing presses.
Rather ingeniously, the ending of Khaki
2
manufacture
is used to signal peacetime. Not only that, but the opportunity to announce
Candy's forthcoming marriage to Barbara Wynne is taken. The factory at which
the first postwar wedding gown will be made is that of her parents'. As well as
this local newspaper, we are also required to read Major Van Zijl's report. The
device of red type is used to highlight Theo's name.
When we see Deborah Kerr again, she is accompanied by Allan Grey's theme
music. Significantly, she is sitting at the end of the hall, so that the music
and our expectations can build up for her appearance. When Clive has sat down,
there is a close-up shot of her. George Perinal, the Archers' cinematographer
for this film, puts her under a soft focus. This device may be to emphasise her
youth, for Deborah Kerr had earlier appeared as the older Edith Hunter. Her
role is crucial, for `it was the question of how to present the three heroines
that decided me to use colour' (Powell,p.406). Thus Kerr gets the opportunity
to wear a garish dress as she sits with Candy outside her Yorkshire family
home. Presumably it is Powell who is scathing about that style of dress in the
script (Christie, p.213). Kerr admirably performs three different roles,
although Barbara is probably the most disturbing of them. She actively
encourages Candy to be a `Blimp' by praising (and loving), his sporting spirit:
'I'm marrying you because I love watching you play polo' (Christie, p.214).
However, she appears to be a disciplinarian, and tells him to stop `wriggling'
here, just as she later dislikes his humming.
Emeric Pressburger believed that any film `should have a little bit of
magic' (Macdonald, p.240). In this sequence, there is the sensation of magic
when Kerr reappears, even though Roger Livesy fluffs the Indian Rope speech. However,
the magic really fails when Candy announces the end of the war. The sound
effect of fighting dies out, only to be replaced a few seconds later by vibrant
bird song. A modern audience has a tendency to react with cynicism
3
at
this scene, especially as Candy only has to look at his watch for the war to
end at exactly the right time. This is not the response that the Archers would
have expected from their audience. Such `magic' moments are far better realised
in A Canterbury Tale.
As Allison stands on a hill looking down at the Cathedral, the sound of
Chaucer's pilgrims is used to great effect to convey her connection with the
old road. Similarly, Sergeant Gibbs is bathed in a halo just as he is being
sarcastic about the possibility of miracles occurring on the train to
Canterbury. Indeed, a comparison could be made between Gibbs and Spud, and also
with the equally deluded Culpepper and Candy. A much needed degree of cynicism
is missing when Candy makes his `Right is Might' speech. It conveys his belief
in the `sporting spirit' (Christie, p.310). Part of Pressburger's propaganda
message is that gentlemen such as Candy should no longer have command in a war
where his sporting spirit plays no part. Wars were no longer being run by
gentlemen, but by Fascists like Adolf Hitler, who was a threat to the whole
`British Isles and the future of England itself' (Christie, p.310).
So, this is supposed to apply to World War Two, but there is one reading
of the film which suggests that Candy has been deluded throughout his life.
After all, the British did commit atrocities in the Boer war (such as the
creation of concentration camps), and there was little to divide them from the
Germans in the Great War. Significantly, in the original script, Candy was
going to berate the Boer Van Ziji for his illegal methods of interrogating
German prisoners (Christie, p.209), making the comparison with German methods
explicit. For whatever reason though, Pressburger omitted this from the final
screenplay. Indeed, Powell supports this view in a letter to Wendy Hiller by
writing that Candy has fought in three wars without `the slightest idea of what
any of them were really about' (Christie, p.17).
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Bibliography.
Christie,
Ian (ed.),' Powell and Pressburger: The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp', Faber
and Faber 1994.
Macdonald,
Kevin, 'Emeric Pressburger: The Life and Death of a Screenwriter', Faber and
Faber 1994.
Powell,
Michael, 'A Life in the Movies. An Autobiography', Methuen 1986.
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