Critic Reviews

Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, The (1943) Rank 5 Reviews

Expert Review Summary

Movie critics combined give Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, The (1943) a score of 3.3750 out of 4

based on (12) reviews

Click on the numbers to the right of the graph to see reviews of that rating

Excellent

(6)

Very Good

(6)

Good

(0)

Fair

(0)

Poor

(0)

Reviews by Score:

TV Guide Entertainment Network, Movie Guide

One of the most celebrated films from the extraordinary director-writer partnership of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, THE LIFE AND DEATH OF COLONEL BLIMP is a warm and wise work that displays extraordinary generosity of spirit. It tells the ...read the complete Life and Death of Colonel Blimp movie review at TV Guide Entertainment Network, Movie Guide

Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)

The movie looks past the fat, bald military man with the walrus moustache, and sees inside, to an idealist and a romantic. To know him is to love him. ...read the complete Life and Death of Colonel Blimp movie review at Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)

Ozus' World Movie Reviews (Dennis Schwartz)

It might be the best film to ever come out of England. ...read the complete Life and Death of Colonel Blimp movie review at Ozus' World Movie Reviews (Dennis Schwartz)

Empire Magazine (--)

This is cinematic storytelling on the broadest canvas. With customary P&P intelligence and bravado, Blimp details the life of Clive Candy (Livesey) from his days a a dashing officer in the Boer War through World War 1, to his final days in the London ...read the complete Life and Death of Colonel Blimp movie review at Empire Magazine (--)

filmcritic.com (Matt Langdon)

The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp is not about a Colonel named Blimp. Instead it is a long, epic film about a British soldier named Clive Candy. Directed in 1943 -- by the amazing duo of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger -- the film is not quite ...read the complete Life and Death of Colonel Blimp movie review at filmcritic.com (Matt Langdon)

Raging Bull Movie Reviews (Mike Lorefice)

David Low's military satirizing comic strip character was noted for being a nice honorable gentlemanly guy and also the epitome of the foolhardy selfish unknowingly fascist reactionary who can be counted on to be pronounce opinions 180 degrees from ...read the complete Life and Death of Colonel Blimp movie review at Raging Bull Movie Reviews (Mike Lorefice)

New York Times (Thomas M. Pryor)

The regnant and moving performance that Ethel Barrymore gave as the light-spreading English school teacher in Emlyn Williams' stage play, "The Corn Is Green," has been challenged by Warners' Bette Davis in that studio's film version of the play, a ...read the complete Life and Death of Colonel Blimp movie review at New York Times (Thomas M. Pryor)

Chicago Reader (Dave Kehr)

It's almost impossible to define this 1943 masterpiece by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. It was ostensibly based on a cartoon series that satirized the British military class, yet its attitude toward the main character is one of affection, ...read the complete Life and Death of Colonel Blimp movie review at Chicago Reader (Dave Kehr)

filmsgraded.com (Brian Koller)

What it's about. The forty-plus year military career of ficticious British officer Clive Candy (Roger Livesey) is presented. Candy, a hero of the Boer war, travels to Germany in 1903, where he meets a classy English hottie (Deborah Kerr) and fights a ...read the complete Life and Death of Colonel Blimp movie review at filmsgraded.com (Brian Koller)

Film Written Magazine (Andrew Howe)

A film which may just make you look at your life and ask some questions best left unanswered. ...read the complete Life and Death of Colonel Blimp movie review at Film Written Magazine (Andrew Howe)

Time Out (--)

At a time when 'Blimpishness' in the high command was under suspicion as detrimental to the war effort, Powell and Pressburger gave us their own Blimp based on David Low's cartoon character - Major General Clive Wynne-Candy, VC - and back-track over his ...read the complete Life and Death of Colonel Blimp movie review at Time Out (--)

Images (Derek Hill)

When one thinks of the epic film genre, multi-layered character studies rarely come to mind. Of course, it could be argued that Citizen Kane (1941) is an epic, and then there are epics that double as character studies, such as Lawrence of Arabia (1962). ...read the complete Life and Death of Colonel Blimp movie review at Images (Derek Hill)