cannot wait!

glad its not another dunkirk dissapointment

It was a top 5 movie this year. Absolutely agree that the actor portraying WC should get every award they give to actors these days.

It is stunning that after appeasement had clearly lead to war, both Halifax and Chamberlain were still so blindly wedded to their failed policy that they were ready to essentially double-down on failure and capitulate. Absolute arrogance, absolutely flat learning curve. Their shameful place in history is well-earned.

Darkest Hour

I can not wait! I have been reading the book The Last Lion and it's about Winston Churchill and it is awesome.

The Original AG 76 said:

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I hope to God that they are planning a follow up ...could be called Their Finest Hour... picking up where this one ended and running thru the Battle of Britian thru Dec 7. This was as critical to the salvation of western civilization as was the era shown in Darkest Hour. It is wonderful that holliwood is finally showing this era in the glory and awe it deserves

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When has Hollywood not? WWII is always a cinematic go-to.

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I was surprised that Hollywood allowed an accurate version to be made and allowed the truth about Halifax and Chamberlain to be shown. Both men would be the absolute darlings of modern Hollywood yet they were shown as the fatally wrong appeasement freaks that would have led to the end of western civilization had they won out in those " dark hours".

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My wife and I have been watching the Netflix series "The Crown" and were surprised to learn that King Edward VIII was a Nazi sympathizer and was plotting with Hitler to return to the throne after Hitler forced Britain to capitulate. Also, Edward's wife apparently was a Nazi spy. All of this was known to the royal family and the British intelligence agencies but the info was suppressed for many, many years and it was only revealed after a govt agency researching captured Nazi documents accidently discovered them after someone screwed up in their office.

I am always skeptical of "history" that I see on TV or in the movies, but I googled this and found many references to the secret documents, how they were captured, and how they were eventually made public. And apparently, since it was an American Army Capt who actually found the Nazi documents, US intelligence agencies ALSO knew about the former King's treason.

https://nypost.com/2015/03/01/how-britian-covered-up-the-friendship-between-hitler-edward-viii/

It appears "The Crown" has told the story correctly. Fascinating stuff.

My wife and I saw "Darkest Hour" last weekend. We really enjoyed it. As for historical accuracy, was the late night visit from King George giving Sir Winston his support and encouraging him to seek out the opinion of the people concerning waging war rather than negotiating a treaty with the Reich factual?

Further, was the anecdote of the ride on the Tube and his survey of the riders factual as well or just good drama?

dschwab said:

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My wife and I saw "Darkest Hour" last weekend. We really enjoyed it. As for historical accuracy, was the late night visit from King George giving Sir Winston his support and encouraging him to seek out the opinion of the people concerning waging war rather than negotiating a treaty with the Reich factual?

Further, was the anecdote of the ride on the Tube and his survey of the riders factual as well or just good drama?

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From what I have studied the Tube scene is based on a real event. What actually was said , the passengers etc was all conjecture.
The King was a confidant of WC since the abdication. WC initially supported Edward and tried to prevent the abdication but once it was inevitable he quickly became a key support for the new King who never really wanted the job. Bertie and his family , especially the Queen Mother and Queen Mary ,were o hard and firm against ever surrendering. The Royal Family has already decided to fight to the end in the palace ... however the government actually was prepared to use force to evacuate them to Canada if all was lost.
However it was well known that the Duke and Dutchess of Windsor were Nazi sympathizers and were overtly working against British interests. The royal bastar&s were virtually forced to go to the Bahamas in order to prevent them from joining Lord HawHaw in active pro Nazi actions.
What the movie left out was Joe Kennedy's virulent pro Nazi activity and his sabotage of the British war effort while being assigned to the Court of St James . Some of this was portrayed in the movie when FDR's 2 faced and tepid support of the Allies was shown via the phone calls . Was kinda surprised that holliwood portrayed one of their false gods in a less than stellar yet true light

The Original AG 76 said:

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dschwab said:

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ThMy wife and I saw "Darkest Hour" last weekend. We really enjoyed it. As for historical accuracy, was the late night visit from King George giving Sir Winston his support and encouraging him to seek out the opinion of the people concerning waging war rather than negotiating a treaty with the Reich factual?

Further, was the anecdote of the ride on the Tube and his survey of the riders factual as well or just good drama?

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From what I have studied the Tube scene is based on a real event. What actually was said , the passengers etc was all conjecture.
The King was a confidant of WC since the abdication. WC initially supported Edward and tried to prevent the abdication but once it was inevitable he quickly became a key support for the new King who never really wanted the job. Bertie and his family , especially the Queen Mother and Queen Mary ,were o hard and firm against ever surrendering. The Royal Family has already decided to fight to the end in the palace ... however the government actually was prepared to use force to evacuate them to Canada if all was lost.
However it was well known that the Duke and Dutchess of Windsor were Nazi sympathizers and were overtly working against British interests. The royal bastar&s were virtually forced to go to the Bahamas in order to prevent them from joining Lord HawHaw in active pro Nazi actions.
What the movie left out was Joe Kennedy's virulent pro Nazi activity and his sabotage of the British war effort while being assigned to the Court of St James . Some of this was portrayed in the movie when FDR's 2 faced and tepid support of the Allies was shown via the phone calls . Was kinda surprised that holliwood portrayed one of their false gods in a less than stellar yet true light

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Thanks for your reply. Much appreciated.

Incredible movie.

So many gutless politicians in this world. Amazing what WC had to fight against to keep his country.

The Original AG 76 said:

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If you can only see one more movie in your life I would rate this as a top candidate. Amazing portrayal of Sir Winston, in fact all of the characters were excellent. Not exactly a " war movie" but it is a great movie about the most pivotal era in Western history. I was surprised that Hollywood allowed an accurate version to be made and allowed the truth about Halifax and Chamberlain to be shown. Both men would be the absolute darlings of modern Hollywood yet they were shown as the fatally wrong appeasement freaks that would have led to the end of western civilization had they won out in those " dark hours".
If the actor who played WC does not win the Oscar it needs to be abolished. By all means take your entire family to see this as it is perhaps the only chance that kids sentenced to a government school will get to see a positive historical pro-civilization history lesson wrapped up in a damn good movie.

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Agreed that Churchill was a great man -- greatest of the twentieth century and, imo, far ahead of the field in the twenty-first. I would, however, alter one little thing: I'd suggest "one of the most pivotal eras in Western history".
If Islam hadn't been turned back . . . who can guess?

It might also be noted that Churchill's greatness wouldn't have been enough had the British people not risen to his level, 'enduring the unendurable' to preserve space and time enough for him to bring his grit and gifts to bear.