THE title of the 1945 film The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (World, 9.30pm) came from the satirical character created by cartoonist David Low in the London Evening Standard. In the cartoon members of Britain's pompous and stiff military upper-crust came to be known as Colonel Blimps.
This did not please everyone. Prime Minister Winston Churchill illegally prohibited the film's exportation for two years, citing its portrayal of a Colonel Blimp as ''detrimental to the morale of the army''. Refusing to heed the advice of the Ministry of Information - which felt his position would do more harm than good - Churchill lifted the ban only after the film became such a smash commercial hit in England that its export could no longer be thwarted.
It was initially released in the US in a butchered 90-minute version and was restored to its full length only in 1986 by Britain's National Film Archive.
World, to its great credit, is showing every one of its 163 minutes, which means an unwelcome interruption for the Late News at 11.20pm.
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp is one of the most celebrated films from that extraordinary director-writer partnership of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. It tells the story of Clive Candy (Roger Livesey), a stuffy British soldier whose life is shown in episodes that range from 1902 - when, like Churchill, he had a dashing career as a young officer in the Boer War, to 1943, when he creaks about in the London Blitz, remembering his lost youth and loves.
It is a difficult role for Livesey but he handles it well. He has to portray his character from dashing young firebrand to anachronistic old codger. Deborah Kerr is also a joy to watch. She plays three different roles from three different eras of the great man's life.
PEARL'S reason for showing the films of Japanese director Hayao Miyazakiis that they are immensely popular among Chinese-speakers. Chinese-speakers make up 80 per cent of the channel's viewers - a figure that gets advertisers salivating. Financially, there is very little mileage in films like Colonel Blimp, which is why they are few and far between.
