Scott of the Antarctic, with John Mills as the man himself. An interesting watch, both as a film and as a record of a very particular time in our history. The scenery is breathtaking, the script, acting and direction workmanlike, the penguins endearing. The plot...well, it's not like you don't know where this is headed...
It's in many ways an attempt to Show What Happened in an almost documentary way. It really brings home to you what an immense exploit it was. "We have to drag the sleds 300 miles across this, then another 250 up that and then the last bit - a few hundred more. Any questions?"
And as such it's well done, and quite a gruelling watch. 50 below and you're in leather, wool and canvas, dragging a heavy sled into the teeth of an incessant icy wind. But they did it, uncomplainingly - because that's what you do if you're An Englishman (an expression they use among themselves, 'themselves' including "Taffy"
Evans). But then he is to all intents and purposes An Englishman. Which is to say, a decent chap. What makes it doubly interesting is that it was made in 1948. Immediately post-war, and the producers went out of their way to present not jingoistic triumphalism but A Glorious Failure. How British, what?
And it really is a living, breathing embodiment of the values those making it would have seen as quintessentially British, and fundamentally right. (And probably the reason we won, old boy - and thank God for the world that we did!) Courage, fortitude, hard work. That sort of thing. Scott, having been besieged by hundreds of applications, hires two of the core members of the team on the spot, in person. Liked the cut of their jib.
Because it's not about bits of paper or letters after your name or your 'skillset'. It's about who you are. And that's not about qualifications. It's about self-sacrifice and concern for the other chap. A sense of humour. Guts. But above all, fortitude. Doing what needs to be done, come what may, and accepting whatever follows with grace. A gentleman never complains, or makes a fuss.
So, a good film and a fascinating snapshot of a time. A time when, probably for the last time, 'we' knew what we stood for, and believed in it absolutely.
