The Darkest Hour.......

[Peter Jenkins]

What intrigued me most was the scene when Churchill took an underground train for the first time in his life and discussed the issue of suing for peace or fighting to the end. I did wonder if this was poetic licence or whether it actually happened. Does anyone know?

I was also struck by the comparison one could make with Boris today. Will Boris deliver in the way that Churchill managed to do? At the end of the day, any leader has to have that element of luck. Napoleon always looked for generals who were highly competent but who were also favoured by luck. Had Hitler not listened to Goering's boast that the Luftwaffe would finish off the British at Dunkerque then the highly successful panzer leader, Heinz Guderian, would undoubtedly have rolled up the BEF and had them in the bag. Thank goodness for poor decision making by Hitler which the Allies were to benefit from many times during the war - thankfully!

[john stones 1 - Moderator]

Seemed to be plenty use of poetic license to me, but I never lived through it so who knows. Picture of the opposition benches rising supporting Churchills speech, was telling if a true reflection.

[Gary Manuel]

Pretty sure the taxi / underground episode was fiction. Good viewing though.

[Cuban8]

Not keen on the film myself, seen it once and wouldn't bother again. The tube train scene was ridiculous and I suspect merely included for modern politically  correct sensibilities. I prefer the late Robert Hardy's characterisation of Churchill.

 

Edited By Cuban8 on 10/05/2020 05:15:59

[leccyflyer]

First saw it on an aeroplane and was distinctly underwhelmed. Yes, the title was Darkest Hour, but why was it so overwhelmingly shot in the dark? Saw it again last night and it was a bit better on a larger screen.

[Doctor Chinnery]

Having been brought up by parents who "were there" during WW2, Mum going back to work until I was born, running the typing pool for the NFU and Dad working his way up from a T.A. Ack Ack Sgt in '39 to Captain in '45 (with a further spell as a Town Major running a county sized chunk of Germany before he was finally demobbed ) - Churchill was regarded with huge respect by them both - in fact Churchill's warnings to the country were why Dad joined the T.A. in the first place, as did many. I (with my then girlfriend) was one of the crowds who filed by his Coffin lying in state in the Great Hall - God! Wasn't it cold and windy that night - queueing over the Thames, but we both felt we had to do it - not just for us, but on behalf of our parents too. The atmosphere was remarkable - sad yes, but positive too - a few moans about the weather but hardly any about how long we spent in the queue, nobody had compelled us to go. Churchill was an extraordinary man, but being a man meant as well as virtues he also had imperfections, but without his strength of character and his ability to bend the English language as both an orator and a writer we might well be bilingual here with the official language of that administration being German! Cometh the Hour, cometh the Man.

[Engine Doctor]

An excellent film . Churchill a great man , whether you liked or disliked him was needed at the time . If all the other politicians had had their way things would have been very different for us

[john stones 1 - Moderator]

All the other politicians E.D ?