Bankruptcy

Movie Review

By mcbride

The King’s Speech is a great movie and one to watch.  However, here is an article which strongly criticizes the movie for whitewashing Churchill’s early views on the Nazi menace.

“In point of fact, Churchill was?for as long as he dared?a consistent friend of conceited, spoiled, Hitler-sympathizing Edward VIII. And he allowed his romantic attachment to this gargoyle to do great damage to the very dearly bought coalition of forces that was evolving to oppose Nazism and appeasement. Churchill probably has no more hagiographic chronicler than William Manchester, but if you look up the relevant pages of The Last Lion, you will find that the historian virtually gives up on his hero for an entire chapter.

By dint of swallowing his differences with some senior left and liberal politicians, Churchill had helped build a lobby, with strong grass-roots support, against Neville Chamberlain’s collusion with European fascism. The group had the resonant name of Arms and the Covenant. Yet, as the crisis deepened in 1936, Churchill diverted himself from this essential work?to the horror of his colleagues?in order to involve himself in keeping a pro-Nazi playboy on the throne. He threw away his political capital in handfuls by turning up at the House of Commons?almost certainly heavily intoxicated, according to Manchester?and making an incoherent speech in defense of “loyalty” to a man who did not understand the concept. In one speech?not cited by Manchester?he spluttered that Edward VIII would “shine in history as the bravest and best-loved of all sovereigns who have worn the island crown.” (You can see there how empty and bombastic Churchill’s style can sound when he’s barking up the wrong tree; never forget that he once described himself as the lone voice warning the British people against the twin menaces of Hitler and Gandhi!)”

Here is a link to this article: .  http://www.slate.com/id/2282194/pagenum/all/#p2

Michael

Full post as published by Texas Lawyer Blog on February 07, 2011 (boomark / email).