The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp

A shorter older solider in a gray uniform addresses a taller young soldier in a red uniform at close range. — "The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp" (1943, dir. Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger). Courtesy of Park Circus.

Considered by many to be the finest British film ever made, The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger is a stirring masterpiece like no other.

Roger Livesey stars as the unforgettable General Clive Candy, a senior-ranking British solider charged with overseeing an English squad in 1943. Candy is a veteran leader who doesn't have the respect of the men he's training and is considered out-of-touch with what's needed to win the war. But it wasn't always this way. Flashing back across his militarily career, which spans four decades of British history including the Boer War and World War I, we see a dashing and capable young officer whose life has been shaped by three different women (all played by Deborah Kerr), and by a lifelong friendship with a German soldier.

Colonel Blimp is both moving and slyly satirical, an incomparable film about war, love, aging, and obsolescence, shot in gorgeous Technicolor.

Part of our "Powell & Pressburger: Titans of Technicolor" series. Courtesy of Park Circus.