“King George VI: The Man Behind the King’s Speech” (2011, 63
min), from Vision Films, is a biography of King George VI, visually consisting
almost entirely of older black and white footage (There is a reviiew of "The Kings's Speech" here Dec. 20, 2010.)
The film takes us through the abdication of his brother
Edward VIII to marry Wallis Simpson, and then the proper beginning of the reign
of “Bertie” in 1937. His speech impediment was significant because he was the
first King to have to deal with the new medium of radio.
It seems as though there was a lot of posturing in royal
life, which may have hid the growing clouds of war with Germany, again. It does cover the sequence that led to
declaration of war on Germany in 1939 (all the dominions were included, but not
Ireland). One of George’s homes was damaged in the 1940 German bombing raids. The documentary mentions that his father had engineered
the taking of the Windsor name to de-emphasize the historical connection to
Saxon families in Germany.
The film repeats itself in one sequence, showing the same
footage of an early trip to Paris twice.
He would die young, age 56, in February 1952, of lung cancer
and heart disease, all brought on by heavy smoking. Elizabeth II would take
over. I remember seeing her coronation
in BW television as a boy.
England sounded like a mystical place then, but look what it
did to Alan Turing, who may have saved the country.
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