Main Cast: Michael Audreson, Robert Lankesheer, Simon Ward, Robert Shaw, Anne Bancroft, Jack Hawkins, John Mills, Ian Holm
Release Year: 1972
Country: UK
Run Time: 157 minutes
Plot
This historical drama is an account of the early life of Winston Churchill (Simon Ward), including his childhood years, his time as a war correspondent in Africa, and culminating with his first election to Parliament. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide
Review
Winston Churchill grows up in this award-winning 1972 David Attenborough film featuring guns, oratory, and family discord. Based on Churchill's memoirs, the motion picture toggles between the triumphs and failures of Churchill as a soldier, son, student, and citizen. As a boy, Winston is a disappointing idler in the eyes of his father, Lord Randolph Churchill, and his teachers at Harrow. But the film is ambiguous in imputing blame for Winston's faults. On the one hand, Lord Randolph neglects and at times tyrannizes Winston at home; on the other, his teachers at Harrow maltreat and dispirit him. The film is clear on one point, though: After graduating high in his class from Sandhurst, young Winston is a glory-seeker while serving as a military officer and war correspondent in India, the Sudan, and South Africa. Always thinking ahead to a career in politics, he braves enemy fire time and again to earn medals and the adulation of newspaper readers. Simon Ward is superb as the young adult Churchill, doubling as actor and narrator and effectively mimicking Churchill's quirks and resounding oratory after winning electing to Parliament. Remarkably, Russell Lewis, who portrays Churchill as a boy, is the mirror image of Ward -- and he also performs with distinction. The rest of the cast also performs brilliantly: Robert Shaw as the august Lord Randolph, who becomes leader of the House of Commons and Chancellor of the Exchequer at age 37, then contracts a debilitating illness; Anne Bancroft as Churchill's doting but ineffectual American mother, Jenny; John Mills as Field Marshal Horatio Herbert Kitchener, conqueror of the Sudan; and Robert Hardy as the stern Harrow headmaster. Some of Britain's best actors appear briefly in minor roles, including Anthony Hopkins, Nigel Hawthorne, Ian Holm, and Laurence Naismith. All in all, Young Winston is a wonderful motion picture, featuring well staged battle scenes -- familial as well as military -- and a daring escape by Winston during the Boer uprising in South Africa. History teachers will find the film an excellent medium for introducing their students to one of the 20th century's most esteemed and colorful leaders. ~ Mike Cummings, All Movie Guide
Patrick Magee - Gen. Bindon Blood; Anthony Hopkins - Lloyd George; Richard Beale; Norman Bird - Party Chairman; Colin Blakely - Butcher; Edward Burnham - Labouchere; Peter Cellier - Capt. 35th Sikhs; Jeremy Child - Austen Chamberlain; James Cossins - Barnsby; Brenda Cowling - Mrs. Dewsnap; Noel Davis - Interviewer; William Dexter - Arthur Balfour; Basil Dignam - Joseph Chamberlain; Andrew Faulds - Mounted Boer; Robert Flemyng - Dr. Buzzard; Willoughby Gray - Bit/Deleted from Print; Robert Hardy - Prep School Headmaster; Nigel Hawthorne - Sentry; Pat Heywood - Mrs. Everest; Ronald Hines - Adjutant 35th Sikhs; Julian Holloway - Capt. Baker; Patrick Holt - Col. Martin; Raymond Huntley - Elderly Officer; Dinsdale Landen - Capt. Weaver; Richard Leech - Mr. Moore; Reginald Marsh - Prince of Wales; Raymond Mason - Man in Theater Gallery; George Mikell - Field Cornet; Clive Morton - Dr. Roose; Laurence Naismith - Lord Salisbury; Ron Pember - Fireman; Maurice Roeves - Brockie; Norman Rossington - Dewsnap; Gerald Sim - Engineer; Pippa Steele - Clementine Hozier; John Stuart - Peel; Thorley Walters - Maj. Finn; Sanders Watney - Sir Winston Churchill; John Woodvine - Howard; Edward Woodward - Capt. Haldane; Norman Gay - Sir Charles Dilke; Russell Lewis - Winston, as a child; James Cosmo - Officer On Train; Robert Harris - Speaker Gully; Jane Seymour - Pamela Plowden; Dino Shafeek - Sikh Soldier; Norman Harris - Sir Charles Dilke; Michael Audreson - Winston, Age 13; Robert Lankesheer - Sympathetic MP
Credit
William Hutchinson - Art Director, Anthony Mendleson - Costume Designer, William P. Cartlidge - First Assistant Director, Richard Attenborough - Director, Kevin Connor - Editor, Alfred Ralston - Composer (Music Score), Alfred Ralston - Musical Direction/Supervision, Stuart Freeborn - Makeup, Don Ashton - Production Designer, Geoffrey Drake - Production Designer, John Graysmark - Production Designer, Peter James - Production Designer, John Stoll - Production Designer, Gerry Turpin - Cinematographer, Richard Attenborough - Producer, Carl Foreman - Producer, Peter James - Set Designer, Tom Howard - Special Effects, Cliff John Richardson - Special Effects, Charles Staffell - Special Effects, John Richardson - Special Effects, Jonathan Bates - Sound Editor, Vic Armstrong - Stunts, Carl Foreman - Screenwriter, Edward Elgar - Featured Music, Maurice Binder - Title Design, Winston Churchill - Short Story Author
The film was based on the book My Early Life: A Roving Commission by Winston Churchill. The first part of the film covers Churchill's unhappy schooldays, up to the death of his father. The second half covers his service as a cavalry officer in India and the Sudan, during which he takes part in the cavalry charge at Omdurman, his experiences as a war correspondent in the Second Boer War, during which he is captured and escapes, and his election to Parliament at the age of 26.
At July 2009 the longest edition available on DVD is Young Winston: Special Edition at 146 minutes, cut from the original U.S. theatrical release which was 157 minutes. VHS tapes cut the film to just 124 minutes. The full uncensored version of the film is currently unavailable on DVD.
