Winston Churchill: The Valiant Years

Having watched The Gathering Storm at the weekend I finally tried to find out what the name of the documentary - the signature tune of which has remained in my psyche since childhood in England. Thanks to the reviews above I now know it was The Valiant Years. I was only 9 or 10 but the majestic music and the rippling of the water at the end of each episode - which one must presume is at Chartwell - Winston Churchill's home - I can summon in a thrice. I must confess as an adopted Australian now I am very much aware of Churchill's great blunders which cost tens of thousands of lives over decades but he was certainly the leader the Allies needed during the War. I remember some years back seeing a documentary on Churchill's life which ended with his funeral (which I can still remember vaguely as a child) and feeling inconsolable grief for a few minutes. There was something very big about Churchill and very small about the island he was trying to protect which I think resonates with the child within us and the father we ( I guess most of us writing in this column) have lost. I hope to at least get a copy of the music one day - but the DVD would be grand.

Although we were "boomers," individuals born in the Post War Baby Boom, knowledge and even a sort of artificial "memory seems to exist concerning WORLD WAR II. This appears to be a widespread symptom that is present in a large portion of the Boomer Population in general. Just what causes this? Why does "our" pampered, spoiled brat of a group, the collective offspring of what many believe to be the greatest generation in the history of the World possess what no other has had ? Perhaps we can offer a theory as to the whys and hows, even as to the validity of the existence of this phenomenon.

Well, I started this and I'll finish it, by Dr. Spock!! World War II was the greatest single struggle in World History. Unlike the First World War, there was no great feeling of futility following its successful conclusion. Clearly the Good Guys won. Oh sure, we had a couple of questionable characters fighting on the side with the Allies.

These Buzzards, namely Stalin and Mao, were about as big a pair of heals that have ever walked the face of the Earth. They each may well have topped the Nazis and Der Fuehrer's head count of innocents killed.

The magnitude of the War in both the actual numbers of men under arms, the number of Nations participating* and the long lasting effects thrust on our World cannot be overstated. This fact is indisputable, and was well realized by those who were true veterans of active participation in the hostilities in any of the Theaters of War.

And out in front in the Post War world, serving as Evangelists of the non-denominational Gospel of the True History of the events were the Veterans of the War themselves. And let's not forget that there were millions of them in the United States alone. In our family we had my father, Clem Ryan (Navy)as well as uncles John "Bro" O'Connell (Navy-Seabees), Robert F. Ryan (Navy), Bernard E."Gene" Ryan (Coast Guard), Walter Fuerst (Coast Guard)Edward Ryan (Army) and Walter Sattler (Marine Corps). So, our family was well represented and had plenty of first hand stories told to us young 'uns! Next we had great pop fiction as in all those Hollywood Wartime Movies, which were then trickling down to us through showings on Television. Added to those was our generations first run Armed Service anthology TV series, such as:"NAVY LOG", "CITIZEN SOLDIER" and "THE SILENT SERVICE".

Even more of an impression was left by a small number of well made, beautifully mounted documentaries. With use of literally thousands of hours of American, Allied and Captured Axis news film and official government filmings of the actual events leading up to and occurring during the seemingly endless conflict. Much like today's currently running "Ken Burns' THE WAR", these televised showings brought the War to our living rooms and magically transported us to places like Dunkirk, Pearl Harbor, The Ardennes, Guadalcanal, Stalingrad and Iwo Jima. We didn't realize nor appreciate at that time how great a service this was, nor how these were all recent historical events, and just how recent.

The other great documentaries included: "VICTORY AT SEA"(NBC, 1951), BBC's "THE WORLD AT WAR" (1974), ABC's "CRUSADE IN EUROPE" (1949), Time Inc.'s "CRUSADE IN THE PACIFIC"(1951) and lastly we have today's subject, the BBC's Production of "WINSTON CHURCHILL: THE VALIANT YEARS".(1960).

This Valiant Years production was second to none in its use of archival motion picture footage. It also went that extra step in obtaining the services of two top acting talents of the English speaking world in American Gary Merrill as the Narrator and British (Welsh Born) Richard Burton. The decision was a sound one as both men were well known on either side of "the Pond", as well as Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and South Africa. Both had magnificent sets of pipes, which added to the effect and appeal of the film record unfolding.

And one other thing comes to mind. Mr. Churchill's own mother was an American, a fact that would seem to bind the two countries & peoples together. It also was a sound sales point for the American Broadcasting Company, who was the premier outlet for the series in the States.

The beautiful, majestic theme music and the incidental music in the original score are most haunting and unforgettable. They were composed by the American, Richard Rodgers; famed as half of the teams of Broadway's Rodgers & Hart and Rodgers & Hammerstein. In addition to nearly innumerable Broadway successes, Mr. Rodgers was the man responsible for the immortal score for NBC's "VICTORY AT SEA".

As a point of a truly trivial nature, we remember that the first run of The Valiant Years had as a sponsor, Meade-Johnson & Company, makers of "Metracal, Dietary for Weight Control", a very popular product for dieters back in the day. Well, one of their commercials told about hazards of overweight and difficulties in reducing. All of off-screen voice over was spoken by an unknown gentleman; who was obviously a Brit. As for the on screen man in the visuals; he wears a black overcoat, black Hamburg hat and dark gloves. The commercial presented the images of an obviously older, portly gentleman strolling somewhat belabourdly through a snow filled park. We only see him from a distance and from the rear.

NOW QUESTION, PLEASE: Is this commercial, which was only shown on the Sunday evening's Telecasts, supposed to look like Sir Winston, himself? We know that it was not him, but the resemblance is too much to ignore. We thought then and now that that was taking product placement and subliminal persuasion just a little too far!

NOTE: * Just try looking up World War II in the Encyclopedia to see just how many Nations did actually declare war, though most of their participation was minimal.

I have a very distant & blurred memory of this series which I think was broadcast just after Churchill's death in 1965. It was in black and white and had a very haunting and grandiose theme music which remains alive in my head to this day. The series seemed endless at the time and I would dearly like to see it to day to compare my appreciation 40 years later. Unfortunately, I fear it is just the kind of series which is likely to have fallen into total oblivion so I don't really hold out any hopes on this score. If however, such a miracle was to occur, I'll write another updated comment on IMDB !

I was only six years old at the time, and I had been to young to see VICTORY AT SEA back in the early 1950s. At the age of six, I had heard of Winston Churchill, and had seen pictures of him. But it wasn't until this series was shown that I actually heard his words (not that I realized they were being spoken by Richard Burton), and got some idea of his wartime service to Britain and the world. I wish it was shown again, as much of my memories are centered on the musical score and the readings of Burton. The narrative was quite informative - I remember how one episode mentioned the shooting down of a plane, supposedly carrying Churchill, which crashed killing all of it's passengers. One was Leslie Howard.

If there was some clever television network producer out there, this series and WORLD WAR ONE and TIME TO REMEMBER would be put on together - maybe on some offshoot of the history channel.

I saw this twice. Once when it was first released, then a few years later when a local station reran it. A book was published, reprising the narrative scripts. This one I've not forgotten, and as I age, I get increasingly frustrated that it's never been released to DVD or even VHS. This is one of the best documentaries of the European theater of World War II. The series brings fine detail to the beginnings of the war, and how it commenced. All historical documentaries should be this good: then students would be motivated to pay attention to the unfolding of events.

If it ever appears for home viewing, I'd be first in line to order a copy.