The Young Mr Pitt (1942)

Original title

The Young Mr. Pitt

Directed by

Carol Reed

Genre

drama film, biographical film

Country

United Kingdom

Runtime

1h 58m

Rating

6.2 of 10 from 9 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

This film follows the life of William Pitt the Younger, focusing on his political career and his efforts to lead Britain against revolutionary France and Napoleon. It was made during World War II and includes speeches that echo Churchill's rhetoric against Hitler.

patrioticstirringhistoricalformalearnestblack-and-whitewartime

What happens

The Young Mr. Pitt is a 1942 British biographical film of the life of William Pitt the Younger and in particular his struggle against revolutionary France and Napoleon. It was directed by Carol Reed and stars Robert Donat, Robert Morley, Phyllis Calvert and John Mills. Made in black-and-white, it was produced by Edward Black and Maurice Ostrer for the British subsidiary of 20th Century Fox. It was filmed as the Second World War was raging. Similar parallels with the struggle against Hitler's Germany were implied in That Hamilton Woman (aka Lady Hamilton, 1941), made by Alexander Korda in the United States with Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh in the leads. Several of the speeches which Pitt makes against Napoleon are actually the words of Churchill in relation to Hitler, in particular the "we stand alone" speech from 1940. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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