May 6, 2013

Finest Hour 151, Summer 2011

Page 51

Worth Seeing, and Worth Going to See

Winston Churchill: Walking With Destiny, written and produced by Marvin Hier and Richard Trank, directed by Richard Trank. Running time 1:41.

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By David Druckman

Mr. Druckman, a longtime and frequent Finest Hour contributor, divides his time between Tucson and Chicago.

At the urging of The Churchill Centre and several emails, my wife and I made a point to see this new film when it arrived at the Loft Cinema in Tucson. This small fine arts theater showed it for four days; Lynn and I picked the fourth, figuring it would not be crowded, and it wasn’t. The theater seated about two hundred and there were several dozen to view the film.

The newest production from the Moriah Films Division of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, the film was sponsored locally by the Tucson International Jewish Film Festival. Written and produced by Rabbi Marvin Hier Dean of Simon Wiesenthal Center) and Oscar recipient Richard Trank (Oscar winner), it was narrated by another Oscar winner, Ben Kingsley. Winston Churchill grandson), Celia Sandys, Walter Thompson (bodyguard), and Sir Martin Gilbert partially narrated and added to its authenticity.

The story concentrates on Churchill’s finest hours in 1939-41, but overlaps at both ends. It begins in the “wilderness years,” with his early warnings about Adolf Hitler and his support for Jews under threat by the Nazi regime. As Charles Krauthammer, John Lukacs and others have noted, Churchill may not have won World War II, but without him it would almost certainly have been lost. The film’s historical consultant, Sir Martin Gilbert, believes that had Churchill’s words about Nazi racial policies been heeded, the Holocaust might never have occurred. The film, say its producers, “examines why Winston Churchill’s legacy continues to be relevant in the 21st Century and explores why his leadership remains inspirational to current day political leaders and diplomats.” The production is slick, and aims frankly to convince those unknowledgeable about Churchill that he was the savior of the 20th century.

Seasoned Churchillians will find little to complain of, aside from the lack of criticism. No footage, for example, is devoted to the Russian invasion of Finland or the Anglo-French debacle in Norway. Much time is spent on the Blitz and the Dunkirk evacuation. During the latter episode, the producers slip in an old clip of a soldier carrying another soldier through the World War I trenches. An odd piece of trivia is the suggestion that Churchill’s famous brick walls at Chartwell were often rebuilt after Churchill left off for lunch—not entirely new information! The film powerfully highlights Churchill’s warnings about the Nazi threat to the Jews, which are often lost in descriptions of his warnings about German rearmament. It shows how his speeches influenced American opinion, and how his personal appearances and radio broadcasts boosted the morale of British civilians in bombed areas.

As a Churchillophile I gave “Walking with Destiny” eight of ten, but my wife, interestingly, gave it nine. If you know Churchill, see the film. It will confirm everything you’ve believed about him, and it’s not boring. If you are a novice, be entertained, and learn.