Churchill's Secret (2016)

A Masterpiece!

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Surprisingly I enjoyed this more than some of the other movies about Churchill recently. Probably because it doesn't go over familiar ground that has been done to death. This movie concerns a stroke he had. His party's attempted to cover it up. Another interesting aspect is his children's reactions to his illness and recovery. It's not a flattering portrayal of his family life but as we do know there were some alcohol problems with his children.Michael Gambon acts very well even if he isn't physically like Churchill as much as some of the other portrayals. Michael Macfayden steals some scenes as the belligerent drunk son. Lindsay Duncan is the most elegant looking Clementine of recent screen portrayals. Worth a watch even if you think you have seen too many biopics about him.

You would think by this time we would know everything there is to know about Churchill and then this comes along. As a huge admirer of Sir Winston I managed to see this on ITV in Canada, not as easy as one might assume even in this day and age. The acting is top notch with every character and having seen many stoke victims, Michael Gambon nails the speech and movement impediments that come as a result. There have been a few complaints of adding the fictional character of nurse Millie Appleyard but I have a copy of Lord Moran's diaries and in referring to them after viewing this he makes many references to several nurses during this period but never by name. She is just a composite character in order to establish some continuity, something that has been in movies since forever. Having stood in his study in Chartwell, filming it there just added another air of authenticity. This would be a welcome addition to a decent trilogy along with The Gathering Storm and Into the Storm.

I mainly know about the former British Prime Minister focused in this TV made film through his work during World War II, and the "V for Victory" sign, so I was interested to see a dramatisation of his later years, directed by Charles Sturridge (FairyTale: A True Story, Lassie). Basically set in June 1953, it has been two years since Sir Winston Churchill (Sir Michael Gambon) has been elected Prime Minister for the second time. Winston and his wife Clemeintine 'Clemmie' (About Time's Lindsay Duncan) are hosting a dinner party at Downing Street, when during his speech he starts slurring, and he eventually collapses. Winston's doctor Lord Moran (Bill Paterson) diagnoses him as having a serious stroke, there are fears he may not survive, he is taken to his country home Chartwell for treatment and recovery, but his illness is kept under wraps. Publicly it is said that Winston is suffering exhaustion, the newspaper owners consent to printing this deception, meanwhile Winston's children arrive to watch over him, Winston's son Randolph (The Three Musketeers' Matthew Macfadyen) is drinking and causes feuds, Winston's daughter Sarah (Detectorist's Rachael Stirling) is struggling with her film career, and Clemmie is reflecting on the loss of their infant daughter. The Cabinet is informed of the events concerning Winston and his health, Lord Moran sends plain-spoken Yorkshire nurse Millie Appleyard (Romola Garai) to look after the great man. With the help of Millie and the devotion of his wife, Churchill survives and recovers to address the Conservative party conference later in the year. Winston Churchill retired two years later, and the country was unaware of Churchill's secret until long after his death on 24th January 1965. Also starring The Elephant Man's John Standing as Lord Camrose, Downton Abbey's Daisy Lewis as Mary Churchill, Matilda Sturridge as Rosie Hopper, Me and Orson Welles' Christian McKay as Christopher Soames, Brassed Off's Tara Fitzgerald as Diana Churchill and The Queen's Alex Jennings as Anthony Eden. Gambon gives a great performance as the well-respected British statesman who suffered a terrible illness that was never known about, and many of the supporting cast members get their moments, I certainly had no idea of this hidden event of history, this is well written, and you are drawn in to see how the great man and his family suffered, a most worthwhile drama. Very good!

This 100 minute long film was made for UK TV and stars the incomparable Michael Gambon as Churchill. It is 1953 and he has just suffered a second stroke. Proving that spin was alive and well even back then, the powers that be and the Tory party wanted to keep the truth hidden. So he is whisked off to his ancestral home to recover.The film is based around the nurse who was drafted in to care for him – this is Ramola Garai ('Suffragette') who plays Millie Appleyard and she is both convincing and a lovely on screen presence. The drama unfolds around the International situation and the warming up of 'the Cold War' and domestic policies as well as the far too cosy a relationship Churchill had with the Newspaper moguls.So is it any good? Well with a coterie of great actors it was always hard to make this fail. Lindsay Duncan plays Clemmie Churchill and is – as always- excellent. The massively talented Bill Patterson plays Lord Moran and we have 'Ripper Street's own Mathew Macfadyen playing Randolph Churchill at his swaggering best. The drama was never going to be edge of seat stuff but the performances are all solid enough to hold your attention. I actually really enjoyed it even though it could have been better, but I was hooked for the full run – recommended.