Richard Beale

Where Eagles Dare -- The mission is clear. Get in. Get the general. Get out. Commandos charged with freeing a U.S. general from an Alpine fortress should also be told to trust nothing - including the search-and-rescue orders just issued.

Winston Churchill was one of the titanic statesmen of the 20th century, as well as a talented and erudite writer of history and memoirs. The historical epic opens with Churchill's years as a junior officer in India and free-lance war correspondent and follows him through his escape from a Boer War prison camp and his election to Parliament at age 26.

Richard Attenborough?s examination of the early life of Winston Churchill?up until his early days at Parliament, before his marriage??is a fascinating look at the formative years of one of the greatest politicians and most influential world leaders in recent history. Played by Simon Ward (All Creatures Great and Small and TV?s ?The Tudors?), young Churchill is ambitious and over-eager, with a tendency toward boastful over-exaggeration and opportunism, all of which served him well in overturning the low expectations of his father. The film flashes back through three main periods of Churchill?s life narrated by the older, knowing Churchill (well-voiced by Ward, based on Churchill?s own autobiography). In boyhood and adolescence, Churchill?s self-consumed parents, Lord Randolph (Robert Shaw, A Man for All Seasons) and American-born Lady Jennie (Anne Bancroft, The Graduate), are too busy with their own lives in Parliament and social engagements to see him off to boarding school, a task fulfilled by a beloved nanny. The adventure of Churchill?s years as a war correspondent and soldier is enthusiastically depicted. Anthony Hopkins, John Mills, Jack Hawkins, Patrick Magee and Ian Holm also appear in supporting roles. Newly remastered.

Winston Churchill was one of the titanic statesmen of the 20th century, as well as a talented and erudite writer of history and memoirs. The historical epic opens with Churchill's years as a junior officer in India and free-lance war correspondent and follows him through his escape from a Boer War prison camp and his election to Parliament at age 26.