Kings Speech - A Review

One movie that should be seen this awards season is the “King's Speech”. I had the opportunity to attend a screening of this movie at the Directors Guild Theater and it proved to be as engrossing and entertaining as I had hoped. The movie seems to be advertised as a very dry look at King George and what it took to control his stuttering situation so that he could become the leader that the British Empire needed in its battle with the Germans and in WWII. It is presented in a way that does not make light of the situation, but it does show the humor that can result from people’s interaction. It would be difficult to show this movie on broadcast television because of some of the language that is used as part of the voice training that the future king used, or to quote my wife “George Carlin would love this.”
The 1930’s were a very interesting period of time. Germany was building itself into a very powerful nation and was not yet known for the atrocities that would become known to the rest of the world later. The British government still felt that it could control the situation with diplomatic action. They did not want to have another war in Europe. The Germans had not just lost WWI; they had been completely destroyed especially economically. This lead to a situation where the people were susceptible to the actions of the radical political party and the situation were Hitler could gain control of the government. It was also not as good a time in the 1930’s as had been in the more glamorous 1920’s. This story is all about the period of time that came just before the start of WWII. It only uses the world political situation for the background to the situation of the British royal family. King Edward had abdicated the crown to be with his love. Of all things, she was an American who had been divorced twice and the King as head of the church, could not marry a divorced women.
It shows the beginning of broadcasting. What we take for granted today, was just in its infancy. Radio was just beginning to gain real importance and short wave broadcasts of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) were the source of information to most of the world. It shows the fear that most of us have when a microphone is shoved in front of us and we must read an important document. It also does show a little of the period newsreels, that were able to show the people what was happening. It ignores the fact that the BBC actually was broadcasting television programing and had actual program listings in the Times Of London. It mainly consisted of live broadcasts of classical music groups and an opportunity for people to see what they looked like on television. Televisions early days were ended, because of the war and the need to use the technology in the war effort. The war also led to the use of radar, in both the UK and the United States.
The king of England is not an absolute ruler. The government is actually headed by the Prime Minister, who is elected in the Parliament and then is presented to the King. The movie does show Stanley Baldwin and Neville Chamberlain as the ineffective leaders that they were. It does indicate that Winston Churchill was the better study of the times with more knowledge of the situation in Europe. It does cover the start of the war and the key address of the King to nation to help bring up the spirit of the nation. You cannot spoil the story by saying that it is an emotional speech that was broadcast to the nation and all of the British Empire. It showed the people that the King was able to overcome his limitations and would be the leader that the nation needed. History books do emphasize Churchill as the leader, but in Great Britan, the Royal Family is revered and their leadership was important to the people of the nation.
I purposely have not singled out any person in particular, because of the fact that every element of the movie works and it is truly a team effort. In fact classical radio station KUSC was playing some of the music from the movie last night as we were driving home. It just all works together. It is in limited release so you will need to work to see it, but you should try.