Glorious 39

Glorious 39 (2009)

• Director: Stephen Poliakoff
• Based on the novel: no
• Cast: Romola Garai, Eddie Redmayne, Juno Temple, Toby Regbo, Christopher Lee, Corin Redgrave, Charlie Cox, David Tennant, Bill Nighy, Jeremy Northam, Jenny Agutter, Julie Christie, Hugh Bonneville, Tom Goodman-Hill
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Romola Garai – Suffragette, King Lear, Atonement, Amazing Grace, As You Like It, Inside I’m Dancing, Daniel Deronda
• Eddie Redmayne – Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Jupiter Ascending, The Theory of Everything, Les Misérables, My Week with Marilyn, The Pillars of the Earth, The Other Boleyn Girl, Elizabeth the Golden Age
• Juno Temple – Far from the Madding Crowd, The Dark Knight Rises, St Trinians 2, The Other Boleyn Girl, Atonement, Notes on a Scandal
• Toby Regbo – Treasure Island, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows I
• Christopher Lee – The Hobbit, Dark Shadows, Hugo, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Lord of the Rings, Sleepy Hollow etc
• Charlie Cox – The Theory of Everything, Stone of Destiny, Stardust, Casanova, The Merchant of Venice
• David Tennant – Broadchurch, What We Did on Our Holiday, Doctor Who, Hamlet, Fright Night, The Decoy Bride, United, Secret Smile, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Blackpool, Bright Young Things, Jude, Takin’ over the Asylum
• Bill Nighy – Hotel Marigold 1 & 2, Gideon’s Daughter, The World’s End, About Time, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 1, Doctor Who, The Boat that Rocked, Valkyria, Pirates of the Caribbean, Hot Fuzz, Notes on a Scandal, The Constant Gardener, The Girl in the Café, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Shaun of the Dead, Still Crazy, Auf Wiedersehen Pet, Kiss Me Kate, Longitude
• Jeremy Northam – Creation, Tristram Shandy, Gosford Park, Happy Texas, Amistad, Emma
• Jenny Agutter - Love’s Labour’s Lost, An American Werewolf in London, Romeo and Juliet
• Julie Christie – Finding Neverland, Harry Potter, Hamlet, Heaven Can Wait, Nashville, McCabe and Mrs Miller, The Go-Between, Petulia, Far from the Madding Crowd, Fahrenheit 451, Dr Zhivago, Darling
• Hugh Bonneville – The Hollow Crown, Downton Abbey, Doctor Who, From Time to Time, Lost in Austen, Bonekickers, Man to Man, Daniel Deronda, Notting Hill, Frankenstein
• Tom Goodman-Hill – Humans, The Imitation Game, The Hollow Crown, Case Studies, Hustle, Doctor Who, Gideon’s Daughter, The Office
• Why? The cast
• Seen: 26 May 2019      

       It is the year before the war in a Downton Abbey type estate with an aspiring young film actor Ann (Garai), a young MP Hector (Tennant) who clearly sees Hitler as a threat, loving Pater (Nighy), cheery siblings (Redmayne and Temple), old-fashioned aunt (Christie). And then there’s espionage, a tragic and mysterious death, a kidnapped baby. Suspicion falls on Ann and she is forced to take steps. She becomes involved in politics, the victim of intrigues and betrayal.

       It’s an odd film but suspenseful and well-acted. Of course it is, with this cast. I’m not sure I like it, though.

3* of 5