The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp

The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp follows British officer Clive Wynne-Candy, first seen in 1943 as an ageing general whose methods have left him out of step with the men he trains and with the demands of the war. His life is told in flashback, beginning in 1902, when as a young officer he travels to Berlin to counter anti-British propaganda. There he ends up in a duel with the Prussian officer Theo Kretschmar-Schuldorff, and the two become lasting friends despite serving on opposing sides in two world wars. A woman both men come to love runs through the story, as do the other women who shape Candy's life across four decades.

The film was written, produced and directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, released in 1943 with a running time of 163 minutes. Roger Livesey plays Candy, Deborah Kerr appears in three roles, and Adolf Wohlbrück is Theo. It was Powell's fourth film as director, following 49th Parallel, and Pressburger's first credited with him.

On IMDb the film's critics' rating stands at 9.3/10 from 34 reviews, while TMDB users rate it 7.5/10 from 280 votes, a marked gap between professional and audience response. Produced on a budget of two million dollars in the United Kingdom, it blends comedy, drama, romance and war.