2018 - Page 6 of 7 - Richard M. Langworth

Long View: “Churchill’s Secret Affair,” Gary Oldman and the Oscars

12 March 2018 Comments 2 Comments

Ms. Camilla Long (“TV Review, Sunday Times, March 11th)* has a way with words. Never mind that some of them are so ultra-camp that she could be accused of gratuitously inflicting them on the rest of us proles with malnourished intellects.

“Hoorays,” “lilo,” “naff,” “proto-Wallis” and “pantomime horse-named” may be daily vernacular in the rarified atmosphere of the Sunday Times Culture Section. But they’re likely to confuse anyone who prefers communication to obfuscation. However, the Long View of my colleague Andrew Roberts as a “striped-piglet historian” makes me forgive her everything. I will dine out on that one many times, not least with the Striped Piglet himself.…

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Wilderness Years — Robert Hardy at Hillsdale, where we were privileged to host him in 2015 and 2016. (Hillsdale College)

Robert Hardy’s Estate Auction: All Memories Great and Small

9 March 2018 Comments 1 Comment

Robert Hardy’s estate went under the hammer in Gloucestershire yesterday. It comprised an eclectic scrapbook of his grand life. There was even the brass plaque of Siegfried Farnon, the irascible Yorkshire vet. RH endeared himself as Siegfried for ninety episodes on “All Creatures Great and Small.” . Alerted late, I tried for one of his Churchill rings, but the bidding went far beyond estimates. A friend and colleague came away with Churchill’s bow tie. It was given to RH by Grace Hamblin during the filming of Churchill: The Wilderness Years, in 1981.…

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“Then out spake brave Horatius…” A Review of “Darkest Hour”

2 March 2018 Comments 3 Comments

After more than our share of historical clangers recently, Churchill admirers can welcome all this movie offers. Unlike any recent production, it genuinely honors the heroic memory. And that’s a special thing these days. Give Gary Oldman, the cast and producers a tip of the hat.

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Indians Again: No Oscars for Movies about War Criminals

25 February 2018 Comments 3 Comments

"But all this is only the background upon which the glorious heroism and martial qualities of the Indian troops who fought in the Middle East, who defended Egypt, who liberated Abyssinia, who played a grand part in Italy, and who, side by side with their British comrades, expelled the Japanese from Burma…. The loyalty of the Indian Army to the King-Emperor, the proud fidelity to their treaties of the Indian Princes, the unsurpassed bravery of Indian soldiers and officers, both Moslem and Hindu, shine for ever in the annals of war…." -Churchill

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“Churchill’s Bodyguard” Mini-series: Walter H. Thompson

24 February 2018 Comments 2 Comments

The success of the movie Darkest Hour has prompted many to look up other film and video presentations of the Churchill saga. One of these is the 2005 series on Walter Thompson, Churchill’s Bodyguard, which a colleague tells me is a useful documentary. It is. All thirteen episodes are on YouTube. I watched several without complaint—rare for me.

Walter Henry Thompson

…was Winston Churchill’s protection officer and detective, on and off between 1921 and 1945. They had many adventures together, and Thompson wrote four books about his experiences. The first, Guard from the Yard (1938, now very rare) involved Churchill and others whom Thompson protected.…

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Lady Diana Cooper on Winston and Clementine Churchill

16 February 2018 Comments 2 Comments

"Death places his icy democratic hand on kings, heroes, and paupers, and in 1965 the free world and the enslaved registered with mourning or contempt the passing of Winston Churchill. Stones were graven, elegies voiced from platforms and pulpits, the muffled drums rolled, the arms were reversed, the hatchments put up, the Last Post sounded. The expressed sympathy for the widow, but said little about his married life, because it was too happy to be heard of." —Lady Diana Duff Cooper

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Churchill’s Ersatz Meeting with Lincoln’s Ghost

31 January 2018 Comments 5 Comments

Unless the ghost of Abraham Lincoln was in the habit of switching rooms, he is unlikely to have appeared in Churchill's bedroom (which was not the famous Lincoln Bedroom). Even less likely did the apparition appear as Churchill was emerging from his bath.

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Churchill and the Baltic States: From WW2 to Liberation

25 January 2018 Comments 1 Comment

EXCERPT ONLY: For the complete text of “Churchill and the Baltic” with endnotes, please go to this page on the Hillsdale College Churchill Project.

“No doubt where the right lay”: 1940-95

Soviet Ambassador Ivan Maisky was a “Bollinger Bolshevik” who mixed support for Communism with a love of Western luxury. Friendly to Churchill, he knew the Englishman hoped to separate Hitler and Stalin, even after World War II had started.

But Maisky tended to see what he wished to see. In December he recorded: “The British Government announces its readiness to recognize ‘de facto’ the changes in the Baltics so as to settle ‘de jure’ the whole issue later, probably after the war.” There…

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Clement Attlee’s Noble Tribute to Winston Churchill

21 January 2018 Comments 1 Comment

My colleague Richard Cohen commends a eulogy to Churchill by the great Labour Party leader Clement Attlee. It occurred in the House of Lords on 25 January 1965, the day after Sir Winston died. It is notable for its fine words. Moreover, it shows how their relationship as colleagues eclipsed that of political opponents. At a time of greatly strained relations between the parties, on both sides of the pond, this is a thoughtful reminder that things could be different.

Attlee was the first prime minister of a socialist government with an outright majority (1945-51).…

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Darkest Hour: Queries and Comments with “Total Film” Magazine

6 January 2018 Comments 0 Comments

Jane Crowther, editor-in-chief of Britain’s Total Film magazine, had pertinent questions about the new film Darkest Hour. They were forwarded by Lady Gilbert from the website of official biographer Sir Martin Gilbert. Alas he is gone, but Sir Martin’s inspiration continues to guide everyone, as he said, “who labours in the Churchill vineyard.”

Q: Did Winston Churchill ever use public transport while PM, particularly the tube?

Not to my knowledge. His daughter Lady Soames told me he only used the Underground once, and became so lost that he had to be rescued.…

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