Cromwell
Original post date: 23 February 2019
Rating: ✭✭✰✰
My, my, this is certainly an interesting movie. An old-school historical epic (running time well over two hours) released in 1970, this flick dramatizes the life and times of Oliver Cromwell, a dominant figure of mid-17th century England. There are lots of speechmaking scenes in Parliament, lots of battle scenes, and then lots more speechmaking scenes in Parliament. It was written and directed by Ken Hughes, who may be best known for two Ian Fleming adaptations. He was one of five credited directors on 1967’s Casino Royale and sole director of 1968’s Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Somewhat surprisingly, Hughes tries here to turn Puritan political insurgent Cromwell into George Washington, i.e. a gentleman farmer reluctantly called on to lead his country’s rebellion against a despotic British monarch and then to become the first head of a new republic. I sought out this movie because, well, I had to. I have been steeped in all things Cromwell since (shameless pre-plug alert!) I decided to make the future Lord Protector something of a character in my upcoming fourth novel. So I am now ready to show off all my historical research. While much of the running time is taken up with the English Civil War, it strangely omits the Battle of Marston Moor, which was not only a major turning point but also provided the title for a 1971 Electric Light Orchestra song. The Second Civil War is completely abridged, as is Cromwell’s Irish campaign, although there are numerous dark references to the menace posed by Catholic Ireland. There is fabulous irony in this, as Cromwell is played by Limerick man Richard Harris, in his matinee idol phase, three years after his turn in Camelot and more or less concurrent with A Man Called Horse. Other familiar faces include Alec Guinness as King Charles, Robert Morley and Frank Finlay as Cromwell’s parliamentary allies, and future 007 Timothy Dalton as the king’s flamboyant nephew Rupert. Though Cromwell-as-father-of-the-nation is not exactly the easiest sell in the Irish market, one can entertain oneself with more contemporary comparisons. What was Cromwell if not a practitioner of populist politics who, against his own expectations and to the woe of the political establishment, wound up in charge of the country? If you prefer instead to see him as a charismatic legislative figure standing up to a despot, then by all means call him the AOC of his time. Or, given his nationalistic fervor and aversion to the king’s foreign alliances, maybe he should be thought of as the first Brexiteer? Perhaps more intriguing to ponder: Guinness’s character is the former Prince Charles, whose ascension to the throne leads to the abolishment of the monarchy.
Rating: ✭✭✰✰
My, my, this is certainly an interesting movie. An old-school historical epic (running time well over two hours) released in 1970, this flick dramatizes the life and times of Oliver Cromwell, a dominant figure of mid-17th century England. There are lots of speechmaking scenes in Parliament, lots of battle scenes, and then lots more speechmaking scenes in Parliament. It was written and directed by Ken Hughes, who may be best known for two Ian Fleming adaptations. He was one of five credited directors on 1967’s Casino Royale and sole director of 1968’s Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Somewhat surprisingly, Hughes tries here to turn Puritan political insurgent Cromwell into George Washington, i.e. a gentleman farmer reluctantly called on to lead his country’s rebellion against a despotic British monarch and then to become the first head of a new republic. I sought out this movie because, well, I had to. I have been steeped in all things Cromwell since (shameless pre-plug alert!) I decided to make the future Lord Protector something of a character in my upcoming fourth novel. So I am now ready to show off all my historical research. While much of the running time is taken up with the English Civil War, it strangely omits the Battle of Marston Moor, which was not only a major turning point but also provided the title for a 1971 Electric Light Orchestra song. The Second Civil War is completely abridged, as is Cromwell’s Irish campaign, although there are numerous dark references to the menace posed by Catholic Ireland. There is fabulous irony in this, as Cromwell is played by Limerick man Richard Harris, in his matinee idol phase, three years after his turn in Camelot and more or less concurrent with A Man Called Horse. Other familiar faces include Alec Guinness as King Charles, Robert Morley and Frank Finlay as Cromwell’s parliamentary allies, and future 007 Timothy Dalton as the king’s flamboyant nephew Rupert. Though Cromwell-as-father-of-the-nation is not exactly the easiest sell in the Irish market, one can entertain oneself with more contemporary comparisons. What was Cromwell if not a practitioner of populist politics who, against his own expectations and to the woe of the political establishment, wound up in charge of the country? If you prefer instead to see him as a charismatic legislative figure standing up to a despot, then by all means call him the AOC of his time. Or, given his nationalistic fervor and aversion to the king’s foreign alliances, maybe he should be thought of as the first Brexiteer? Perhaps more intriguing to ponder: Guinness’s character is the former Prince Charles, whose ascension to the throne leads to the abolishment of the monarchy.
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