A romantic melodrama spanning four decades, this sweeping 1943 epic explores the English character through the experiences of a well-meaning buffoon whose touching belief in decency and fair play render him an endearing but irrelevant relic.
Churchill was one of many dismayed by Powell and Pressburger’s affectionate satire.
Its status as a national treasure is assured, thanks to Roger Livesey’s protean lead turn, Deborah Kerr’s three incarnations of his ideal woman and the mastery of the medium that typified The Archers at their height.