Marlborough

The Gathering Storm (2002)

Actors: Vanessa Redgrave (actress), Celia Imrie (actress), Gottfried John (actor), Albert Finney (actor), Lena Headey (actress), Ronnie Barker (actor), Simon Williams (actor), Hugh Bonneville (actor), Jim Broadbent (actor), Edward Hardwicke (actor), Tom Wilkinson (actor), John Standing (actor), Derek Jacobi (actor), Tony Scott (producer), Ridley Scott (producer),

Plot: In the 1930s, Winston Churchill was out of government, sitting as a backbench MP. His was a lonely voice warning about German rearmament and the coming of a second major war on the Continent. He lost a great deal of money in the Wall Street crash and now writes - a biography of his ancestor the Duke of Marlborough, a newspaper column - and it's his only means of support. He has a close-knit group of supporter not the least of whom is his wife Clemmie, who he loves very dearly. As he continues to press his concerns about Hitler, he is cast as a warmonger and frequently shouted down in Parliament by members on both sides of the aisle. With reliable information from a Foreign Office civil servant who feels the government is not accurately reporting on rearmament, he provides accurate figures to Parliament and the tide begins to turn. With the onset of World War II in September 1939, Churchill returns to government as First Lord of Admiralty.

Keywords: 1930s, appeasement, bathing, cake, champagne, christmas-tree, cigar-smoking, england, english-politics, husband-wife-relationship
Genres: Biography, Drama, History,
Taglines: Germany was arming itself for war. But they didn't count on one man.

Quotes:

Winston Churchill: I'm the new First lord.::Military Guard: We know, sir.::Winston Churchill: How do you know?::Military Guard: A signal was sent to the fleet this afternoon, sir.::Winston Churchill: What signal?::Military Guard: Winston is back.::Winston Churchill: [chuckles] He bloody well is!

Winston Churchill: I like pigs. Dogs look up to you; cats look down on you; pigs treat you as equals.

Winston Churchill: Now that I'm in charge of the Navy, Mr. Hitler and his Nazi thugs had better look out. We're going to teach them a lesson that they'll never forget.

[the sound of Sarah tap-dancing can be heard through the ceiling]::Clemmie Churchill: I think she wants to do it professionally.::Winston Churchill: Annoy people?

Sir Robert Vansittart: Do you know what Lloyd George said about him? "He'd use the skin of his mother as a drum to sound his own praises."

Winston Churchill: There may be a war. I grant you that. Nevertheless we shall win.::Ralph Wigram: How can you say that? It's just mindless optimism.::Winston Churchill: [nods no] When I was at school, I had a friend called Merlind Evans. And one day we were talking about what we would do when we were grown up. And I don't know why I said this, or, why I thought it, but I said, "One day in the future, Britain will be in great danger, and it will fall to *me* to save London and the Empire."::Ralph Wigram: Schoolboy fantasy. I wanted to play for England or climb Everest.::Winston Churchill: [half nod no] My destiny. And I truly believe it.::Ralph Wigram: You're an extraordinary man, Winston.::Winston Churchill: I am, I know it.::Ralph Wigram: Nobody but you could say that sort of thing and expect people to believe it.::Winston Churchill: Destiny is what I believe in. Destiny commands. We must obey.

Winston Churchill: You're very rude to me, Inches.::David Inches: *You're* very rude to *me*, sir.::Winston Churchill: Yes but I am a great man!::[Churchill leaves]::David Inches: No, you're not. You're a stupid ole bugger.

Winston Churchill: I've lived too long, I'm in the ruck, I've drunk too deeply of the cup, I cannot spend, I cannot fuck, I'm down and out! I'm buggered up!

Winston Churchill: Thank you.::Clemmie Churchill: For what?::Winston Churchill: For being rash enough to marry me, foolish enough to stay with me, and... for loving me in a way... I though I'd never be loved.