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(solemn music)
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Downloaded from
YTS.MX
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- [Voiceover] Never had the city of London
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been so cold or so silent
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Official YIFY movies site:
YTS.MX
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as on that Saturday in January 1965.
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One man was dead, and a whole
country was mourning him.
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With over 60 years in politics,
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he had certainly made some enemies.
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But on that day both friends
and enemies were all there
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to honor the man who had
given them the courage
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to stand up to the barbarity of the Nazis.
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Heads of state and
prime ministers had come
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from the four corners of the globe
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to salute, one last time, the Old Lion.
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They lay Winston Churchill to rest
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with a pomp reserved for royalty.
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The Old Bulldog was a
legend in his own lifetime.
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There was a lot more to his life, though,
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than those five years when
he led the western world
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in the fight against Nazism.
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He left an indelible
mark on a whole century.
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(canons fire in salute)
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As the oak coffin moved
along the Thames Embankment,
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all the cranes of London
dipped their heads
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to salute the great man.
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(jets roar past)
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Churchill was always
convinced that his destiny
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was a great one.
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Indeed, his life would, against all odds,
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be one of history's grand epics.
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But it wasn't all plain
sailing for Winston.
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In 1940, Adolf Hitler's
troops were on the way
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to conquering the whole of Europe.
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The Wehrmacht invaded first
Austria and Czechoslovakia,
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then Poland, Norway, Denmark, Belgium,
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and the Netherlands.
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Now, they were marching on France.
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Hitler seemed invincible.
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Only Churchill dared confront him.
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Only Churchill would stand up to him.
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As the recently-appointed Prime
Minister of Great Britain,
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he had one plan:
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war, and victory, at any price.
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- [Voiceover] We shall defend our island
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whatever the cost may be.
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We shall fight on the beaches,
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we shall fight on the landing grounds.
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We shall never surrender!
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- [Voiceover] All through the
long fight, he would wage war
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from the frontline
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and support his people with all his force.
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His fierce resistance would
change the course of history.
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He was the last bastion.
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(crowd cheers enthusiastically)
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00:03:38,583 --> 00:03:41,327
Throughout the war, he
gathered allies to him
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and led the battle.
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(stirring, dramatic music)
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But where did he get his
formidable powers of persuasion?
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His will to win at all costs?
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"I felt as if all my past life
had been but a preparation
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"for this hour, and for this trial,"
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he says in his memoirs.
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Winston, indeed, seemed all
his life to have been preparing
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for that dreadful hour.
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In 1940, he was 65 years old,
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Prime Minster of Britain, and
already the stuff of legends.
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But behind the legend,
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who was this great and complex man?
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Everything thus far would indicate
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that he was the one and only man capable
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of saving the free world.
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(majestic, cheerful music)
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Winston Churchill was
born into one of England's
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most celebrated families.
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00:04:55,360 --> 00:04:57,965
It was his ancestor,
the Duke of Marlborough,
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who in 1704 defeated
the troops of Louis XIV,
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00:05:01,698 --> 00:05:05,115
and was given Blenheim
Palace as his reward.
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It is in this 320-room
palace worthy of Versailles
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that Winston Leonard
Spencer Churchill is born
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in November 1874.
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His father, Lord Randolph,
is a brilliant and fiery
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and unpredictable politician,
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a member of the Conservative Party,
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but who supports Liberal reforms.
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His American mother, Jennie Jerome,
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is a beautiful and flighty socialite,
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whose many lovers, often titled men,
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include the future King
of England, Edward VII.
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This future architect of the 20th century
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is nicknamed the Little Bulldog.
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At school he is wild and unruly.
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His school reports speak for themselves.
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Number of times late, 20.
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Very disgraceful. Very bad.
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General conduct, very bad.
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Is a constant trouble to everybody,
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and is always in some scrape or other.
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He has no ambition.
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He cannot be trusted to
behave himself anywhere.
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He has very good abilities.
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One teacher will go further and say
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she thought him the
meanest child in the world.
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Like all good sons of
the British aristocracy,
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the young Winston is sent
off to boarding school.
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(camera flash flares)
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There, the young troublemaker and scrapper
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has a hard time.
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"My dear Mamma," he writes home,
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"do attend to my letter, I am so wretched.
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"Even now I weep.
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"Please, my darling Mummy,
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"be kind to your loving son.
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"My dear mother, please
don't be so unkind.
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"Answer my letter. I'm so very unhappy.
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"Please do do do do do come
to see your loving son."
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(melancholy music)
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But the Churchills are
too busy with socializing
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and garden parties.
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Winston receives no more
than one visit per year.
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Despite this lack of affection,
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Winston at 12 years old
greatly admires his father.
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He learns all his speeches by heart,
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and fills endless albums with articles
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and cartoons about him.
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But in December 1886, Lord Randolph,
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recently promoted to
Chancellor of the Exchequer,
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00:07:53,167 --> 00:07:55,502
takes a huge gamble.
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He resigns over criticisms of his budget,
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00:07:58,479 --> 00:08:00,837
hoping to be supported by public opinion
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and bring about the
downfall of the government.
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It is a dismal failure.
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He is simply replaced,
and completely sidelined.
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Although he continues
to sit in Parliament,
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his political career is over.
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This mistake does not improve relations
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between father and son.
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Lord Randolph never misses an opportunity
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to belittle Winston.
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He already considers him a failure.
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Admittedly, the young
dunce does behave stupidly.
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At 18, he'd rather jump from a bridge
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and try to grab at a nearby branch
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than be captured by his pals.
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The branch is out of reach, though,
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and Winston narrowly escapes death.
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(loud thudding)
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He's in a coma for three days,
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and takes several weeks to recover.
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(shots ring out)
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Convinced that Winston
will never succeed in life,
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Lord Randolph gets him off his hands
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by guiding him towards a military career.
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Yet by doing so, he
unwittingly gives his son
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the opportunity to show
what he's really made of.
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Action is what he's been needing.
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A horseman, a marksman, and a swordsman,
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Winston distinguishes
himself in every field.
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You see, I'm not a good-for-nothing,
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he seems to be telling his father.
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One day I'll be there with you
on the benches in Parliament.
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It's a wonderful dream.
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But that one that will
end when his father dies,
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ravaged by syphilis,
at the young age of 46,
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having never truly loved
or acknowledged his son.
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From that day on, Winston
is a man on a mission.
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He's in a hurry. To do
what, he's not yet sure.
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But, surely, to accomplish something
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before death takes him,
perhaps too soon as well.
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He may have been an unworthy son,
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but now he'll strive to become
an illustrious descendant
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of those ancestors the Marlboroughs,
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the saviors of England.
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So, as his tears of grief dry,
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Winston seeks his baptism of fire.
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(ship horn blares)
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He travels throughout the British Empire
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seeking out wars and rebellions,
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enlisting on all the fronts.
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00:10:23,846 --> 00:10:26,886
Cuba, India, the Sudan,
where he takes part
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00:10:26,886 --> 00:10:29,944
in the last cavalry
charge in British history.
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He'd rather have a heroic
death than be a nobody.
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And if he survives, he'll
make a name for himself
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the equal of his father's, if not greater.
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It is during these wars that Winston
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really becomes Churchill.
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He develops a lifelong taste
for the four addictions
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that will forever be a
part of his character,
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danger, alcohol, cigars, and writing.
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On every battlefield, the
soldier, now doubles up
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as a war correspondent.
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His dozens of articles from every front
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will make his name and his reputation.
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(dramatic martial music)
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War is raging in South Africa.
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So, he rushes off there.
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With fearless heroism, he saves the crew
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of an armored train.
199
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He's taken prisoner, he escapes.
200
00:11:30,792 --> 00:11:35,128
A price is put on his
head, £25, dead or alive.
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After three weeks of wandering,
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he manages secretly to hop a freight train
203
00:11:43,726 --> 00:11:46,943
and arrives back at base in triumph.
204
00:11:50,789 --> 00:11:55,090
In 1900, the injured are all
being evacuated to England.
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00:11:55,090 --> 00:11:58,603
Winston arrives home without a scratch.
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(camera flash flares)
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00:12:00,212 --> 00:12:04,040
Five years of war, and three
books telling of his campaigns
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have made him a hero in
the defense of the Empire.
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00:12:07,168 --> 00:12:10,774
This hard-won notoriety will
allow him to realize his dream
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00:12:10,774 --> 00:12:13,111
of entering Parliament to sit beside
211
00:12:13,111 --> 00:12:15,580
the ghost of his father.
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00:12:16,428 --> 00:12:18,327
At age 26, he is elected under
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00:12:18,327 --> 00:12:20,585
the Conservative Party banner.
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00:12:22,712 --> 00:12:25,293
The brave soldier hangs up his uniform
215
00:12:25,293 --> 00:12:28,220
and wholeheartedly enters politics.
216
00:12:28,770 --> 00:12:31,672
He confidently asserts, "We are all worms,
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00:12:31,672 --> 00:12:35,025
"but I do believe that I am a glowworm."
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00:12:37,154 --> 00:12:40,236
A journalist observes
him at dinner one night.
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00:12:40,236 --> 00:12:43,648
"First impression, restless,
almost intolerably.
220
00:12:43,648 --> 00:12:47,456
"His pluck, courage,
resourcefulness, and great tradition,
221
00:12:47,456 --> 00:12:50,795
"may carry him far, unless
he knocks himself to pieces,
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00:12:50,795 --> 00:12:52,858
"like his father."
223
00:12:54,816 --> 00:12:57,711
Winton is egotistical and pretentious.
224
00:12:57,711 --> 00:13:01,486
But he's also just as
indefinable as his father was.
225
00:13:01,486 --> 00:13:03,609
The views he expresses
on the issues of the day
226
00:13:03,609 --> 00:13:07,747
are his own, and often do
not toe the party line.
227
00:13:07,747 --> 00:13:09,827
During a visit to the city of York,
228
00:13:09,827 --> 00:13:13,207
he discovers the misery
of the common people.
229
00:13:14,488 --> 00:13:17,357
This unknown world comes
as a revelation to him,
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00:13:17,357 --> 00:13:18,755
and he hastens to proclaim
231
00:13:18,755 --> 00:13:22,213
his indignation in Parliament, declaring,
232
00:13:22,213 --> 00:13:24,513
"For my own part, I see little glory
233
00:13:24,513 --> 00:13:26,498
"in an empire which can rule the waves,
234
00:13:26,498 --> 00:13:29,190
"and is unable to flush its sewers."
235
00:13:29,739 --> 00:13:32,194
Fiercely independent, he refuses to submit
236
00:13:32,194 --> 00:13:33,793
to the rules of his party,
237
00:13:33,793 --> 00:13:36,301
and carries off a considerable coup.
238
00:13:36,301 --> 00:13:40,140
In 1904, he leaves the
ruling Conservative Party
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00:13:40,140 --> 00:13:43,366
to join the ranks of
the Liberal opposition.
240
00:13:44,502 --> 00:13:47,595
For the Conservatives, this is treason.
241
00:13:47,595 --> 00:13:49,344
The press picks up the story.
242
00:13:49,344 --> 00:13:51,754
Mocked for jumping the Conservative ship,
243
00:13:51,754 --> 00:13:53,983
he's nicknamed the Blenheim Rat,
244
00:13:53,983 --> 00:13:56,202
in reference to his ancestral home.
245
00:13:56,202 --> 00:13:58,671
(dramatic music)
246
00:13:59,637 --> 00:14:02,398
His youthful ambition will
seem quite astute, though,
247
00:14:02,398 --> 00:14:04,917
when just 18 months after he jumps ship,
248
00:14:04,917 --> 00:14:08,354
the Liberals gain power in a landslide.
249
00:14:08,724 --> 00:14:10,601
Churchill is 32 years old.
250
00:14:10,601 --> 00:14:13,384
He enters government
as its youngest member
251
00:14:13,384 --> 00:14:15,138
for half a century.
252
00:14:16,050 --> 00:14:17,864
With all this political success,
253
00:14:17,864 --> 00:14:21,408
Winston completely
forgets his personal life.
254
00:14:21,408 --> 00:14:23,709
His mother, though,
won't let matters rest.
255
00:14:23,709 --> 00:14:27,100
She introduces him to the
American actress Ethel Barrymore.
256
00:14:27,100 --> 00:14:29,362
Then the heiress Muriel Wilson.
257
00:14:29,362 --> 00:14:32,992
But they both assume the
young man has no future.
258
00:14:33,564 --> 00:14:35,227
But it all ends happily when Winston
259
00:14:35,227 --> 00:14:37,468
falls for Clementine Hozier,
260
00:14:37,468 --> 00:14:40,847
a Scottish aristocrat 10 years his junior.
261
00:14:40,847 --> 00:14:42,330
They become engaged.
262
00:14:42,330 --> 00:14:44,314
("Land of Hope and Glory" by Edward Elgar)
263
00:14:44,314 --> 00:14:46,735
Clementine is intelligent and tenacious,
264
00:14:46,735 --> 00:14:51,262
and has fallen for the charm
of this powerhouse of a man.
265
00:14:52,772 --> 00:14:54,563
The wedding is held in Westminster.
266
00:14:54,563 --> 00:14:58,291
It's the toast of London,
with 1,500 guests.
267
00:15:00,227 --> 00:15:02,105
Despite these matters of the heart,
268
00:15:02,105 --> 00:15:04,706
Winston keeps his eye on the ball.
269
00:15:04,706 --> 00:15:07,063
Even during his honeymoon, the young groom
270
00:15:07,063 --> 00:15:10,311
keeps firing telegrams
off to the government.
271
00:15:11,319 --> 00:15:12,738
Summing up his life with the woman
272
00:15:12,738 --> 00:15:14,263
who gave him five children,
273
00:15:14,263 --> 00:15:16,023
Winston will one day write,
274
00:15:16,023 --> 00:15:19,505
"I married, and lived
happily ever afterwards."
275
00:15:21,452 --> 00:15:23,779
(camera flash flares)
276
00:15:23,779 --> 00:15:26,497
He's happy in his political life, too.
277
00:15:26,497 --> 00:15:29,377
Ministerial positions
follow one after another
278
00:15:29,377 --> 00:15:32,084
until at just 36 years old,
279
00:15:32,084 --> 00:15:34,285
he's appointed Home Secretary.
280
00:15:34,285 --> 00:15:36,268
He's impossible to pin down,
281
00:15:36,268 --> 00:15:38,145
a liberal among the Conservatives,
282
00:15:38,145 --> 00:15:40,748
he's now a conservative among Liberals,
283
00:15:40,748 --> 00:15:43,147
not hesitating to stare down strikers
284
00:15:43,147 --> 00:15:45,490
or arrest Suffragettes.
285
00:15:45,490 --> 00:15:47,903
But it's in 1911 that the English discover
286
00:15:47,903 --> 00:15:52,047
just how determined and
intransigent Winston truly is.
287
00:15:53,365 --> 00:15:57,450
In London, three policemen
have been killed in an ambush.
288
00:15:57,450 --> 00:16:00,373
The killers, anarchists,
are cornered in a building
289
00:16:00,373 --> 00:16:04,014
in Sydney Street, where a
crowd has begun to gather.
290
00:16:05,385 --> 00:16:07,582
Until this moment, no Home Secretary
291
00:16:07,582 --> 00:16:10,259
has ever gone into the field.
292
00:16:10,259 --> 00:16:13,320
Winston, informed of the
situation while in his bath,
293
00:16:13,320 --> 00:16:15,070
rushes to the scene.
294
00:16:15,070 --> 00:16:17,468
Danger, and the smell of gunsmoke,
295
00:16:17,468 --> 00:16:20,342
hold a terrible fascination for him.
296
00:16:21,628 --> 00:16:23,633
The news media of the day tell of the zeal
297
00:16:23,633 --> 00:16:25,319
of the young minister
298
00:16:25,319 --> 00:16:27,143
who heads straight for the frontline
299
00:16:27,143 --> 00:16:28,891
at the risk of his own life.
300
00:16:28,891 --> 00:16:32,021
(tense music)
301
00:16:35,973 --> 00:16:38,373
After several hours of the siege,
302
00:16:38,373 --> 00:16:40,036
keen to be done with the matter,
303
00:16:40,036 --> 00:16:43,283
he orders the building to
be burnt to the ground.
304
00:16:51,353 --> 00:16:53,561
Churchill won't allow
the Fire Brigade access,
305
00:16:53,561 --> 00:16:55,577
so the insurgents die,
306
00:16:55,577 --> 00:16:57,337
burned alive in the blaze,
307
00:16:57,337 --> 00:17:01,085
in front of the crowd and
the photographers' lenses.
308
00:17:15,617 --> 00:17:19,137
Photos of the minister
are on every front page.
309
00:17:19,137 --> 00:17:20,981
His opponents seize the opportunity
310
00:17:20,981 --> 00:17:24,534
to present him as an
irresponsible adventurer.
311
00:17:26,124 --> 00:17:28,769
Undaunted, Churchill argues that his order
312
00:17:28,769 --> 00:17:31,009
was the only right decision.
313
00:17:31,009 --> 00:17:33,352
"I thought it better to
let the house burn down
314
00:17:33,352 --> 00:17:36,475
"rather than spend good British lives."
315
00:17:40,267 --> 00:17:42,359
To one of his colleagues
who reproaches him
316
00:17:42,359 --> 00:17:44,396
for going to the scene he replies,
317
00:17:44,396 --> 00:17:47,494
"Don't be crass. It was such fun."
318
00:17:49,804 --> 00:17:52,774
(horse hooves rumble)
319
00:17:53,303 --> 00:17:54,999
Churchill may have gone into politics,
320
00:17:54,999 --> 00:17:56,982
but at heart he's still a soldier,
321
00:17:56,982 --> 00:17:58,959
and ever will remain so.
322
00:18:01,507 --> 00:18:03,137
He gives his all to the creation
323
00:18:03,137 --> 00:18:05,713
of the British Secret Service.
324
00:18:06,806 --> 00:18:09,142
He regularly attends military maneuvers,
325
00:18:09,142 --> 00:18:11,189
including those of the German army,
326
00:18:11,189 --> 00:18:13,824
in the company of Kaiser Wilhelm II,
327
00:18:13,824 --> 00:18:16,064
a leader whose expansionist ambitions
328
00:18:16,064 --> 00:18:19,243
are becoming more obvious
with each passing week.
329
00:18:19,243 --> 00:18:21,498
(military drumming)
330
00:18:26,026 --> 00:18:28,032
For Churchill, there's no doubt.
331
00:18:28,032 --> 00:18:30,606
Germany is preparing for war.
332
00:18:36,138 --> 00:18:39,358
His conviction leads the Prime
Minister to appointing him
333
00:18:39,358 --> 00:18:41,966
First Lord of the Admiralty.
334
00:18:45,151 --> 00:18:48,435
For Winston, it is an immense achievement.
335
00:18:48,435 --> 00:18:51,976
He says, "This is a very big thing.
336
00:18:51,976 --> 00:18:54,429
"The greatest that ever
happened to me so far,
337
00:18:54,429 --> 00:18:57,672
"the chance that I would
have chosen over anything.
338
00:18:57,672 --> 00:19:00,481
"I am going to give
everything I have in me."
339
00:19:01,287 --> 00:19:03,179
And he does.
340
00:19:03,656 --> 00:19:04,981
On board the Admiralty Yacht
341
00:19:04,981 --> 00:19:07,061
that is now his floating office,
342
00:19:07,061 --> 00:19:10,442
he throws himself heart
and soul into his work.
343
00:19:10,442 --> 00:19:13,572
(suspenseful, dramatic music)
344
00:19:29,734 --> 00:19:32,622
He makes ready the fleet
for a German attack,
345
00:19:32,622 --> 00:19:36,170
modernizing it, and
launching new warships.
346
00:19:44,650 --> 00:19:47,101
He is constantly innovating.
347
00:19:47,101 --> 00:19:48,639
Being First Lord of the Admiralty
348
00:19:48,639 --> 00:19:51,103
does not curb his interest in aviation,
349
00:19:51,103 --> 00:19:54,112
and he immediately sees
its military potential.
350
00:19:54,112 --> 00:19:56,682
His reforms will result in the creation of
351
00:19:56,682 --> 00:19:59,365
the Royal Naval Air Force.
352
00:20:02,699 --> 00:20:05,027
He even, to Clementine's horror,
353
00:20:05,027 --> 00:20:06,530
learns to fly.
354
00:20:06,530 --> 00:20:09,352
She sees him survive three plane crashes
355
00:20:09,352 --> 00:20:11,805
that would have killed anybody else.
356
00:20:13,934 --> 00:20:15,845
These innovations are all expensive,
357
00:20:15,845 --> 00:20:18,725
but Churchill defends his
spending so eloquently
358
00:20:18,725 --> 00:20:21,540
that in March 1914, MPs vote him
359
00:20:21,540 --> 00:20:25,717
the most significant Naval
budget in British history.
360
00:20:31,363 --> 00:20:32,939
But they won't regret it when,
361
00:20:32,939 --> 00:20:35,840
three months later,
shifting alliances in Europe
362
00:20:35,840 --> 00:20:38,455
threaten to plunge the continent into war.
363
00:20:38,455 --> 00:20:41,418
The English fleet is ready.
364
00:20:44,475 --> 00:20:46,460
He writes to Clementine,
365
00:20:47,230 --> 00:20:49,523
"My darling one and beautiful,
366
00:20:49,523 --> 00:20:52,488
"everything trends towards
catastrophe and collapse.
367
00:20:52,488 --> 00:20:55,284
"I am interested, geared up, and happy.
368
00:20:55,284 --> 00:20:58,141
"Is it not horrible to be built like that?
369
00:20:58,141 --> 00:21:00,895
"The preparations have a
hideous fascination for me.
370
00:21:00,895 --> 00:21:03,351
"I feel sure, however, that if war comes,
371
00:21:03,351 --> 00:21:05,548
"we shall give them a good drubbing.
372
00:21:06,188 --> 00:21:08,537
"Kiss those kittens, and be loved forever
373
00:21:08,537 --> 00:21:10,846
"only by me."
374
00:21:13,250 --> 00:21:16,147
(explosion roars)
375
00:21:16,147 --> 00:21:18,887
The war Winston has
been so eagerly awaiting
376
00:21:18,887 --> 00:21:21,749
breaks out in August 1914.
377
00:21:21,749 --> 00:21:25,766
But the good drubbing is slow in coming.
378
00:21:26,178 --> 00:21:30,022
(heavy gunfire rings out)
379
00:21:33,772 --> 00:21:35,692
The war gets bogged down.
380
00:21:35,692 --> 00:21:37,688
Each unable to overwhelm the other,
381
00:21:37,688 --> 00:21:40,429
the armies face each other
along hundreds of kilometers
382
00:21:40,429 --> 00:21:42,487
of trenches made up of mud,
383
00:21:42,487 --> 00:21:45,617
and the tens of thousands of dead.
384
00:21:50,113 --> 00:21:52,544
For Churchill, holding
back and doing nothing
385
00:21:52,544 --> 00:21:54,709
is simply inconceivable.
386
00:21:54,709 --> 00:21:56,149
He wants to move the front,
387
00:21:56,149 --> 00:21:58,527
create a new one, take Germany by surprise
388
00:21:58,527 --> 00:22:00,500
by cutting it off from its ally,
389
00:22:00,500 --> 00:22:02,616
the Ottoman Empire.
390
00:22:04,648 --> 00:22:07,241
And that means crossing
the Dardanelles Strait,
391
00:22:07,241 --> 00:22:10,573
the only access route to Constantinople.
392
00:22:14,592 --> 00:22:18,346
In March 1915, a massive
armada of 20 warships,
393
00:22:18,346 --> 00:22:20,287
including four French battleships,
394
00:22:20,287 --> 00:22:23,892
enters the Straits, and
bombards several Turkish forts.
395
00:22:23,892 --> 00:22:26,217
(heavy gunfire rings out)
396
00:22:26,217 --> 00:22:29,625
But the enemy's defenses
have been underestimated.
397
00:22:32,588 --> 00:22:35,691
The French battleship Bouvet
strikes a drifting mine
398
00:22:35,691 --> 00:22:37,299
and sinks within minutes,
399
00:22:37,299 --> 00:22:40,553
taking with her, her crew of 639.
400
00:22:44,616 --> 00:22:46,838
Within the half hour,
three British battleships
401
00:22:46,838 --> 00:22:48,650
are struck by mines.
402
00:22:49,338 --> 00:22:51,194
The armada is forced to retreat
403
00:22:51,194 --> 00:22:53,448
and wait for land reinforcements,
404
00:22:53,448 --> 00:22:55,481
which will attempt to
break the Turkish defenses
405
00:22:55,481 --> 00:22:57,864
by landing ashore.
406
00:22:59,258 --> 00:23:02,712
Organizing a landing so far
from England takes time, though,
407
00:23:02,712 --> 00:23:04,516
and the Turks seize the opportunity
408
00:23:04,516 --> 00:23:07,132
to call in reinforcements.
409
00:23:07,132 --> 00:23:09,946
When, a month later, the
ground operation is ready,
410
00:23:09,946 --> 00:23:12,666
there are 60,000 Turkish soldiers waiting,
411
00:23:12,666 --> 00:23:15,044
supervised by German officers.
412
00:23:15,044 --> 00:23:18,223
(dramatic, suspenseful music)
413
00:23:22,459 --> 00:23:25,707
(gunfire rings out)
414
00:23:31,688 --> 00:23:33,814
It's a massacre.
415
00:23:41,641 --> 00:23:44,628
The blue waters of the Straits turn red.
416
00:23:45,417 --> 00:23:48,078
All attempts to land will
be miserable failures,
417
00:23:48,078 --> 00:23:51,518
and evacuating the troops
will be a bloodbath.
418
00:23:54,040 --> 00:23:57,325
It ends with 100,000 Allied dead
419
00:23:57,325 --> 00:24:00,401
and 150,000 casualties.
420
00:24:01,015 --> 00:24:03,159
It is for Britain, one
of the greatest disasters
421
00:24:03,159 --> 00:24:05,703
of the First World War.
422
00:24:10,637 --> 00:24:13,154
A disaster for which the
politicians want Churchill
423
00:24:13,154 --> 00:24:14,998
to pay the price.
424
00:24:14,998 --> 00:24:17,356
The Conservatives have not
forgotten their betrayal
425
00:24:17,356 --> 00:24:19,594
10 years earlier by the Blenheim Rat,
426
00:24:19,594 --> 00:24:22,039
and now they want his head.
427
00:24:22,039 --> 00:24:25,098
The Liberals simply won't
listen to his explanations.
428
00:24:25,098 --> 00:24:28,963
Shot by both sides, he's forced to resign.
429
00:24:29,535 --> 00:24:32,985
And the mighty Churchill
has a long way to fall.
430
00:24:32,985 --> 00:24:35,505
(melancholy music)
431
00:24:35,505 --> 00:24:39,366
Even his five-year-old son
Randolph is taken to task.
432
00:24:39,366 --> 00:24:42,469
At school, when he asks a
classmate to be his friend,
433
00:24:42,469 --> 00:24:44,624
the answer stings.
434
00:24:44,624 --> 00:24:49,068
"Never. Your father murdered
my father at the Dardanelles."
435
00:24:50,994 --> 00:24:53,884
Like his father Lord
Randolph 30 years ago,
436
00:24:53,884 --> 00:24:56,595
the heir to the Marlboroughs has failed.
437
00:24:56,595 --> 00:24:59,571
"I'm finished," he declares.
438
00:25:00,441 --> 00:25:02,433
Left with nothing to do, he plunges into
439
00:25:02,433 --> 00:25:04,812
a terrible period of depression.
440
00:25:04,812 --> 00:25:08,416
He calls it his Black Dog.
441
00:25:08,416 --> 00:25:10,753
"It was one of the most
difficult periods of my life,"
442
00:25:10,753 --> 00:25:12,426
he will write.
443
00:25:12,426 --> 00:25:15,012
"Like a sea beast fished
up from the depths
444
00:25:15,012 --> 00:25:17,328
"or a diver too suddenly hoisted,
445
00:25:17,328 --> 00:25:21,736
"my veins threaten to burst
from the fall in pressure."
446
00:25:26,051 --> 00:25:29,411
Clementine is trying
to keep up appearances.
447
00:25:29,411 --> 00:25:31,951
"I thought he would never
get over the Dardanelles,"
448
00:25:31,951 --> 00:25:33,326
she will confess.
449
00:25:33,326 --> 00:25:35,971
"I thought he would die of grief."
450
00:25:36,285 --> 00:25:37,671
For the first time in his life,
451
00:25:37,671 --> 00:25:40,475
Winston can see no future for himself.
452
00:25:40,475 --> 00:25:43,633
After 15 years of
continuous political ascent,
453
00:25:43,633 --> 00:25:45,934
everything has fallen apart.
454
00:25:51,177 --> 00:25:54,439
The former minister,
soldier, writer, speaker,
455
00:25:54,439 --> 00:25:58,204
and MP, will drown his
sorrows in drink, tobacco,
456
00:25:58,204 --> 00:26:01,963
and an expected new pastime, painting.
457
00:26:03,345 --> 00:26:05,552
But the depression won't let up.
458
00:26:05,552 --> 00:26:07,771
And when a friend comes
by to see him he says,
459
00:26:07,771 --> 00:26:10,944
"There is more blood than
paint upon these hands."
460
00:26:12,495 --> 00:26:14,532
Consumed by the need for action,
461
00:26:14,532 --> 00:26:18,799
Winston takes his palette and
easel and leaves for France.
462
00:26:19,538 --> 00:26:21,328
And for what?
463
00:26:22,304 --> 00:26:25,216
For the thing he loves most in the world,
464
00:26:25,216 --> 00:26:26,399
war.
465
00:26:26,399 --> 00:26:28,689
(explosion rings out)
466
00:26:30,434 --> 00:26:34,010
(bagpipes play)
467
00:26:40,011 --> 00:26:43,457
Now 40 years old, he gets
himself assigned to the command
468
00:26:43,457 --> 00:26:46,284
of a Scottish battalion
fighting in Flanders,
469
00:26:46,284 --> 00:26:48,872
from where he writes to Clementine,
470
00:26:50,404 --> 00:26:52,782
"Filth and rubbish everywhere.
471
00:26:52,782 --> 00:26:55,521
"Graves scattered about promiscuously.
472
00:26:55,521 --> 00:26:58,149
"Feet and clothing
breaking through the soil,
473
00:26:58,149 --> 00:27:00,236
"water and muck on all sides.
474
00:27:01,266 --> 00:27:03,774
"The unceasing accompaniment
of rifle and machineguns
475
00:27:03,774 --> 00:27:06,387
"and the venomous whining
and whirring of the bullets
476
00:27:06,387 --> 00:27:08,282
"which pass overhead.
477
00:27:09,493 --> 00:27:12,820
"Amid these surroundings,
aided by wet and cold,
478
00:27:12,820 --> 00:27:15,220
"I have found happiness and content
479
00:27:15,220 --> 00:27:18,287
"such as I've not known for many months."
480
00:27:20,895 --> 00:27:23,658
In battle, Winston manages
for a few hours a day
481
00:27:23,658 --> 00:27:26,377
to keep at bay his two worst enemies,
482
00:27:26,377 --> 00:27:29,163
inaction and depression.
483
00:27:29,163 --> 00:27:32,128
As Lieutenant Colonel,
he's beloved by his men
484
00:27:32,128 --> 00:27:34,465
and an audacious fighter.
485
00:27:34,465 --> 00:27:36,512
During lulls, he paints landscapes,
486
00:27:36,512 --> 00:27:39,466
such as the Belgian hamlet
known as Plug Street
487
00:27:39,466 --> 00:27:42,826
engulfed by a deluge of fire.
488
00:27:47,086 --> 00:27:50,633
Within six months, Winston
has got his old energy back.
489
00:27:50,633 --> 00:27:51,892
He returns to London,
490
00:27:51,892 --> 00:27:54,111
where publication of
the Dardanelles report
491
00:27:54,111 --> 00:27:56,032
restores his spirits.
492
00:27:56,032 --> 00:27:58,644
Churchill may have designed
the naval operation,
493
00:27:58,644 --> 00:28:01,011
but he was not responsible for the delays,
494
00:28:01,011 --> 00:28:04,198
or for the inadequate
preparation of land operations.
495
00:28:04,875 --> 00:28:08,085
He is finally appointed
Minister of Munitions.
496
00:28:08,085 --> 00:28:11,000
And what better way to erase
the shame of the Dardanelles
497
00:28:11,000 --> 00:28:14,628
than to launch himself
headlong into the role?
498
00:28:14,628 --> 00:28:16,365
He reforms the whole department,
499
00:28:16,365 --> 00:28:17,988
makes a thousand proposals,
500
00:28:17,988 --> 00:28:21,655
participates in battles, and in 1917,
501
00:28:21,655 --> 00:28:24,034
equips the half million American soldiers
502
00:28:24,034 --> 00:28:26,016
who land in Europe.
503
00:28:27,478 --> 00:28:30,261
The following year, though,
he faces a terrible threat
504
00:28:30,261 --> 00:28:33,667
when munitions workers
start going on strike.
505
00:28:35,316 --> 00:28:37,416
He announces that all workers who do not
506
00:28:37,416 --> 00:28:39,519
return to work as soon as possible
507
00:28:39,519 --> 00:28:42,612
will have the privilege
of serving their country
508
00:28:42,622 --> 00:28:43,749
on the French front.
509
00:28:43,749 --> 00:28:46,620
(intensely dramatic music)
510
00:28:46,620 --> 00:28:48,519
His words hit home.
511
00:28:48,519 --> 00:28:50,906
The strike collapses,
production of weapons
512
00:28:50,906 --> 00:28:53,855
and ammunition resumes.
513
00:28:55,686 --> 00:28:59,050
He has tanks made in their thousands.
514
00:29:00,122 --> 00:29:01,606
These are the tanks he dreamed of
515
00:29:01,606 --> 00:29:03,941
when he was First Lord of the Admiralty.
516
00:29:03,941 --> 00:29:07,401
He built their prototypes
back in the Naval Yards.
517
00:29:09,070 --> 00:29:12,424
Known as Winston's Follies,
they will prove decisive
518
00:29:12,424 --> 00:29:15,675
when large scale offensives are launched.
519
00:29:16,566 --> 00:29:19,530
On the 8th of August 1918,
they break through the front
520
00:29:19,530 --> 00:29:23,787
and penetrate to 400
kilometers behind German lines.
521
00:29:23,787 --> 00:29:27,580
It marks the beginning of the
end for the Kaiser's army.
522
00:29:28,429 --> 00:29:30,906
It's also a personal triumph for Winston,
523
00:29:30,906 --> 00:29:33,349
one that allows him, at least temporarily,
524
00:29:33,349 --> 00:29:36,073
to forget the shame of the Dardanelles.
525
00:29:37,353 --> 00:29:40,089
(jubilant music and cheering)
526
00:29:40,661 --> 00:29:43,604
Three months later, on the
11th day of the 11th month,
527
00:29:43,604 --> 00:29:45,054
and at the 11th hour,
528
00:29:45,054 --> 00:29:47,772
the Armistice is signed at last.
529
00:29:58,240 --> 00:30:01,698
Churchill has every reason to
be confident about the future.
530
00:30:01,698 --> 00:30:04,471
He will hold a succession
of ministerial posts,
531
00:30:04,471 --> 00:30:06,690
war, aviation, the Colonies,
532
00:30:06,690 --> 00:30:09,537
until fate, and the vagaries of politics,
533
00:30:09,537 --> 00:30:10,933
clip his wings.
534
00:30:11,782 --> 00:30:14,657
Winston is overtaken by events.
535
00:30:14,657 --> 00:30:17,962
First, his youngest
daughter, Marigold, dies,
536
00:30:17,962 --> 00:30:20,598
following a sudden onset of meningitis.
537
00:30:20,598 --> 00:30:23,512
(melancholy music)
538
00:30:25,446 --> 00:30:27,721
Although still grieving for his daughter,
539
00:30:27,721 --> 00:30:31,188
Winston is faced with a
new election campaign.
540
00:30:31,188 --> 00:30:32,969
He's prevented from taking part
541
00:30:32,969 --> 00:30:35,812
by an attack of appendicitis.
542
00:30:35,812 --> 00:30:38,035
Now, the only card he has left to play
543
00:30:38,035 --> 00:30:41,290
is his carefully-tended public image.
544
00:30:41,290 --> 00:30:43,805
He has himself carried to vote in a chair,
545
00:30:43,805 --> 00:30:47,298
yet even this does not prevent
him losing the election.
546
00:30:47,879 --> 00:30:50,908
Much later, once he has
regained his sense of humor,
547
00:30:50,908 --> 00:30:53,234
he will write, "In the twinkling of an eye
548
00:30:53,234 --> 00:30:55,528
"I found myself without an office,
549
00:30:55,528 --> 00:30:57,671
"without a seat, without a party,
550
00:30:57,671 --> 00:31:00,406
"and without an appendix."
551
00:31:01,639 --> 00:31:03,570
The blows come thick and fast,
552
00:31:03,570 --> 00:31:06,128
but Winston will rise above them.
553
00:31:06,128 --> 00:31:09,348
With the politician out of
power and the soldier off duty,
554
00:31:09,348 --> 00:31:12,202
it's the writer who comes to the fore.
555
00:31:13,349 --> 00:31:15,333
In addition to his many articles,
556
00:31:15,333 --> 00:31:19,055
he starts writing a sumptuous
history of the Great War.
557
00:31:19,055 --> 00:31:21,594
It is a great success.
558
00:31:21,594 --> 00:31:24,665
And Clementine gives
birth to a daughter, Mary,
559
00:31:24,665 --> 00:31:26,299
which softens the terrible blow
560
00:31:26,299 --> 00:31:29,267
of Marigold's death the year before.
561
00:31:33,002 --> 00:31:35,838
The writer takes up the
role of gentleman farmer
562
00:31:35,838 --> 00:31:38,935
and buys a property, Chartwell.
563
00:31:39,496 --> 00:31:43,027
Always full of surprises, he
now discovers a new passion,
564
00:31:43,027 --> 00:31:44,488
bricklaying.
565
00:31:44,488 --> 00:31:46,877
He even joins the Guild of Bricklayers.
566
00:31:46,877 --> 00:31:48,679
He builds wall after wall,
567
00:31:48,679 --> 00:31:51,391
and even gets the children to lend a hand.
568
00:31:51,391 --> 00:31:54,441
But gardening, bricklaying,
painting and polo
569
00:31:54,441 --> 00:31:56,475
do not deflect Churchill's
intense scrutiny
570
00:31:56,475 --> 00:31:58,320
of the political landscape
571
00:31:58,320 --> 00:32:00,776
or keep him from penning many articles
572
00:32:00,776 --> 00:32:03,223
criticizing the government.
573
00:32:04,809 --> 00:32:07,668
As a result, two years after
he left the government,
574
00:32:07,668 --> 00:32:11,305
the Conservatives offer him a
constituency and a portfolio,
575
00:32:11,305 --> 00:32:13,401
Chancellor of the Exchequer,
576
00:32:13,401 --> 00:32:16,350
like his father 30 years ago.
577
00:32:18,040 --> 00:32:19,853
Despite his earlier betrayal,
578
00:32:19,853 --> 00:32:23,367
Churchill returns to the bosom
of the Conservative Party.
579
00:32:24,227 --> 00:32:26,728
He remarks, "Anyone can rat,
580
00:32:26,728 --> 00:32:29,223
"but it takes a certain
amount of ingenuity
581
00:32:29,223 --> 00:32:31,106
"to re-rat."
582
00:32:32,082 --> 00:32:34,781
Appointing Winston is a
way for the Conservatives
583
00:32:34,781 --> 00:32:36,935
to neutralize him.
584
00:32:36,935 --> 00:32:39,719
He's so brilliant that it's
better he be in the government
585
00:32:39,719 --> 00:32:42,759
than on the outside, free
to undermine any initiative
586
00:32:42,759 --> 00:32:44,265
that does not please him.
587
00:32:44,265 --> 00:32:47,966
It's now 1925 and Churchill
the human whirlwind
588
00:32:47,966 --> 00:32:51,141
has been in politics for
a quarter of a century.
589
00:32:52,192 --> 00:32:54,453
He's become an orator without equal,
590
00:32:54,453 --> 00:32:56,171
daring to address Parliament in ways
591
00:32:56,171 --> 00:32:59,585
that make more than one
MP shrink in his presence.
592
00:32:59,585 --> 00:33:02,785
To a member who constantly
interrupts him with "Liar!"
593
00:33:02,785 --> 00:33:04,043
Churchill retorts,
594
00:33:04,043 --> 00:33:06,422
"If the Honorable Gentleman
who keeps interrupting
595
00:33:06,422 --> 00:33:09,739
"consents to give his name
rather than his profession,
596
00:33:09,739 --> 00:33:12,860
"I'm sure we'll all be glad
to make his acquaintance."
597
00:33:14,978 --> 00:33:17,558
One day the MP Lady Aster spits at him,
598
00:33:17,558 --> 00:33:20,192
"If I were your wife,
I'd poison your coffee."
599
00:33:20,192 --> 00:33:21,857
To which Churchill replies,
600
00:33:21,857 --> 00:33:25,648
"Madam, if I were your
husband, I'd drink it."
601
00:33:28,737 --> 00:33:30,734
His deadly sense of repartee makes him
602
00:33:30,734 --> 00:33:32,802
a very popular Chancellor.
603
00:33:32,802 --> 00:33:34,308
And he never misses an occasion to be
604
00:33:34,308 --> 00:33:36,463
the center of attention.
605
00:33:40,463 --> 00:33:44,029
Limelight and public acclaim,
the symbols of recognition,
606
00:33:44,029 --> 00:33:46,691
mean more to him than the air he breathes.
607
00:33:49,822 --> 00:33:51,966
An expert now in public relations,
608
00:33:51,966 --> 00:33:54,717
at every budget vote he parades his family
609
00:33:54,717 --> 00:33:56,951
before the cameras.
610
00:34:00,978 --> 00:34:03,092
But if Winston is a master of words,
611
00:34:03,092 --> 00:34:05,514
numbers are not his strong point.
612
00:34:05,514 --> 00:34:08,297
He is responsible for a
catastrophic decision,
613
00:34:08,297 --> 00:34:10,996
returning the pound sterling
to the gold standard
614
00:34:10,996 --> 00:34:12,958
at its pre-war parity,
615
00:34:12,958 --> 00:34:14,996
thus impoverishing the whole country
616
00:34:14,996 --> 00:34:18,062
and provoking a major social crisis.
617
00:34:18,514 --> 00:34:20,009
He will later admit,
618
00:34:20,009 --> 00:34:22,568
"They said I was the worst
Chancellor of the Exchequer
619
00:34:22,568 --> 00:34:24,893
"that England ever had.
620
00:34:24,893 --> 00:34:26,924
"And they were right."
621
00:34:27,570 --> 00:34:31,292
The 1929 crisis sweeps
through the government.
622
00:34:31,292 --> 00:34:33,191
After five years as Chancellor,
623
00:34:33,191 --> 00:34:35,326
Winston loses his ministry.
624
00:34:35,326 --> 00:34:37,843
Once again the Conservatives
hold him responsible
625
00:34:37,843 --> 00:34:39,114
for the defeat.
626
00:34:39,114 --> 00:34:42,522
Once again, he's a leper in his own party.
627
00:34:44,748 --> 00:34:46,945
(1920s swing music)
628
00:34:46,945 --> 00:34:48,886
Churchill begins a spell in opposition
629
00:34:48,886 --> 00:34:50,807
that will last 10 years.
630
00:34:50,807 --> 00:34:53,783
He disagrees with his party
on the status of India
631
00:34:53,783 --> 00:34:55,948
and is gradually marginalized
632
00:34:55,948 --> 00:35:00,089
despite regular re-election
in his constituency.
633
00:35:00,089 --> 00:35:05,089
- Mr. Churchill's figures are 35,956.
634
00:35:05,112 --> 00:35:07,205
(crowd cheers)
635
00:35:07,205 --> 00:35:09,956
- [Voiceover] Alcohol and
writing keep him afloat.
636
00:35:09,956 --> 00:35:13,305
The one thing Winston
cannot do is nothing.
637
00:35:13,305 --> 00:35:15,225
He gets absorbed in writing a biography
638
00:35:15,225 --> 00:35:17,263
of his ancestor Marlborough,
639
00:35:17,263 --> 00:35:20,987
and his publisher sets
up a US publicity tour.
640
00:35:20,987 --> 00:35:24,645
He's moving on, and leaving
his failures behind.
641
00:35:24,645 --> 00:35:28,186
He visits Washington,
New York, and California,
642
00:35:28,186 --> 00:35:30,842
where he meets his
compatriot Charlie Chaplin,
643
00:35:30,842 --> 00:35:34,071
who's busy lighting up the world.
644
00:35:37,862 --> 00:35:41,156
But Churchill is less
attuned to American ways.
645
00:35:41,877 --> 00:35:45,018
On December the 13th 1931,
646
00:35:45,018 --> 00:35:46,637
the distracted traveler forgets
647
00:35:46,637 --> 00:35:49,278
that Americans drive on the right.
648
00:35:51,289 --> 00:35:53,225
(tires screech)
649
00:35:55,235 --> 00:35:57,438
He gets hit by a car.
650
00:35:58,275 --> 00:36:02,036
He escapes with a concussion
and numerous bruises.
651
00:36:06,265 --> 00:36:09,374
It will take him nearly
two months to recover.
652
00:36:10,042 --> 00:36:14,355
With age, near-fatal accidents
become much more tiring.
653
00:36:17,220 --> 00:36:20,021
But Churchill has the ideal remedy.
654
00:36:20,806 --> 00:36:22,652
At the height of Prohibition America,
655
00:36:22,652 --> 00:36:25,689
he's got a made-to-measure prescription.
656
00:36:27,861 --> 00:36:31,721
His doctor certifies that his
patient must drink alcohol,
657
00:36:31,721 --> 00:36:33,417
particularly at mealtime,
658
00:36:33,417 --> 00:36:35,315
as part of his treatment.
659
00:36:35,315 --> 00:36:38,190
And Winston gets much better.
660
00:36:42,570 --> 00:36:45,343
- [Voiceover] I'm very glad
that you are back Mr. Churchill.
661
00:36:45,343 --> 00:36:47,526
- I had a hard bump.
662
00:36:48,150 --> 00:36:50,069
A harder bump, I think, than most people
663
00:36:50,069 --> 00:36:52,929
would like to take.
664
00:36:52,929 --> 00:36:55,132
However, here I am.
665
00:36:55,523 --> 00:36:58,819
And I hope I'm going to
have better luck this time.
666
00:36:58,819 --> 00:37:02,701
I feel very much better.
667
00:37:02,701 --> 00:37:04,956
And I think I'm going to be able to
668
00:37:05,817 --> 00:37:07,549
get through my task.
669
00:37:07,549 --> 00:37:10,399
It's a pretty hard task
you are setting me.
670
00:37:10,399 --> 00:37:13,209
(wistful piano music)
671
00:37:20,244 --> 00:37:22,916
- [Voiceover] Churchill
is completely isolated.
672
00:37:23,594 --> 00:37:27,189
Nobody has forgotten his
intransigence in Sydney Street,
673
00:37:27,189 --> 00:37:30,047
his inconsistency in the Dardanelles,
674
00:37:30,047 --> 00:37:32,861
and his turncoat behavior.
675
00:37:32,861 --> 00:37:35,490
Along with his support
for King Edward VIII,
676
00:37:35,490 --> 00:37:37,090
who wants to marry a commoner,
677
00:37:37,090 --> 00:37:40,903
it all makes him the
country's most unpopular MP.
678
00:37:41,271 --> 00:37:43,234
Everyone, even his own family,
679
00:37:43,234 --> 00:37:46,478
agrees that his political
career is behind him.
680
00:37:46,478 --> 00:37:49,199
And as if all that wasn't enough,
681
00:37:49,199 --> 00:37:52,259
behind the idyll of a
summer in the countryside,
682
00:37:52,259 --> 00:37:55,048
everything is collapsing all around him.
683
00:37:58,797 --> 00:38:02,360
His wife Clementine is
going away rather too often,
684
00:38:02,360 --> 00:38:05,831
and even has a brief
affair with an art dealer.
685
00:38:07,525 --> 00:38:10,876
His eldest daughter Diana
has married with great pomp,
686
00:38:10,876 --> 00:38:13,408
but is now getting a divorce.
687
00:38:17,157 --> 00:38:19,301
Sarah wants to join the theater
688
00:38:19,301 --> 00:38:23,354
and is infatuated with a
twice-divorced Austrian actor
689
00:38:23,354 --> 00:38:25,653
18 years her senior.
690
00:38:26,703 --> 00:38:29,679
His son Randolph has abandoned
his studies at Oxford
691
00:38:29,679 --> 00:38:31,022
to enter politics
692
00:38:31,022 --> 00:38:34,137
but has his grandfather's
profligate character
693
00:38:34,137 --> 00:38:37,190
and can't handle his drink
like his father does.
694
00:38:37,190 --> 00:38:38,864
He spends lavishly
695
00:38:38,864 --> 00:38:42,016
and makes himself unpopular in the clubs.
696
00:38:44,687 --> 00:38:47,460
And yet, like a drowning
man who has to hit bottom
697
00:38:47,460 --> 00:38:49,264
before he can come back up,
698
00:38:49,264 --> 00:38:51,460
Churchill uses the last of his strength
699
00:38:51,460 --> 00:38:54,314
to make himself heard again.
700
00:39:02,083 --> 00:39:04,592
(martial music)
701
00:39:04,592 --> 00:39:07,557
Alone among the entire
British political class,
702
00:39:07,557 --> 00:39:11,214
he warns Parliament of the
danger of Hitler's rise to power
703
00:39:11,214 --> 00:39:13,940
and the illusion of pacifism.
704
00:39:16,334 --> 00:39:19,427
And when the Prime Minister
disagrees Winston retorts,
705
00:39:19,427 --> 00:39:22,413
"History will prove you
are wrong in this matter.
706
00:39:23,023 --> 00:39:27,785
"And if I am so sure, it is
because I will write it myself."
707
00:39:28,677 --> 00:39:31,420
In the meantime, though,
history itself proves him right
708
00:39:31,420 --> 00:39:35,707
when Hitler invades Austria in March 1938
709
00:39:35,707 --> 00:39:38,036
and threatens its neighbors.
710
00:39:38,620 --> 00:39:40,347
But Churchill's words of warning,
711
00:39:40,347 --> 00:39:43,685
his calls to make no
concessions to the Nazi regime,
712
00:39:43,685 --> 00:39:45,429
go unheard.
713
00:39:46,661 --> 00:39:50,277
Six months later, horrified
at the prospect of a new war,
714
00:39:50,277 --> 00:39:52,901
Paris and London sign
the Munich Agreement,
715
00:39:52,901 --> 00:39:56,122
which hands over to Hitler
a part of Czechoslovakia
716
00:39:56,122 --> 00:39:59,300
in exchange for a mere scrap of paper.
717
00:39:59,300 --> 00:40:02,472
(plane engines roar)
718
00:40:03,598 --> 00:40:05,147
(crowd cheers enthusiastically)
719
00:40:05,147 --> 00:40:07,834
Neville Chamberlain, the
British Prime Minister,
720
00:40:07,834 --> 00:40:10,574
returns to London triumphant.
721
00:40:10,574 --> 00:40:14,196
(crowd cheers)
722
00:40:16,185 --> 00:40:18,066
- Some of you, perhaps, have already heard
723
00:40:18,626 --> 00:40:20,297
what it contains.
724
00:40:20,297 --> 00:40:23,029
We regard the agreement signed last night
725
00:40:23,629 --> 00:40:25,890
and the Anglo-German Naval Agreement
726
00:40:25,890 --> 00:40:29,804
as symbolic of the
desire of our two peoples
727
00:40:29,804 --> 00:40:32,545
never to go to war with one another again.
728
00:40:32,545 --> 00:40:35,476
(crowd cheers)
729
00:40:35,501 --> 00:40:39,317
♫ God bless you, Mr. Chamberlain
730
00:40:39,317 --> 00:40:41,354
♫ You know we're all with you ♫
731
00:40:41,354 --> 00:40:42,142
- [Voiceover] For the English,
732
00:40:42,142 --> 00:40:44,308
Chamberlain is the hero
who has kept the peace.
733
00:40:44,308 --> 00:40:46,867
♫ God bless you Mr. Chamberlain
734
00:40:46,867 --> 00:40:50,984
♫ Our hats go off to
you. Come on everybody
735
00:40:50,984 --> 00:40:55,004
♫ God bless you Mr. Chamberlain
736
00:40:55,004 --> 00:40:56,764
♫ We're all mighty proud of you ♫
737
00:40:56,764 --> 00:40:59,792
But Churchill takes a dimmer view.
738
00:40:59,792 --> 00:41:01,904
"We seem to be very near the bleak choice
739
00:41:01,904 --> 00:41:04,391
"between war and shame," he has written
740
00:41:04,391 --> 00:41:06,192
just two weeks earlier.
741
00:41:06,192 --> 00:41:08,485
"My feeling is that we shall choose shame,
742
00:41:08,485 --> 00:41:12,282
"and then have war thrown
in a little later."
743
00:41:12,282 --> 00:41:16,692
(engines rumble)
744
00:41:21,293 --> 00:41:24,268
Five months later, in March 1939,
745
00:41:24,268 --> 00:41:26,147
German troops marching into Prague
746
00:41:26,147 --> 00:41:30,251
swiftly put paid to any
remaining pacifist illusions.
747
00:41:30,251 --> 00:41:32,790
The Munich Agreement is now invalid.
748
00:41:32,790 --> 00:41:35,643
Churchill's prediction proves correct.
749
00:41:37,772 --> 00:41:40,128
Gradually, public opinion shifts.
750
00:41:40,128 --> 00:41:43,781
The newspapers announce,
"We Still Need Churchill."
751
00:41:45,129 --> 00:41:47,070
(dramatic music)
752
00:41:47,070 --> 00:41:50,014
When, six months later,
Hitler invades Poland,
753
00:41:50,014 --> 00:41:53,122
France and Britain finally enter the war.
754
00:41:54,345 --> 00:41:56,393
Prime Minister Chamberlain has no choice
755
00:41:56,393 --> 00:41:58,689
but to give in to public pressure.
756
00:41:59,582 --> 00:42:01,179
History never repeats itself,
757
00:42:01,179 --> 00:42:03,446
but Churchill is an exception.
758
00:42:04,336 --> 00:42:06,745
25 years after his ousting following
759
00:42:06,745 --> 00:42:08,526
the Dardanelles disaster,
760
00:42:08,526 --> 00:42:10,306
Chamberlain offers him again the position
761
00:42:10,306 --> 00:42:12,120
of First Lord of the Admiralty,
762
00:42:12,120 --> 00:42:14,957
and in almost identical circumstances,
763
00:42:14,957 --> 00:42:17,335
with the country
threatened with destruction
764
00:42:17,335 --> 00:42:20,422
and the enemy once again Germany.
765
00:42:21,409 --> 00:42:23,455
For most men, war is a disaster.
766
00:42:23,455 --> 00:42:26,176
But in Churchill it awakens a passion.
767
00:42:26,176 --> 00:42:28,853
At age 65, he's full of energy.
768
00:42:28,853 --> 00:42:31,231
The Bulldog has become a lion.
769
00:42:31,231 --> 00:42:34,745
(soldiers cheer loudly)
770
00:42:39,399 --> 00:42:41,159
His fellow ministers may be cursing
771
00:42:41,159 --> 00:42:43,005
their excitable colleague,
772
00:42:43,005 --> 00:42:45,532
but they're forced to
hide their resentment.
773
00:42:45,532 --> 00:42:47,153
Winston is untouchable,
774
00:42:47,153 --> 00:42:50,171
the government's one true soldier.
775
00:42:50,171 --> 00:42:53,531
Chamberlain proves to be a
disastrous wartime Prime Minister
776
00:42:53,531 --> 00:42:56,096
with grave consequences.
777
00:42:56,752 --> 00:42:58,149
- [Voiceover] Good bye Mr. Chamberlain,
778
00:42:58,149 --> 00:43:00,229
and thanks for all you've tried to do.
779
00:43:00,229 --> 00:43:01,735
We welcome the new Prime Minister,
780
00:43:01,735 --> 00:43:03,302
Mr. Churchill.
781
00:43:03,302 --> 00:43:06,252
(crowd cheers)
782
00:43:09,203 --> 00:43:12,639
(suspenseful, ominous music)
783
00:43:13,529 --> 00:43:15,568
- [Voiceover] On May the 10th 1940,
784
00:43:15,568 --> 00:43:17,647
the very day that Hitler
launches his attacks
785
00:43:17,647 --> 00:43:19,227
on Belgium and Holland,
786
00:43:19,227 --> 00:43:21,447
Churchill finally takes up the position
787
00:43:21,447 --> 00:43:23,600
he has always dreamed of.
788
00:43:23,600 --> 00:43:25,658
This, he understandably feels,
789
00:43:25,658 --> 00:43:28,243
is the moment he has been living for.
790
00:43:29,977 --> 00:43:33,338
The Royal Air Force on which
Britain now pins all her hopes,
791
00:43:33,338 --> 00:43:36,471
it was he who pioneered it back in 1912,
792
00:43:36,471 --> 00:43:39,485
and he has watched jealously
over it ever since.
793
00:43:40,270 --> 00:43:43,075
The hundreds of tanks that
now await the land invasion,
794
00:43:43,075 --> 00:43:46,822
it was he who upgraded them all in 1915.
795
00:43:50,199 --> 00:43:53,313
The radars that will be the
Air Force's eyes and ears,
796
00:43:53,313 --> 00:43:56,368
it was he who pushed for their creation.
797
00:43:57,995 --> 00:44:01,718
MI6, now in intense
preparation for the invasion,
798
00:44:01,718 --> 00:44:03,958
was created 32 years ago
799
00:44:03,958 --> 00:44:06,502
while he was Home Secretary.
800
00:44:08,170 --> 00:44:11,583
And most of the Royal Navy's
new ships were built by him
801
00:44:11,583 --> 00:44:13,279
as First Lord of the Admiralty
802
00:44:13,279 --> 00:44:16,354
between 1911 and 1950.
803
00:44:20,222 --> 00:44:23,783
For Winston Churchill the war
that has just been declared
804
00:44:23,783 --> 00:44:28,381
is a personal matter, and
the high point of his career.
805
00:44:28,381 --> 00:44:29,856
(camera flash flares)
806
00:44:30,450 --> 00:44:32,572
The new Prime Minister's
main weapon, though,
807
00:44:32,572 --> 00:44:34,768
is not made of iron or steel,
808
00:44:34,768 --> 00:44:36,460
but of spirit.
809
00:44:37,030 --> 00:44:39,333
It's the remarkable
eloquence he has sharpened
810
00:44:39,333 --> 00:44:41,619
over the last 40 years.
811
00:44:43,387 --> 00:44:47,044
Winston will find the words
to awaken the British people
812
00:44:47,044 --> 00:44:49,902
and give them the courage to stand brave
813
00:44:49,902 --> 00:44:52,476
against all odds.
814
00:44:53,027 --> 00:44:54,650
- [Voiceover] I would say to the House
815
00:44:54,650 --> 00:44:57,768
as I've said to those who've
joined the government,
816
00:44:58,499 --> 00:45:01,592
I have nothing to offer but blood,
817
00:45:01,592 --> 00:45:05,510
toil, tears, and sweat.
818
00:45:06,700 --> 00:45:10,481
We have before us an ordeal
of the most grievous kind.
819
00:45:11,213 --> 00:45:13,559
We have before us many, many long months
820
00:45:13,559 --> 00:45:16,284
of struggle and of suffering.
821
00:45:17,217 --> 00:45:19,978
You ask, what is our policy?
822
00:45:19,978 --> 00:45:24,470
I will say, it is to wage
war, by sea, land and air,
823
00:45:24,470 --> 00:45:27,049
with all our might and
with all the strength
824
00:45:27,049 --> 00:45:28,708
that God can give us,
825
00:45:29,418 --> 00:45:32,714
to wage war against a monstrous tyranny
826
00:45:32,714 --> 00:45:36,705
never surpassed in the
dark and lamentable catalog
827
00:45:36,705 --> 00:45:38,617
of human crime.
828
00:45:39,198 --> 00:45:41,459
That is our policy.
829
00:45:41,459 --> 00:45:43,992
You ask, what is our aim?
830
00:45:44,445 --> 00:45:46,452
I can answer in one word:
831
00:45:46,452 --> 00:45:47,692
Victory.
832
00:45:47,698 --> 00:45:50,047
Victory at all costs.
833
00:45:50,047 --> 00:45:53,160
Victory in spite of all terror.
834
00:45:53,160 --> 00:45:57,406
Victory, however long
and hard the road may be.
835
00:46:01,295 --> 00:46:03,395
- [Voiceover] Listening to
him, even the Opposition
836
00:46:03,395 --> 00:46:05,320
are in tears.
837
00:46:06,126 --> 00:46:08,430
The British people are, like the French,
838
00:46:08,430 --> 00:46:10,649
torn between fear and defeatism
839
00:46:10,649 --> 00:46:12,873
and the will to survive.
840
00:46:14,433 --> 00:46:15,775
The courage was there,
841
00:46:15,775 --> 00:46:17,973
but it had to be brought to the surface.
842
00:46:17,973 --> 00:46:20,558
And that's what Churchill has done.
843
00:46:22,697 --> 00:46:24,714
Yet, on that first evening,
844
00:46:24,714 --> 00:46:27,083
the new Prime Minister has his doubts.
845
00:46:27,083 --> 00:46:29,205
Greeted by a crowd shouting
846
00:46:29,205 --> 00:46:31,584
"Good luck Winnie! God bless you!"
847
00:46:31,584 --> 00:46:34,986
Once in private, he breaks down in tears
848
00:46:34,986 --> 00:46:37,940
and confides to one of his generals,
849
00:46:37,940 --> 00:46:40,458
"Poor people. They trust me
850
00:46:40,458 --> 00:46:42,942
"and I can give them nothing but disaster
851
00:46:42,942 --> 00:46:45,412
"for quite a long time."
852
00:46:47,177 --> 00:46:50,891
The disaster arrives
quicker than expected.
853
00:46:50,891 --> 00:46:54,390
Churchill is counting on
France and its formidable army.
854
00:46:54,390 --> 00:46:56,470
But after six weeks of fighting,
855
00:46:56,470 --> 00:46:58,564
it collapses.
856
00:47:00,490 --> 00:47:01,932
England is alone.
857
00:47:01,932 --> 00:47:03,874
Alone against the greatest war machine
858
00:47:03,874 --> 00:47:06,161
Europe has ever known.
859
00:47:07,873 --> 00:47:09,568
The situation seems so hopeless
860
00:47:09,568 --> 00:47:13,078
that some ministers are considering
negotiating with Hitler.
861
00:47:14,607 --> 00:47:17,569
Churchill categorically refuses to do so.
862
00:47:17,569 --> 00:47:20,157
He'd rather die sword in hand.
863
00:47:21,826 --> 00:47:23,863
The war gets off to a bad start.
864
00:47:23,863 --> 00:47:26,465
Since July the 3rd 1940 his ultimatum
865
00:47:26,465 --> 00:47:27,841
has remained unanswered.
866
00:47:27,841 --> 00:47:29,943
So Churchill takes the terrible decision
867
00:47:29,943 --> 00:47:31,381
to bomb the French fleet
868
00:47:31,381 --> 00:47:34,464
stationed at Mers-el-Kebir in Algeria.
869
00:47:34,464 --> 00:47:36,911
(explosions ring out)
870
00:47:37,663 --> 00:47:40,299
Under the armistice
signed by Marshal Petain,
871
00:47:40,299 --> 00:47:42,828
the fleet could fall
into the hands of Hitler,
872
00:47:42,828 --> 00:47:45,905
and thus be used in an
invasion of England.
873
00:47:46,519 --> 00:47:48,953
Several ships are hit hard.
874
00:47:48,953 --> 00:47:53,277
1,297 French sailors are killed.
875
00:47:54,573 --> 00:47:58,072
A month ago, these men were
fighting alongside the English.
876
00:47:58,072 --> 00:48:00,836
(melancholy, wistful music)
877
00:48:00,836 --> 00:48:02,959
"This was a hateful decision,
878
00:48:02,959 --> 00:48:04,857
"the most unnatural and painful in which
879
00:48:04,857 --> 00:48:08,148
"I have ever been concerned,"
Churchill tells us.
880
00:48:08,611 --> 00:48:10,180
The attack is deadly,
881
00:48:10,180 --> 00:48:12,281
but it proves to the
world the Prime Minister's
882
00:48:12,281 --> 00:48:14,361
steadfast determination.
883
00:48:14,361 --> 00:48:16,949
The Old Bulldog will not back down.
884
00:48:18,385 --> 00:48:21,916
And the tribulations of
war all still lie ahead.
885
00:48:21,916 --> 00:48:24,070
The battle for France may be over,
886
00:48:24,070 --> 00:48:26,628
but the Battle of Britain
has only just begun.
887
00:48:26,628 --> 00:48:28,249
(air raid sirens wail)
888
00:48:28,249 --> 00:48:30,531
Hitler wants to invade the British Isles.
889
00:48:30,531 --> 00:48:33,973
But to do so, he must first
gain control of the skies.
890
00:48:36,677 --> 00:48:38,458
From mid-August 1940,
891
00:48:38,458 --> 00:48:42,223
hundreds of German bombers,
escorted by Luftwaffe fighters,
892
00:48:42,223 --> 00:48:45,679
start pounding all military
targets in southern England.
893
00:48:45,679 --> 00:48:48,906
(bombs whistle and explode)
894
00:48:48,906 --> 00:48:51,255
A fierce battle for the skies ensues
895
00:48:51,255 --> 00:48:53,772
between the German
Messerschmitts on one side,
896
00:48:53,772 --> 00:48:56,695
and British Spitfires and
Hurricanes on the other.
897
00:48:56,695 --> 00:48:59,643
(gunfire rattles out)
898
00:49:05,473 --> 00:49:08,030
The sky of Britain is aglow.
899
00:49:08,030 --> 00:49:10,159
Yet despite the pilots' bravery,
900
00:49:10,159 --> 00:49:12,420
within a fortnight, the
Royal Air Force is near
901
00:49:12,420 --> 00:49:16,136
to losing control of
England's southern airspace.
902
00:49:23,783 --> 00:49:27,347
A fortuitous event changes
the course of destiny.
903
00:49:27,347 --> 00:49:29,884
On August the 24th, a German pilot
904
00:49:29,884 --> 00:49:31,623
commits a navigational error
905
00:49:31,623 --> 00:49:35,574
and drops his bombs on
the outskirts of London.
906
00:49:36,125 --> 00:49:39,182
For Churchill, this is provocation.
907
00:49:39,934 --> 00:49:43,574
He orders the bombing of
Berlin to start the next day.
908
00:49:43,574 --> 00:49:45,717
His generals try to dissuade him.
909
00:49:45,717 --> 00:49:47,872
Berlin, they say, is too far away.
910
00:49:47,872 --> 00:49:49,557
But Churchill is determined
911
00:49:49,557 --> 00:49:52,089
and now, he's angry.
912
00:49:54,377 --> 00:49:55,957
Most of the planes are shot down
913
00:49:55,957 --> 00:49:57,717
or forced to turn around.
914
00:49:59,186 --> 00:50:01,475
Only a handful of pilots somehow manage
915
00:50:01,475 --> 00:50:04,995
to drop bombs on the outskirts of Berlin.
916
00:50:04,995 --> 00:50:07,120
(explosions ring out)
917
00:50:07,120 --> 00:50:11,997
This risky operation has
totally unexpected consequences.
918
00:50:11,997 --> 00:50:14,399
Hitler cracks.
919
00:50:14,399 --> 00:50:18,477
Berlin bombed? He will not tolerate it.
920
00:50:18,477 --> 00:50:20,716
In his fury, Hitler orders his air force
921
00:50:20,716 --> 00:50:23,937
to burn London and all
major British cities
922
00:50:23,937 --> 00:50:25,899
to the ground.
923
00:50:25,899 --> 00:50:27,979
The operation is named "Blitz,"
924
00:50:27,979 --> 00:50:29,069
"Lightning."
925
00:50:29,069 --> 00:50:31,981
Hitler is convinced England
will be on its knees
926
00:50:31,981 --> 00:50:33,486
within a few days.
927
00:50:33,486 --> 00:50:35,836
(gunfire rattles out)
928
00:50:46,147 --> 00:50:49,221
But despite the rain of
fire that strikes the city,
929
00:50:49,221 --> 00:50:52,323
the apocalyptic scenes that the
population must live through
930
00:50:52,323 --> 00:50:55,098
and the tens of thousands dead,
931
00:50:55,098 --> 00:50:57,491
London holds fast.
932
00:50:58,339 --> 00:51:02,382
Londoners eat, sleep, and
have singalongs in shelters
933
00:51:02,382 --> 00:51:04,056
or in the subway.
934
00:51:04,056 --> 00:51:07,250
(Londoners sing)
935
00:51:24,205 --> 00:51:25,659
- [Voiceover] Hitler hopes by killing
936
00:51:25,659 --> 00:51:29,242
large numbers of civilians
and women and children
937
00:51:29,832 --> 00:51:32,663
that he will terrorize and cow the people
938
00:51:32,663 --> 00:51:35,774
of this mighty Imperial city.
939
00:51:36,825 --> 00:51:40,342
Little does he know the
spirit of the British nation.
940
00:51:46,907 --> 00:51:48,485
- [Voiceover] After a night of bombing,
941
00:51:48,485 --> 00:51:51,589
it's stiff upper lip and back to work
942
00:51:51,589 --> 00:51:54,484
as if nothing had happened.
943
00:51:59,706 --> 00:52:02,127
The slogan on everyone's lips is
944
00:52:02,127 --> 00:52:04,953
London can take it.
945
00:52:04,953 --> 00:52:09,182
(noble, uplifting music)
946
00:52:15,363 --> 00:52:19,170
Throughout the Blitz, Churchill
is constantly on the move,
947
00:52:19,170 --> 00:52:22,110
keeping morale up in the worst-hit areas.
948
00:52:25,860 --> 00:52:30,813
The English are all
behind him and beside him.
949
00:52:34,040 --> 00:52:36,216
Hitler was convinced that
the morale of the British
950
00:52:36,216 --> 00:52:39,255
would collapse, as well
as that of their leader.
951
00:52:39,255 --> 00:52:40,898
Not at all.
952
00:52:40,898 --> 00:52:44,605
The English and their
leader are of one accord.
953
00:52:45,121 --> 00:52:46,412
Churchill's firmness,
954
00:52:46,412 --> 00:52:48,161
his imperturbable dignity,
955
00:52:48,161 --> 00:52:50,299
his unwavering faith in the future,
956
00:52:50,299 --> 00:52:53,392
his conviction that England will triumph,
957
00:52:53,392 --> 00:52:55,376
along with his smile, his hat,
958
00:52:55,376 --> 00:52:57,999
his cigar, and his fiery speeches,
959
00:52:57,999 --> 00:53:00,378
all at this moment in history,
960
00:53:00,378 --> 00:53:03,988
make him a symbol of
resistance against tyranny.
961
00:53:05,114 --> 00:53:07,055
- [Voiceover] We shall defend our island,
962
00:53:07,055 --> 00:53:09,274
whatever the cost may be.
963
00:53:09,274 --> 00:53:11,352
We shall fight on the beaches,
964
00:53:11,352 --> 00:53:14,157
we shall fight on the landing grounds,
965
00:53:14,157 --> 00:53:18,328
we shall fight in the
fields and in the streets.
966
00:53:18,328 --> 00:53:20,792
We shall fight in the hills.
967
00:53:20,792 --> 00:53:23,651
We shall never surrender!
968
00:53:29,208 --> 00:53:33,189
- [Voiceover] At this
point, England is Churchill.
969
00:53:33,189 --> 00:53:35,519
And Churchill is England.
970
00:53:37,370 --> 00:53:39,367
(crowd cheers enthusiastically)
971
00:53:39,367 --> 00:53:40,402
- [Voiceover] And in the midst of it all,
972
00:53:40,402 --> 00:53:43,382
the cry goes up, "Here comes Winston!"
973
00:53:43,382 --> 00:53:45,622
Accompanied by Mrs. Churchill,
974
00:53:45,622 --> 00:53:48,821
the Prime Minister of
Great Britain and his wife,
975
00:53:48,821 --> 00:53:53,002
come to be with the
indomitable people of Devon.
976
00:53:53,002 --> 00:53:55,812
(crowd cheers)
977
00:53:58,656 --> 00:53:59,982
- [Voiceover] After bombing Berlin,
978
00:53:59,982 --> 00:54:02,479
Winston gives the green
light to bomb Italy,
979
00:54:02,479 --> 00:54:04,356
quipping to his generals,
980
00:54:04,356 --> 00:54:06,149
"We must be careful not to bomb the Pope.
981
00:54:06,149 --> 00:54:09,141
"He has a lot of influential friends."
982
00:54:13,765 --> 00:54:16,156
In unleashing his destructive madness,
983
00:54:16,156 --> 00:54:19,011
Hitler has made a terrible mistake.
984
00:54:20,105 --> 00:54:23,852
His air force is turned
away from military targets.
985
00:54:23,852 --> 00:54:26,293
As civilians withstand the Blitz,
986
00:54:26,293 --> 00:54:28,874
Churchill reorganizes the RAF,
987
00:54:28,874 --> 00:54:31,051
gets his airfields back in order,
988
00:54:31,051 --> 00:54:34,521
and encourages his airmen
to renew their attacks.
989
00:54:36,287 --> 00:54:38,262
They cause carnage among the enemy,
990
00:54:38,262 --> 00:54:42,032
and England wins the battle of the skies.
991
00:54:44,236 --> 00:54:46,776
Churchill will pay
tribute to these heroes,
992
00:54:46,776 --> 00:54:48,440
the saviors of England,
993
00:54:48,440 --> 00:54:51,569
in a speech that will
go down in posterity.
994
00:54:53,334 --> 00:54:56,120
- [Voiceover] Never in the
field of human conflict
995
00:54:56,120 --> 00:55:01,120
was so much owed by so many to so few.
996
00:55:03,181 --> 00:55:05,357
- [Voiceover] Churchill has
won the Battle of Britain
997
00:55:05,357 --> 00:55:07,396
because he has acted impulsively,
998
00:55:07,396 --> 00:55:09,433
not strategically.
999
00:55:09,433 --> 00:55:12,767
And Hitler has lost it
for the same reason.
1000
00:55:13,054 --> 00:55:16,275
The United Kingdom will not be overrun.
1001
00:55:16,275 --> 00:55:18,588
Hitler now turns his gaze further east,
1002
00:55:18,588 --> 00:55:21,803
and decides to invade the Soviet Union.
1003
00:55:27,505 --> 00:55:29,852
England has not lost the war,
1004
00:55:29,852 --> 00:55:32,710
but the question now is how to win it.
1005
00:55:32,710 --> 00:55:35,386
For Churchill, the answer is simple.
1006
00:55:35,386 --> 00:55:37,515
Bring in the United States.
1007
00:55:38,237 --> 00:55:39,943
Since the beginning of the conflict,
1008
00:55:39,943 --> 00:55:42,919
America has been selling
Britain weapons and munitions,
1009
00:55:42,919 --> 00:55:44,518
but funds are running out,
1010
00:55:44,518 --> 00:55:47,394
and Churchill really needs US help.
1011
00:55:48,445 --> 00:55:51,006
US president Franklin
Roosevelt does not know
1012
00:55:51,006 --> 00:55:52,548
Churchill personally.
1013
00:55:53,738 --> 00:55:55,754
He wants to be sure of the British people
1014
00:55:55,754 --> 00:55:58,955
and their leader's determination to fight.
1015
00:55:58,955 --> 00:56:02,933
In January 1941, he sends
one of his closest advisors
1016
00:56:02,933 --> 00:56:04,927
to London to check:
1017
00:56:04,927 --> 00:56:06,862
Harry Hopkins.
1018
00:56:08,768 --> 00:56:11,328
Churchill spares no effort
to take the American envoy
1019
00:56:11,328 --> 00:56:13,450
on a tour of the whole country.
1020
00:56:13,450 --> 00:56:16,334
(crowd cheers)
1021
00:56:17,065 --> 00:56:19,272
Hopkins appears very
moved by his inspection
1022
00:56:19,272 --> 00:56:21,310
of the bombed cities.
1023
00:56:21,310 --> 00:56:23,667
But Churchill is concerned
about what he will write
1024
00:56:23,667 --> 00:56:26,179
in his report to Roosevelt.
1025
00:56:29,302 --> 00:56:32,858
At the end of his stay,
Hopkins proposes a toast.
1026
00:56:32,858 --> 00:56:35,118
"I suppose you wish to
know what I'm going to say
1027
00:56:35,118 --> 00:56:37,731
"to President Roosevelt on my return.
1028
00:56:37,731 --> 00:56:39,354
"Well, I'm going to quote you one verse
1029
00:56:39,354 --> 00:56:41,550
"from that Book of Books.
1030
00:56:41,550 --> 00:56:43,971
"Whither thou goest, I will go.
1031
00:56:43,971 --> 00:56:47,032
"And where thou lodgest, I will lodge.
1032
00:56:47,032 --> 00:56:48,995
"Thy people shall be my people
1033
00:56:48,995 --> 00:56:52,013
"And thy God my God."
1034
00:56:52,013 --> 00:56:56,583
Then he adds very quietly,
"even to the end."
1035
00:56:57,357 --> 00:57:00,010
The tears are streaming
down Churchill's face.
1036
00:57:00,010 --> 00:57:02,853
He has convinced the US envoy.
1037
00:57:03,933 --> 00:57:06,080
In his report, Hopkins is full of praise
1038
00:57:06,080 --> 00:57:08,758
for the British people and their leader.
1039
00:57:08,758 --> 00:57:11,841
"The people here are
amazing from Churchill down,
1040
00:57:11,841 --> 00:57:13,631
"and if courage alone can win,
1041
00:57:13,631 --> 00:57:15,628
"the result will be inevitable."
1042
00:57:15,628 --> 00:57:18,913
Churchill is the government
in every sense of the word.
1043
00:57:18,913 --> 00:57:22,773
He controls the grand strategy
and often the details.
1044
00:57:24,073 --> 00:57:27,119
He is the directing
force behind the strategy
1045
00:57:27,119 --> 00:57:31,730
and the conduct of the
war in all its essentials.
1046
00:57:34,448 --> 00:57:36,804
- [Voiceover] Put your confidence in us.
1047
00:57:36,804 --> 00:57:39,387
Give us your faith and your blessing.
1048
00:57:39,387 --> 00:57:43,364
And under Providence, all will be well.
1049
00:57:43,364 --> 00:57:45,561
We shall not fail or falter,
1050
00:57:45,561 --> 00:57:48,388
we shall not weaken or tire.
1051
00:57:48,388 --> 00:57:51,150
Neither the sudden shock of battle,
1052
00:57:51,150 --> 00:57:55,043
nor the long drawn trials
of vigilance and exertion
1053
00:57:55,043 --> 00:57:57,283
will wear us down.
1054
00:57:57,702 --> 00:58:00,005
Give us the tools,
1055
00:58:00,005 --> 00:58:03,747
and we will finish the job.
1056
00:58:06,078 --> 00:58:09,192
- [Voiceover] Churchill has
won Roosevelt's confidence.
1057
00:58:09,192 --> 00:58:11,752
The US will no longer
sell but give England
1058
00:58:11,752 --> 00:58:14,212
the weapons it needs to resist.
1059
00:58:15,317 --> 00:58:17,482
But Churchill doesn't just want to resist.
1060
00:58:17,482 --> 00:58:19,102
He wants to win.
1061
00:58:19,102 --> 00:58:22,516
And for that, he wants the
United States to go to war
1062
00:58:22,516 --> 00:58:24,409
along with him.
1063
00:58:26,995 --> 00:58:29,823
The result of all his efforts
is a meeting with Roosevelt
1064
00:58:29,823 --> 00:58:34,551
in August 1941, off the
coast of Newfoundland.
1065
00:58:35,581 --> 00:58:37,480
Churchill uses all his eloquence
1066
00:58:37,480 --> 00:58:39,282
to persuade the US President
1067
00:58:39,282 --> 00:58:41,896
that their two countries
should join forces
1068
00:58:41,896 --> 00:58:45,618
against the murderous
ravages of the Nazis.
1069
00:58:45,618 --> 00:58:49,319
♫ Onward Christian soldiers ♫
1070
00:58:49,319 --> 00:58:50,779
But while Roosevelt may appreciate
1071
00:58:50,779 --> 00:58:52,881
Churchill's conviction and purpose,
1072
00:58:52,881 --> 00:58:56,614
their unity remains merely symbolic.
1073
00:58:56,614 --> 00:58:59,356
In spite of all the pledges
of unity on both sides,
1074
00:58:59,356 --> 00:59:01,733
at no point does the
American president commit
1075
00:59:01,733 --> 00:59:05,247
to the US joining the
fight at England's side.
1076
00:59:07,120 --> 00:59:10,533
Churchill returns to England
bitterly disappointed.
1077
00:59:10,533 --> 00:59:13,342
He's back to square one.
1078
00:59:15,417 --> 00:59:18,600
(bombs whistle and explode)
1079
00:59:19,855 --> 00:59:22,498
On December the 7th 1941,
1080
00:59:22,498 --> 00:59:25,017
the US base at Pearl Harbor in the Pacific
1081
00:59:25,017 --> 00:59:27,757
is attacked by the Japanese.
1082
00:59:27,757 --> 00:59:29,701
Churchill immediately
telephones Roosevelt,
1083
00:59:29,701 --> 00:59:33,265
who concludes, "We're all
in the same boat now."
1084
00:59:33,265 --> 00:59:36,395
America finally enters the war.
1085
00:59:38,481 --> 00:59:41,261
For Winston, it's a huge relief.
1086
00:59:42,717 --> 00:59:45,576
"No American will think it wrong of me
1087
00:59:45,576 --> 00:59:49,373
"if I proclaim to have the
United States at our side
1088
00:59:49,373 --> 00:59:52,295
"was, to me, the greatest joy.
1089
00:59:52,295 --> 00:59:54,076
"England would live.
1090
00:59:54,076 --> 00:59:55,676
"Britain would live.
1091
00:59:56,346 --> 01:00:00,382
"Being saturated and satiated
with emotion and sensation,
1092
01:00:00,382 --> 01:00:02,462
"I went to bed and slept the sleep of
1093
01:00:02,462 --> 01:00:05,495
"the saved and thankful."
1094
01:00:11,037 --> 01:00:12,604
Two weeks after Pearl Harbor,
1095
01:00:12,604 --> 01:00:15,321
Winston is in the United States.
1096
01:00:16,510 --> 01:00:18,653
He has to convince the American Congress
1097
01:00:18,653 --> 01:00:20,787
not to leave the European battlefield
1098
01:00:20,787 --> 01:00:23,827
and to continue to support Britain.
1099
01:00:23,827 --> 01:00:27,000
It is one of the most
important speeches of his life.
1100
01:00:27,411 --> 01:00:29,600
(crowd claps)
1101
01:00:29,600 --> 01:00:31,104
- [Voiceover] Members of the Senate,
1102
01:00:31,104 --> 01:00:33,323
the Prime Minister of Great Britain,
1103
01:00:33,323 --> 01:00:36,695
the Right Honorable Winston
(applause drowns him out).
1104
01:00:36,697 --> 01:00:39,247
- [Voiceover] On the
26th of December 1941,
1105
01:00:39,247 --> 01:00:43,427
masterfully combining humor,
eloquence and determination,
1106
01:00:43,427 --> 01:00:47,411
the master wordsmith surpasses himself.
1107
01:00:49,669 --> 01:00:52,304
- But if my father had been American,
1108
01:00:52,974 --> 01:00:55,043
and my mother British,
1109
01:00:55,463 --> 01:00:57,939
instead of the other way round,
1110
01:00:57,939 --> 01:01:00,094
I might have got here on my own.
1111
01:01:00,094 --> 01:01:03,191
(audience laughs)
1112
01:01:04,541 --> 01:01:07,740
What kind of a people
do they think we are?
1113
01:01:08,441 --> 01:01:11,318
Is it possible they do not realize
1114
01:01:11,318 --> 01:01:15,679
that we shall never cease
to persevere against them
1115
01:01:15,679 --> 01:01:17,856
until they have been taught a lesson
1116
01:01:17,856 --> 01:01:20,639
which they and the
world will never forget?
1117
01:01:20,639 --> 01:01:23,448
(audience applauds loudly)
1118
01:01:29,651 --> 01:01:31,614
- [Voiceover] The speech is a success.
1119
01:01:31,614 --> 01:01:33,600
But the pressure has been intense,
1120
01:01:33,600 --> 01:01:35,937
and Winston's not getting any younger.
1121
01:01:37,027 --> 01:01:39,088
After a long meeting with Roosevelt,
1122
01:01:39,088 --> 01:01:41,960
he feels a sharp pain in his left arm.
1123
01:01:41,960 --> 01:01:44,518
He's having a heart attack.
1124
01:01:44,518 --> 01:01:47,304
(ominous music)
1125
01:01:47,304 --> 01:01:49,939
He begs his doctor,
1126
01:01:50,589 --> 01:01:52,365
"You're not going to tell me to rest.
1127
01:01:52,365 --> 01:01:54,263
"I can't. I won't.
1128
01:01:54,263 --> 01:01:56,044
"Nobody else can do this job.
1129
01:01:56,044 --> 01:01:57,208
"I must.
1130
01:01:58,499 --> 01:01:59,953
"You mustn't say anything.
1131
01:01:59,953 --> 01:02:02,950
"At this moment as we join
forces with the United States,
1132
01:02:02,950 --> 01:02:04,862
"Britain cannot be seen
with a Prime Minister
1133
01:02:04,862 --> 01:02:06,216
"with a weak heart.
1134
01:02:06,216 --> 01:02:08,729
"Everything must remain secret."
1135
01:02:10,419 --> 01:02:13,602
(crowd cheers vigorously)
1136
01:02:13,602 --> 01:02:15,778
After a few days of forced rest,
1137
01:02:15,778 --> 01:02:18,957
the Old Lion is back
in his usual top shape.
1138
01:02:18,957 --> 01:02:21,646
(suspenseful music)
1139
01:02:21,646 --> 01:02:24,867
At 67, he sleeps four hours a night,
1140
01:02:24,867 --> 01:02:26,904
keeps a tight schedule of appointments,
1141
01:02:26,904 --> 01:02:28,525
meetings and inspections,
1142
01:02:28,525 --> 01:02:31,544
always in the thick of the
Allied war preparations
1143
01:02:31,544 --> 01:02:33,506
or Allied strategy,
1144
01:02:33,506 --> 01:02:35,490
while continuing to drink and smoke
1145
01:02:35,490 --> 01:02:37,566
more than his fair share.
1146
01:02:39,203 --> 01:02:41,443
He has never, in fact, been happier.
1147
01:02:41,443 --> 01:02:43,695
His depression is a thing of the past.
1148
01:02:43,695 --> 01:02:44,900
He's in the limelight,
1149
01:02:44,900 --> 01:02:47,827
and he's going to play it to the hilt.
1150
01:02:50,841 --> 01:02:53,306
When an assistant asks if
he can have a weekend off,
1151
01:02:53,306 --> 01:02:55,675
Winston scolds him, "A leave?
1152
01:02:55,675 --> 01:02:58,271
"But don't you like this war?"
1153
01:03:03,942 --> 01:03:07,572
(crowd cheers)
1154
01:03:10,085 --> 01:03:12,826
If the people stand
united behind Churchill,
1155
01:03:12,826 --> 01:03:15,578
he has also managed to
pull his family together.
1156
01:03:15,578 --> 01:03:18,368
They must all show an example.
1157
01:03:19,216 --> 01:03:21,435
Clementine goes everywhere with him,
1158
01:03:21,435 --> 01:03:23,764
working for civil defense.
1159
01:03:25,519 --> 01:03:28,201
Randolph has joined the Commandos.
1160
01:03:31,631 --> 01:03:34,852
Sarah is working in photo
reconnaissance for the Air Force,
1161
01:03:34,852 --> 01:03:37,613
and fundraising with her husband.
1162
01:03:39,984 --> 01:03:42,375
- The American Artists'
Ambulance Association
1163
01:03:42,375 --> 01:03:45,436
are asking their friends
both here and in America,
1164
01:03:45,436 --> 01:03:48,551
to donate generously to this cause.
1165
01:03:48,551 --> 01:03:51,410
- [Voiceover] Diana, the
eldest, is in the Navy.
1166
01:03:52,355 --> 01:03:55,139
The youngest, Mary, is in the Air Defense,
1167
01:03:55,139 --> 01:03:59,484
and often accompanies her
father on military maneuvers.
1168
01:04:02,105 --> 01:04:03,790
- [Voiceover] The
Premier's daughter, Mary,
1169
01:04:03,790 --> 01:04:06,329
recently christened a flying fortress.
1170
01:04:06,329 --> 01:04:08,590
Mary Churchill did the job with Coca Cola,
1171
01:04:08,590 --> 01:04:11,609
quite unperturbed by a first time miss.
1172
01:04:17,599 --> 01:04:19,215
- [Voiceover] These images of a man,
1173
01:04:19,215 --> 01:04:20,815
a family, a people,
1174
01:04:20,815 --> 01:04:22,778
united and confident,
1175
01:04:22,778 --> 01:04:24,879
seem to promise a victory that still looks
1176
01:04:24,879 --> 01:04:26,825
a long way off.
1177
01:04:27,320 --> 01:04:29,017
Everywhere, on all fronts,
1178
01:04:29,017 --> 01:04:32,103
the Allies are suffering terrible defeats.
1179
01:04:32,472 --> 01:04:35,171
In Singapore, 100,000 English fighters
1180
01:04:35,171 --> 01:04:37,239
are taken prisoner by the Japanese,
1181
01:04:37,239 --> 01:04:41,041
the biggest surrender
in UK military history.
1182
01:04:45,015 --> 01:04:47,458
But despite all the losses and the drama,
1183
01:04:47,458 --> 01:04:51,259
Churchill never stops
believing in victory.
1184
01:04:54,230 --> 01:04:56,630
Now, in a repeat of 1915,
1185
01:04:56,630 --> 01:05:00,150
he wants to surprise Germany
and Italy from the rear.
1186
01:05:00,730 --> 01:05:02,597
The Americans want to land in France.
1187
01:05:02,597 --> 01:05:05,498
But the coasts of Europe
are defended like a fortress
1188
01:05:05,498 --> 01:05:07,739
and Churchill, still traumatized by
1189
01:05:07,739 --> 01:05:11,189
the Dardanelles disaster, refuses.
1190
01:05:11,856 --> 01:05:13,444
He wants to avoid a bloodbath
1191
01:05:13,444 --> 01:05:15,759
and convinces Roosevelt
to order a first landing
1192
01:05:15,759 --> 01:05:17,104
in North Africa,
1193
01:05:17,104 --> 01:05:19,183
the weakest point of the Axis powers,
1194
01:05:19,183 --> 01:05:21,359
in an operation dubbed "Torch."
1195
01:05:22,309 --> 01:05:23,922
For this, he must convince a third,
1196
01:05:23,922 --> 01:05:26,620
no less important partner.
1197
01:05:26,620 --> 01:05:28,191
Stalin.
1198
01:05:28,191 --> 01:05:31,461
(energetic newsreel music)
1199
01:05:32,204 --> 01:05:33,816
- [Voiceover] An invitation to Mr. Stalin,
1200
01:05:33,816 --> 01:05:35,319
Mr. Churchill has come at the head of
1201
01:05:35,319 --> 01:05:37,027
an Anglo-American delegation
1202
01:05:37,027 --> 01:05:40,483
for the war's most vital
series of conferences.
1203
01:05:40,483 --> 01:05:42,062
As the Premier set foot on Russian soil
1204
01:05:42,062 --> 01:05:43,043
for the first time,
1205
01:05:43,043 --> 01:05:44,984
he was met by Mr. Molotov.
1206
01:05:44,984 --> 01:05:47,259
("God Save the King")
1207
01:05:47,259 --> 01:05:50,020
- [Voiceover] In August 1942
Churchill goes to meet him
1208
01:05:50,020 --> 01:05:51,877
for the first time.
1209
01:05:51,877 --> 01:05:54,095
The Bear of the Kremlin has been demanding
1210
01:05:54,095 --> 01:05:57,030
a second front in Europe for a year now.
1211
01:05:57,030 --> 01:05:59,110
Churchill has bad news for him.
1212
01:05:59,110 --> 01:06:01,073
English and American forces will not be
1213
01:06:01,073 --> 01:06:03,866
invading Europe in '42.
1214
01:06:03,866 --> 01:06:05,786
Meanwhile, the German
army is heading straight
1215
01:06:05,786 --> 01:06:09,822
for the Volga, Stalingrad,
and the Caucasus.
1216
01:06:11,546 --> 01:06:12,868
- [Voiceover] This
initial conference lasted
1217
01:06:12,868 --> 01:06:14,140
nearly four hours,
1218
01:06:14,140 --> 01:06:16,934
business being conducted
through interpreters.
1219
01:06:16,934 --> 01:06:18,513
Nevertheless, the
discussions were carried on
1220
01:06:18,513 --> 01:06:22,603
in an atmosphere of cordiality
and complete sincerity.
1221
01:06:23,931 --> 01:06:25,777
- [Voiceover] The press make
much of the good relationship
1222
01:06:25,777 --> 01:06:27,152
between the two leaders,
1223
01:06:27,152 --> 01:06:29,755
but the reality is quite different.
1224
01:06:29,755 --> 01:06:31,164
(ominous music)
1225
01:06:31,164 --> 01:06:33,021
When Churchill announces that there'll be
1226
01:06:33,021 --> 01:06:34,814
no second front in Europe,
1227
01:06:34,814 --> 01:06:37,614
only a landing in North Africa,
1228
01:06:37,614 --> 01:06:41,447
Stalin is furious.
1229
01:06:41,447 --> 01:06:42,953
"You English, you're afraid to fight,"
1230
01:06:42,953 --> 01:06:44,413
he declares.
1231
01:06:44,413 --> 01:06:47,543
"You can't win if you don't fight."
1232
01:06:48,966 --> 01:06:50,673
Churchill will have none of this,
1233
01:06:50,673 --> 01:06:53,697
but Stalin persists.
1234
01:06:54,588 --> 01:06:56,848
"Your men are too scared of the Germans.
1235
01:06:56,848 --> 01:06:58,492
"If you fought like Russians, you'd see
1236
01:06:58,492 --> 01:07:00,598
"they're not so terrible."
1237
01:07:01,628 --> 01:07:04,431
Churchill, unable to
contain himself any longer,
1238
01:07:04,431 --> 01:07:07,045
pounds his fist on the table.
1239
01:07:07,045 --> 01:07:10,565
"We fought alone for one year
against Germany and Italy.
1240
01:07:10,565 --> 01:07:12,943
"Now that the three
great powers are allied,
1241
01:07:12,943 --> 01:07:16,614
"victory is certain, as long
as we do not fall apart.
1242
01:07:16,614 --> 01:07:17,907
"I made the trip from Europe
1243
01:07:17,907 --> 01:07:19,580
"in the middle of all my problems,
1244
01:07:19,580 --> 01:07:21,885
"yes, Mr. Stalin, I also have problems,
1245
01:07:21,885 --> 01:07:24,625
"and I was hoping to reach
out to a comrade in arms.
1246
01:07:24,625 --> 01:07:27,228
"I am bitterly disappointed,
because this hand
1247
01:07:27,228 --> 01:07:29,451
"has not been taken."
1248
01:07:30,801 --> 01:07:32,006
The Old Bear wasn't expecting
1249
01:07:32,006 --> 01:07:34,022
the British Bulldog to attack him.
1250
01:07:34,022 --> 01:07:36,763
But before Churchill's
words are even translated,
1251
01:07:36,763 --> 01:07:39,706
he calmly raises his hand and says,
1252
01:07:39,706 --> 01:07:41,629
"I do not understand your words,
1253
01:07:41,629 --> 01:07:45,046
"but, by God, I like your spirit."
1254
01:07:45,554 --> 01:07:47,987
Back at his lodgings,
Winston asks his secretary
1255
01:07:47,987 --> 01:07:49,662
to send a telegram to London
1256
01:07:49,662 --> 01:07:52,423
explaining that Stalin has a bad attitude
1257
01:07:52,423 --> 01:07:54,983
and that if this continues
he may return to England
1258
01:07:54,983 --> 01:07:57,292
earlier than expected.
1259
01:07:58,439 --> 01:08:00,466
Despite warnings about surveillance,
1260
01:08:00,466 --> 01:08:03,009
Churchill will not change a word of it.
1261
01:08:03,719 --> 01:08:06,864
The next day, the
atmosphere suddenly changes.
1262
01:08:08,135 --> 01:08:12,932
Stalin is composed, and even
invites Winston into his suite.
1263
01:08:13,227 --> 01:08:16,181
The dinner continues,
poised between friendliness
1264
01:08:16,181 --> 01:08:19,605
and manipulation late into the night.
1265
01:08:19,605 --> 01:08:22,241
In the early morning,
Winston leaves for Cairo
1266
01:08:22,953 --> 01:08:25,897
He has managed to convince
both Roosevelt and Stalin
1267
01:08:25,897 --> 01:08:28,782
of the validity of Operation Torch.
1268
01:08:29,278 --> 01:08:31,400
Back in London he tells his Cabinet,
1269
01:08:31,400 --> 01:08:34,765
"If Torch fails, then I'm done for."
1270
01:08:35,752 --> 01:08:38,765
(heavy artillery fire)
1271
01:08:43,378 --> 01:08:45,681
On November the 8th 1942,
1272
01:08:45,681 --> 01:08:48,381
English and American
troops landed in Oran,
1273
01:08:48,381 --> 01:08:51,161
Algiers, and Casablanca.
1274
01:08:51,161 --> 01:08:54,475
The Torch Operation that
Churchill fought so hard for,
1275
01:08:54,475 --> 01:08:57,243
is a huge success.
1276
01:09:02,614 --> 01:09:06,036
A few days earlier, the
British General Montgomery
1277
01:09:06,036 --> 01:09:08,117
has brought down Rommel's
armored divisions
1278
01:09:08,117 --> 01:09:09,600
in the Egyptian desert
1279
01:09:09,600 --> 01:09:12,772
and taken more than 30,000 prisoners.
1280
01:09:13,289 --> 01:09:16,403
This very same month, at
Stalingrad on the Russian Front,
1281
01:09:16,403 --> 01:09:19,576
the German forces are being surrounded.
1282
01:09:20,200 --> 01:09:22,994
Churchill can breathe again.
1283
01:09:22,994 --> 01:09:26,364
The scent of victory
is finally in the air.
1284
01:09:26,364 --> 01:09:27,611
(stirring music)
1285
01:09:27,611 --> 01:09:30,234
- [Voiceover] This is not the end.
1286
01:09:30,234 --> 01:09:34,755
It is not even the beginning of the end.
1287
01:09:34,755 --> 01:09:38,728
But it is, perhaps, the
end of the beginning.
1288
01:09:42,244 --> 01:09:43,757
- [Voiceover] But as Winston announces
1289
01:09:43,757 --> 01:09:45,517
the end of the beginning,
1290
01:09:45,517 --> 01:09:49,404
it is, for him, the
beginning of his decline.
1291
01:09:50,689 --> 01:09:54,723
In 1943, Allied military
successes are on the increase
1292
01:09:54,723 --> 01:09:58,335
yet despite Churchill's heroic
tours of the battlefields,
1293
01:09:58,335 --> 01:10:01,486
it is Roosevelt who is now taking charge.
1294
01:10:03,136 --> 01:10:05,609
In this total war, solidarity between
1295
01:10:05,609 --> 01:10:07,518
the English-speaking peoples is well worth
1296
01:10:07,518 --> 01:10:09,214
a few sacrifices, though,
1297
01:10:09,214 --> 01:10:12,305
so Churchill remains silent.
1298
01:10:12,305 --> 01:10:14,588
General de Gaulle points out to him,
1299
01:10:14,588 --> 01:10:16,049
"I do not understand you.
1300
01:10:16,049 --> 01:10:18,416
"You've been at war
from the very first day.
1301
01:10:18,416 --> 01:10:20,476
"One could even say that you are this war.
1302
01:10:20,476 --> 01:10:22,214
"Yet you put yourself in second place
1303
01:10:22,214 --> 01:10:24,550
"behind the United States.
1304
01:10:24,550 --> 01:10:26,651
"It is up to you to take
on the moral leadership
1305
01:10:26,651 --> 01:10:27,675
"of this war.
1306
01:10:27,675 --> 01:10:30,956
"European public opinion
will be behind you."
1307
01:10:30,956 --> 01:10:33,742
Churchill is shaken but silent,
1308
01:10:33,742 --> 01:10:36,232
just as he was with Stalin.
1309
01:10:36,559 --> 01:10:38,722
When the Polish general
Sikorski informs him
1310
01:10:38,722 --> 01:10:41,422
of the killing of 5,000 Polish nationals
1311
01:10:41,422 --> 01:10:44,195
by the Soviets in Katyn Forest,
1312
01:10:44,195 --> 01:10:46,866
Churchill sidesteps the issue.
1313
01:10:47,596 --> 01:10:50,221
"If they are dead, nothing you
can do will bring them back.
1314
01:10:50,221 --> 01:10:51,960
"We've got to beat Hitler.
1315
01:10:51,960 --> 01:10:54,971
"This is no time for
quarrels and charges."
1316
01:10:56,013 --> 01:10:57,958
This alliance with the
Soviets against Hitler
1317
01:10:57,958 --> 01:11:00,357
comes at the price of silence.
1318
01:11:00,357 --> 01:11:02,458
The Old Lion is holding on,
1319
01:11:02,458 --> 01:11:05,908
but he has ceased to roar.
1320
01:11:07,578 --> 01:11:09,359
When the three leaders meet in Tehran
1321
01:11:09,359 --> 01:11:11,343
in November 1943,
1322
01:11:11,343 --> 01:11:14,750
Churchill is painfully
aware of his weakness.
1323
01:11:15,684 --> 01:11:18,361
Between Roosevelt the
great provider of arms
1324
01:11:18,361 --> 01:11:19,801
and Stalin who is holding off
1325
01:11:19,801 --> 01:11:22,841
nearly 200 German divisions
on the battlefield,
1326
01:11:23,621 --> 01:11:26,214
he's not punching at the same weight.
1327
01:11:27,500 --> 01:11:29,667
"I realized at Tehran for the first time
1328
01:11:29,667 --> 01:11:32,406
"what a small nation
we are," he will write.
1329
01:11:32,406 --> 01:11:34,305
"There I sat with the great Russian Bear
1330
01:11:34,305 --> 01:11:36,684
"on one side of me with paws outstretched
1331
01:11:36,684 --> 01:11:39,926
"and on the other side the
great American Buffalo.
1332
01:11:39,926 --> 01:11:42,837
"Between the two sat the
poor little English donkey
1333
01:11:42,837 --> 01:11:46,496
"who was the only one who
knew the right way home."
1334
01:11:46,496 --> 01:11:48,792
He was the Bulldog, the old Lion.
1335
01:11:48,792 --> 01:11:51,460
Now he compares himself to a donkey.
1336
01:11:51,460 --> 01:11:54,414
Depression looms, but the war is not over,
1337
01:11:54,414 --> 01:11:56,328
and he has to keep going.
1338
01:11:56,610 --> 01:11:58,551
He may have lost the military leadership
1339
01:11:58,551 --> 01:12:00,770
but he still has, as de Gaulle said,
1340
01:12:00,770 --> 01:12:03,771
to provide moral leadership.
1341
01:12:04,460 --> 01:12:08,265
After the photo session,
it's time for the toasts.
1342
01:12:09,142 --> 01:12:11,759
Stalin, with a toothy smile proclaims,
1343
01:12:11,759 --> 01:12:13,198
"The power of the German armies
1344
01:12:13,198 --> 01:12:16,493
"is based on some 50,000
officers and technicians.
1345
01:12:16,493 --> 01:12:18,222
"We can simply have them shot
1346
01:12:18,222 --> 01:12:21,949
"to eradicate the German
military definitively."
1347
01:12:23,340 --> 01:12:27,031
Churchill retorts immediately,
with a renewed firmness.
1348
01:12:27,031 --> 01:12:28,896
"The British Parliament and public opinion
1349
01:12:28,896 --> 01:12:31,755
"will never tolerate mass executions.
1350
01:12:31,755 --> 01:12:35,310
"The Soviets should have no
illusions on this point."
1351
01:12:36,489 --> 01:12:38,302
But Stalin continues,
1352
01:12:38,302 --> 01:12:41,502
"We'll have to shoot 50,000."
1353
01:12:41,502 --> 01:12:43,422
Winston is outraged.
1354
01:12:43,422 --> 01:12:45,822
"I'd prefer that you lead me
into the garden here and now
1355
01:12:45,822 --> 01:12:48,584
"to be shot rather than
sully the honor of my country
1356
01:12:48,584 --> 01:12:51,533
"and myself with such baseness."
1357
01:12:55,079 --> 01:12:57,084
Roosevelt attempts to
lighten the situation
1358
01:12:57,084 --> 01:12:59,162
with more banter.
1359
01:12:59,162 --> 01:13:00,708
"No, I propose a compromise.
1360
01:13:00,708 --> 01:13:04,137
"We won't shoot 50,000, but 49,000."
1361
01:13:05,028 --> 01:13:07,789
Churchill doesn't find this funny.
1362
01:13:07,789 --> 01:13:10,002
He leaves the room.
1363
01:13:10,350 --> 01:13:13,762
His doctor finds him later in
a state of extreme depression
1364
01:13:13,762 --> 01:13:16,771
and concludes the Prime
Minister is appalled
1365
01:13:16,771 --> 01:13:20,178
by his own impotence.
1366
01:13:21,026 --> 01:13:23,895
(explosions echo)
1367
01:13:23,895 --> 01:13:25,590
Victory is not yet assured,
1368
01:13:25,590 --> 01:13:28,534
but the Allied landing
in Normandy in June '44
1369
01:13:28,534 --> 01:13:31,120
is indeed the beginning of the end.
1370
01:13:35,531 --> 01:13:38,112
Still intoxicated by
the smell of gunpowder,
1371
01:13:38,112 --> 01:13:40,096
Winston dreams of being there,
1372
01:13:40,096 --> 01:13:42,222
but the King has forbidden it.
1373
01:13:42,292 --> 01:13:46,307
The war is not yet over, and
the Old Lion is irreplaceable.
1374
01:13:46,996 --> 01:13:49,374
Only six days after D-Day can he at last
1375
01:13:49,374 --> 01:13:51,458
visit the battlefield.
1376
01:13:52,030 --> 01:13:54,173
- [Voiceover] Winston
Churchill now came himself
1377
01:13:54,173 --> 01:13:56,296
onto the soil of Normandy.
1378
01:13:56,296 --> 01:13:57,512
The visit was brief.
1379
01:13:57,512 --> 01:13:59,847
It didn't take long for the Prime Minister
1380
01:13:59,847 --> 01:14:02,993
to satisfy himself that all goes well
1381
01:14:02,993 --> 01:14:05,697
on the first stage of
the assault of Europe.
1382
01:14:06,589 --> 01:14:07,868
The Prime Minister and his party
1383
01:14:07,868 --> 01:14:10,012
return to the Destroyer Kelvin
1384
01:14:10,012 --> 01:14:13,812
in complete confidence of still
greater successes to come.
1385
01:14:14,895 --> 01:14:17,935
The architects of victory return home.
1386
01:14:17,935 --> 01:14:20,028
(soaring music)
1387
01:14:21,579 --> 01:14:24,710
(heavy gunfire)
1388
01:14:25,293 --> 01:14:26,871
- [Voiceover] By the end of 1944
1389
01:14:26,871 --> 01:14:31,871
the Nazi armies are in retreat.
1390
01:14:32,703 --> 01:14:34,144
Now that the end is near,
1391
01:14:34,144 --> 01:14:37,433
Churchill is already preparing
for the post war period.
1392
01:14:37,433 --> 01:14:40,132
If he wants to limit
the Communist expansion,
1393
01:14:40,132 --> 01:14:42,959
he must now negotiate with Stalin.
1394
01:14:42,959 --> 01:14:46,297
I've discovered, he says, that
I can talk to him man to man
1395
01:14:46,297 --> 01:14:49,223
and I'm sure he'll be reasonable.
1396
01:14:49,955 --> 01:14:54,081
So, when in October '44, he
slips Stalin a piece of paper
1397
01:14:54,081 --> 01:14:56,077
with percentages scribbled on it,
1398
01:14:56,077 --> 01:14:59,205
he may or may not be bluffing.
1399
01:15:01,675 --> 01:15:03,201
The figures represent the future
1400
01:15:03,201 --> 01:15:05,334
division of power in Europe.
1401
01:15:05,334 --> 01:15:08,620
In fact, they're completely fanciful.
1402
01:15:08,620 --> 01:15:10,913
How else to account for
10% British influence
1403
01:15:10,913 --> 01:15:14,155
in Romania, and 25% in Bulgaria,
1404
01:15:14,155 --> 01:15:15,979
where the Soviets reigned supreme
1405
01:15:15,979 --> 01:15:19,083
and the British don't
even have any access?
1406
01:15:19,083 --> 01:15:22,447
Churchill obtains 90% influence in Greece.
1407
01:15:22,943 --> 01:15:26,557
Stalin ticks the document,
and hands it back.
1408
01:15:31,544 --> 01:15:33,486
Winston is satisfied.
1409
01:15:33,486 --> 01:15:36,887
He writes to Clementine,
"The affairs go well.
1410
01:15:36,887 --> 01:15:39,051
"We have settled a lot of
things about the Balkans
1411
01:15:39,051 --> 01:15:42,096
"and prevented hosts of
squabbles that were maturing.
1412
01:15:42,096 --> 01:15:44,997
"I have had very nice
talks with the Old Bear.
1413
01:15:45,717 --> 01:15:48,068
"I like him, the more I see him.
1414
01:15:48,068 --> 01:15:49,624
"Now they respect us here,
1415
01:15:49,624 --> 01:15:52,337
"and I'm sure they wish to work with us."
1416
01:15:52,739 --> 01:15:54,223
Churchill comes back from Moscow
1417
01:15:54,223 --> 01:15:56,206
with this scrap of paper in his pocket
1418
01:15:56,206 --> 01:16:00,006
as delighted as Chamberlain
coming back from Munich.
1419
01:16:04,246 --> 01:16:06,965
In fact, he's been taken for a fool.
1420
01:16:06,965 --> 01:16:09,862
(melancholy music)
1421
01:16:13,525 --> 01:16:15,605
To cut his losses, Winston the Warrior
1422
01:16:15,605 --> 01:16:18,242
dons his armor once more.
1423
01:16:19,924 --> 01:16:21,631
In Greece, the Communists have triggered
1424
01:16:21,631 --> 01:16:24,190
an armed uprising in the capital.
1425
01:16:24,190 --> 01:16:25,929
Churchill won't tolerate Greece falling
1426
01:16:25,929 --> 01:16:27,779
under their control.
1427
01:16:28,446 --> 01:16:31,123
On Christmas Eve 1944, on a sudden whim,
1428
01:16:31,123 --> 01:16:33,848
he flies to Athens.
1429
01:16:34,355 --> 01:16:35,977
It's a crazy escapade.
1430
01:16:35,977 --> 01:16:39,016
Aboard an armored car,
he roars at full speed
1431
01:16:39,016 --> 01:16:40,775
through the devastated capital,
1432
01:16:40,775 --> 01:16:43,218
fires a few shots, gives firm instructions
1433
01:16:43,218 --> 01:16:46,290
to the British forces trying
to contain the Communists,
1434
01:16:46,290 --> 01:16:48,093
and meets with all factions,
1435
01:16:48,093 --> 01:16:51,659
strongly suggesting that they negotiate.
1436
01:16:52,573 --> 01:16:56,407
The Prime Minister's
impromptu visit is a success.
1437
01:16:56,977 --> 01:16:59,015
British reinforcements
drive the Communists
1438
01:16:59,015 --> 01:17:00,801
out of the capital.
1439
01:17:01,553 --> 01:17:04,572
After a bloody civil
war, Greece will be saved
1440
01:17:04,572 --> 01:17:07,626
from the fate of many of its neighbors.
1441
01:17:13,595 --> 01:17:16,410
Two months later, in February 1945,
1442
01:17:16,410 --> 01:17:19,278
Winston, the only man
said to travel with more
1443
01:17:19,278 --> 01:17:21,785
hat boxes than his wife,
1444
01:17:21,785 --> 01:17:25,490
attends the Yalta Conference.
1445
01:17:26,637 --> 01:17:29,123
The indefatigable septuagenarian
1446
01:17:29,123 --> 01:17:32,824
is still trying to control the
insatiable greed of Stalin,
1447
01:17:32,824 --> 01:17:35,884
who is making vague promises
of democratic elections
1448
01:17:35,884 --> 01:17:37,830
in central Europe.
1449
01:17:38,701 --> 01:17:41,184
These promises are mere
castles in the sand,
1450
01:17:41,184 --> 01:17:43,787
but Churchill can obtain no more.
1451
01:17:43,787 --> 01:17:46,388
As for Roosevelt, he's
sick, weak, and credulous,
1452
01:17:46,388 --> 01:17:48,654
and ready to make any concession.
1453
01:17:49,279 --> 01:17:51,060
The sandcastles will soon be destroyed
1454
01:17:51,060 --> 01:17:54,648
by the red wave that
engulfs Eastern Europe.
1455
01:17:58,238 --> 01:18:01,229
(bell tolls)
1456
01:18:03,208 --> 01:18:05,746
On May the 8th 1945,
1457
01:18:05,746 --> 01:18:08,769
Nazi Germany finally surrenders.
1458
01:18:11,251 --> 01:18:13,715
For Churchill, it is the triumphant reward
1459
01:18:13,715 --> 01:18:18,368
for five years of unremitting
and often desperate effort.
1460
01:18:19,677 --> 01:18:22,130
The whole of Britain applauds him.
1461
01:18:22,130 --> 01:18:25,366
(soaring, majestic music)
1462
01:18:27,058 --> 01:18:29,458
Although elderly and infirm,
1463
01:18:29,458 --> 01:18:31,878
he has always stood solid as a rock,
1464
01:18:31,878 --> 01:18:36,020
and convinced his people
that victory would be his.
1465
01:18:40,442 --> 01:18:44,758
- [Voiceover] This is your victory.
1466
01:18:46,085 --> 01:18:51,085
Victory of the cause of freedom
1467
01:18:52,014 --> 01:18:54,418
in every land.
1468
01:18:58,308 --> 01:19:00,899
In all our long history,
1469
01:19:00,899 --> 01:19:04,619
we have never seen a
greater day than this.
1470
01:19:04,619 --> 01:19:07,623
(crowd jubilates)
1471
01:19:08,333 --> 01:19:11,803
(cheerful, victorious music)
1472
01:19:21,238 --> 01:19:22,315
- [Voiceover] For five years,
1473
01:19:22,315 --> 01:19:25,654
Churchill has never
stopped making history.
1474
01:19:25,654 --> 01:19:28,596
And, strangely enough,
they've been happy years,
1475
01:19:28,596 --> 01:19:30,870
which, despite the constant overwork,
1476
01:19:30,870 --> 01:19:33,668
have kept him from depression.
1477
01:19:35,732 --> 01:19:38,174
The return to normality is brutal.
1478
01:19:38,174 --> 01:19:41,219
(crowd cheers)
1479
01:19:42,376 --> 01:19:45,811
Parliament is dissolved.
1480
01:19:45,811 --> 01:19:47,923
And after leading an
international coalition
1481
01:19:47,923 --> 01:19:50,707
and becoming a figure of world renown,
1482
01:19:50,707 --> 01:19:54,657
the Old Lion must now run for re-election.
1483
01:19:57,405 --> 01:19:59,147
- We're going to win.
1484
01:20:02,407 --> 01:20:03,805
I can feel it in,
1485
01:20:03,805 --> 01:20:07,524
I can feel it in my
bones we're going to win.
1486
01:20:09,376 --> 01:20:12,533
I ask you to give me a
chance to finish this job.
1487
01:20:12,533 --> 01:20:15,289
(crowd cheers)
1488
01:20:27,891 --> 01:20:30,131
- [Voiceover] While awaiting
the election results,
1489
01:20:30,131 --> 01:20:33,236
Winston joins Stalin and
President Harry Truman,
1490
01:20:33,236 --> 01:20:35,912
who has replaced the
recently-deceased Roosevelt,
1491
01:20:35,912 --> 01:20:39,015
at the Potsdam Conference.
1492
01:20:39,015 --> 01:20:42,055
Churchill is weak and a little deaf.
1493
01:20:42,055 --> 01:20:44,616
The elections, he admits,
are hovering over me
1494
01:20:44,616 --> 01:20:47,615
like a vulture of uncertainty.
1495
01:20:48,347 --> 01:20:52,026
On July 25th 1945 the
conference is adjourned,
1496
01:20:52,026 --> 01:20:54,499
so the British delegation
can return to London
1497
01:20:54,499 --> 01:20:56,851
for the results.
1498
01:20:58,371 --> 01:21:01,432
Stalin predicts an 80-seat majority.
1499
01:21:01,432 --> 01:21:02,893
A good sign.
1500
01:21:02,893 --> 01:21:07,804
Stalin has never been mistaken
about USSR election results.
1501
01:21:10,637 --> 01:21:13,968
A great shock awaits
Winston on his return.
1502
01:21:14,391 --> 01:21:16,674
Despite the immense
gratitude the British people
1503
01:21:16,674 --> 01:21:18,070
feel towards him,
1504
01:21:18,070 --> 01:21:20,396
they are dubious of the
old warrior's ability
1505
01:21:20,396 --> 01:21:22,763
to manage the peace.
1506
01:21:22,763 --> 01:21:26,740
The man who won the war
has lost the election.
1507
01:21:26,740 --> 01:21:30,104
Churchill feels humiliated.
1508
01:21:30,195 --> 01:21:33,510
At the Potsdam Conference he
is replaced by the new leader,
1509
01:21:33,510 --> 01:21:36,989
Labour's Clement Attlee, a
man whom Winston has described
1510
01:21:36,989 --> 01:21:41,578
as "a modest man with
much to be modest about."
1511
01:21:42,865 --> 01:21:44,625
Churchill is extremely depressed,
1512
01:21:44,625 --> 01:21:46,842
and inevitably, his Black Dog
1513
01:21:46,842 --> 01:21:49,856
starts barking louder than ever.
1514
01:21:50,511 --> 01:21:52,389
"I can't school myself to do nothing
1515
01:21:52,389 --> 01:21:54,415
"for the rest of my life.
1516
01:21:54,415 --> 01:21:56,548
"It would have been
better to have been killed
1517
01:21:56,548 --> 01:22:00,548
"in an aeroplane or to
have died like Roosevelt,"
1518
01:22:00,548 --> 01:22:02,119
he says.
1519
01:22:04,793 --> 01:22:08,536
Clementine rather welcomes
the return to normal life.
1520
01:22:08,536 --> 01:22:10,898
For Winston, it is hell.
1521
01:22:11,577 --> 01:22:14,167
He becomes extremely irritable.
1522
01:22:14,167 --> 01:22:16,355
Clementine writes to her daughter Mary,
1523
01:22:16,355 --> 01:22:19,447
"We seem, instead of
clinging to each other,
1524
01:22:19,447 --> 01:22:21,826
"to be always having scenes.
1525
01:22:21,826 --> 01:22:23,995
"He is so unhappy."
1526
01:22:25,985 --> 01:22:28,246
The imminent disintegration
of the British Empire
1527
01:22:28,246 --> 01:22:30,251
further saddens him.
1528
01:22:30,251 --> 01:22:31,872
For an old school imperialist,
1529
01:22:31,872 --> 01:22:34,965
the independence of India
the Labour Party proposes
1530
01:22:34,965 --> 01:22:36,857
is heartbreaking.
1531
01:22:37,823 --> 01:22:40,586
But Winston has not fired his last shot.
1532
01:22:41,377 --> 01:22:43,763
The former cavalier of the 4th Hussars
1533
01:22:43,763 --> 01:22:47,041
saddles up again, and
picks up where he left off.
1534
01:22:47,667 --> 01:22:51,388
The French Riviera, the
casinos, the cigars and brandy,
1535
01:22:51,388 --> 01:22:55,840
new writing, and his
one true muse, painting.
1536
01:22:58,330 --> 01:23:02,207
He will once again find a
way to influence history.
1537
01:23:06,074 --> 01:23:09,507
Invited by President Truman in March 1946
1538
01:23:09,507 --> 01:23:12,377
to speak at Missouri's Fulton University,
1539
01:23:12,377 --> 01:23:15,896
Winston, no longer a
player on the world stage,
1540
01:23:15,896 --> 01:23:18,296
proclaims aloud what is being whispered
1541
01:23:18,296 --> 01:23:20,502
in the corridors of power.
1542
01:23:20,502 --> 01:23:24,780
That Soviet expansionism
represents a new mortal threat
1543
01:23:24,780 --> 01:23:27,424
to democracy.
1544
01:23:27,424 --> 01:23:30,865
- From Stettin in the Baltic
1545
01:23:30,865 --> 01:23:33,621
to Trieste in the Adriatic,
1546
01:23:33,621 --> 01:23:37,119
an Iron Curtain has descended
across the continent.
1547
01:23:37,119 --> 01:23:38,527
(audience cheers)
1548
01:23:38,527 --> 01:23:39,303
- [Voiceover] This speech,
1549
01:23:39,303 --> 01:23:41,798
which marks the beginning of the Cold War,
1550
01:23:41,798 --> 01:23:44,812
rings out across the century.
1551
01:23:48,816 --> 01:23:51,461
But Winston has not simply
exposed the problem.
1552
01:23:51,461 --> 01:23:54,592
He is also proposing a solution.
1553
01:23:55,231 --> 01:23:57,491
To deal with Soviet expansionism,
1554
01:23:57,491 --> 01:23:59,646
the only course of action is to unify
1555
01:23:59,646 --> 01:24:03,275
those European countries that
have escaped its clutches.
1556
01:24:03,275 --> 01:24:05,855
In Zurich, the Hague and Strasbourg,
1557
01:24:05,855 --> 01:24:07,818
he defends the same credo:
1558
01:24:07,818 --> 01:24:09,897
The United States of Europe,
1559
01:24:09,897 --> 01:24:11,721
whose Franco-German partnership
1560
01:24:11,721 --> 01:24:14,902
will be the cornerstone
of a European Council.
1561
01:24:14,902 --> 01:24:16,800
It's an extraordinary vision,
1562
01:24:16,800 --> 01:24:19,444
and one that has since come true.
1563
01:24:19,444 --> 01:24:23,012
(Churchill speaks in French)
1564
01:24:30,060 --> 01:24:33,392
(audience cheers)
1565
01:25:12,777 --> 01:25:15,230
He has been a soldier, a minister,
1566
01:25:15,230 --> 01:25:18,631
a writer, a journalist,
an MP and a painter.
1567
01:25:18,631 --> 01:25:21,533
Now, he's a prophet.
1568
01:25:21,533 --> 01:25:24,476
And in 1951 at the age of 76,
1569
01:25:24,476 --> 01:25:27,889
he is once again appointed Prime Minister.
1570
01:25:27,889 --> 01:25:30,625
(solemn, majestic music)
1571
01:25:33,073 --> 01:25:36,508
The old warrior, never so
happy as on the battlefield,
1572
01:25:36,508 --> 01:25:38,491
has now become a pacifist
1573
01:25:38,491 --> 01:25:41,093
with the audacious objective of,
1574
01:25:41,093 --> 01:25:43,430
in one last magnificent gesture,
1575
01:25:43,430 --> 01:25:46,164
calming the Cold War.
1576
01:25:46,587 --> 01:25:48,506
But Russia and the US couldn't care less
1577
01:25:48,506 --> 01:25:50,426
about the Prime Minister of a Britain
1578
01:25:50,426 --> 01:25:53,028
now stripped of much of its empire
1579
01:25:53,028 --> 01:25:56,030
and downgraded to a secondary power.
1580
01:25:56,030 --> 01:25:59,610
And this, Winston simply cannot accept.
1581
01:26:00,960 --> 01:26:04,139
However, the man is a living legend.
1582
01:26:04,139 --> 01:26:07,050
He is honored throughout the whole world.
1583
01:26:07,050 --> 01:26:08,873
Knighted by the Queen of England,
1584
01:26:08,873 --> 01:26:12,373
awarded the Nobel Prize
for Literature in 1953,
1585
01:26:12,373 --> 01:26:15,147
he shines wherever he goes
1586
01:26:15,147 --> 01:26:18,401
under the weary gaze of a political class
1587
01:26:18,401 --> 01:26:22,170
that is just waiting for
him to pass on the baton.
1588
01:26:26,485 --> 01:26:28,885
For his 80th birthday, a ceremony is held
1589
01:26:28,885 --> 01:26:31,316
in his honor at Westminster.
1590
01:26:31,316 --> 01:26:34,762
("Pomp and Circumstance
Marches No. 4" by Edward Elgar)
1591
01:26:34,762 --> 01:26:36,821
The members all sign the guestbook
1592
01:26:36,821 --> 01:26:39,624
and he is presented with a surprise gift,
1593
01:26:39,624 --> 01:26:42,691
as if to force his hand a little.
1594
01:26:44,840 --> 01:26:47,542
- I ask you to accept this portrait.
1595
01:26:47,542 --> 01:26:50,875
(audience applauds)
1596
01:27:01,227 --> 01:27:06,226
- The portrait is a remarkable
example of modern art.
1597
01:27:07,445 --> 01:27:09,273
(audience claps and laughs)
1598
01:27:15,540 --> 01:27:18,025
- [Voiceover] Clementine
can't stand the portrait
1599
01:27:18,025 --> 01:27:20,568
and will destroy it.
1600
01:27:21,266 --> 01:27:24,408
(dramatic music)
1601
01:27:26,238 --> 01:27:28,743
- [Voiceover] On April the 4th,
an epoch in British history
1602
01:27:28,743 --> 01:27:31,029
ended with the resignation
of Sir Winston Churchill
1603
01:27:31,029 --> 01:27:33,132
as Prime Minister.
1604
01:27:33,132 --> 01:27:35,456
The man who in 1940 had said
1605
01:27:35,456 --> 01:27:37,645
that he had nothing to offer but blood,
1606
01:27:37,645 --> 01:27:39,639
toil, tears, and sweat,
1607
01:27:39,639 --> 01:27:43,657
has paid his part of the bargain in full.
1608
01:27:43,657 --> 01:27:46,942
(melancholy music)
1609
01:27:49,040 --> 01:27:50,587
- [Voiceover] All that remains for Winston
1610
01:27:50,587 --> 01:27:52,805
is to deliver his final victory,
1611
01:27:52,805 --> 01:27:55,386
the most difficult, and the most bitter:
1612
01:27:55,386 --> 01:27:57,652
his resignation.
1613
01:27:58,223 --> 01:28:00,559
"I feel like an aeroplane
at the end of its flight,"
1614
01:28:00,559 --> 01:28:01,978
he says.
1615
01:28:01,978 --> 01:28:04,710
"In the dusk, with the petrol running out,
1616
01:28:04,710 --> 01:28:07,401
"in search of a safe landing."
1617
01:28:09,765 --> 01:28:13,140
A page of England's history has turned.
1618
01:28:18,063 --> 01:28:19,790
The last 10 years of his life
1619
01:28:19,790 --> 01:28:21,923
are divided between his country house,
1620
01:28:21,923 --> 01:28:25,241
long stays on the Riviera
or the Onassis yacht,
1621
01:28:25,241 --> 01:28:27,911
and even at the house of Marshal Tito.
1622
01:28:28,505 --> 01:28:33,170
He writes, paints, smokes
his cigars, and drinks.
1623
01:28:34,242 --> 01:28:36,664
These are difficult and painful years.
1624
01:28:36,664 --> 01:28:38,925
Winston suffers from hip fractures,
1625
01:28:38,925 --> 01:28:41,399
pneumonia, and several strokes.
1626
01:28:41,399 --> 01:28:45,916
Little by little, he is
losing the greatest battle.
1627
01:28:48,322 --> 01:28:49,837
His return trips to England
1628
01:28:49,837 --> 01:28:51,824
are all for health reasons.
1629
01:28:51,824 --> 01:28:54,000
Each time he is released from hospital,
1630
01:28:54,000 --> 01:28:56,976
and each birthday, is
the occasion for much,
1631
01:28:56,976 --> 01:29:00,544
mostly unwanted, public attention.
1632
01:29:02,213 --> 01:29:05,278
Churchill stops painting for good.
1633
01:29:05,278 --> 01:29:08,519
Idleness opens the door
wide to his Black Dog,
1634
01:29:08,519 --> 01:29:10,792
the faithful depression that will always
1635
01:29:10,792 --> 01:29:13,163
return to its master.
1636
01:29:13,832 --> 01:29:15,432
In the twilight of his life,
1637
01:29:15,432 --> 01:29:17,943
he feels it has all been futile.
1638
01:29:18,257 --> 01:29:21,350
He wanted a strong Britain
and a world at peace,
1639
01:29:21,350 --> 01:29:24,333
and he has ended up with neither.
1640
01:29:27,047 --> 01:29:30,141
He sees only his failures, and laments,
1641
01:29:30,141 --> 01:29:31,944
"I have achieved a great deal,
1642
01:29:31,944 --> 01:29:35,650
"in the end to achieve nothing."
1643
01:29:36,806 --> 01:29:38,705
His children's shortcomings disappoint him
1644
01:29:38,705 --> 01:29:40,146
more than ever.
1645
01:29:40,146 --> 01:29:42,140
Randolph is a womanizer.
1646
01:29:42,140 --> 01:29:44,199
He drinks too much, and his gambling debts
1647
01:29:44,199 --> 01:29:45,897
are mounting up.
1648
01:29:45,897 --> 01:29:48,297
Sarah is more often in the headlines
1649
01:29:48,297 --> 01:29:50,898
for being drunk than for her performances
1650
01:29:50,898 --> 01:29:52,531
as an actress.
1651
01:29:52,531 --> 01:29:54,898
As for Diana, she commits suicide
1652
01:29:54,898 --> 01:29:57,898
during a final overwhelming depression.
1653
01:29:57,898 --> 01:30:00,500
Only Mary seems to have a stable life
1654
01:30:00,500 --> 01:30:03,193
and looks after her parents.
1655
01:30:10,195 --> 01:30:11,671
On the day of his 90th birthday
1656
01:30:11,671 --> 01:30:14,807
a crowd gathers below his balcony.
1657
01:30:15,967 --> 01:30:18,393
He appears at his window to wave to them
1658
01:30:18,393 --> 01:30:20,764
one last time.
1659
01:30:20,764 --> 01:30:24,376
(wistful, sad music)
1660
01:30:34,802 --> 01:30:37,599
On January the 10th 1965,
1661
01:30:37,599 --> 01:30:39,998
he is hit by a massive stroke.
1662
01:30:39,998 --> 01:30:43,545
He loses consciousness
and falls into a coma.
1663
01:30:47,837 --> 01:30:50,195
When his secretary John Colville is asked
1664
01:30:50,195 --> 01:30:52,682
if the moment is nigh he replies,
1665
01:30:52,682 --> 01:30:54,741
"He won't die quite yet.
1666
01:30:54,741 --> 01:30:57,205
"Not until the 24th of January.
1667
01:30:57,205 --> 01:30:58,516
"Because he always said he would die
1668
01:30:58,516 --> 01:31:00,428
"on the day of his father's death.
1669
01:31:00,428 --> 01:31:03,738
"And I am certain he will do just that."
1670
01:31:07,850 --> 01:31:11,296
Two weeks later, on January the 24th,
1671
01:31:11,296 --> 01:31:14,389
70 years to the month, day and hour
1672
01:31:14,389 --> 01:31:17,471
after the death of his father,
1673
01:31:17,471 --> 01:31:20,697
Winston Churchill passes away.
1674
01:31:22,793 --> 01:31:25,471
Even his death, then,
seemed like a last cry
1675
01:31:25,471 --> 01:31:27,774
to the one who had so despised him,
1676
01:31:27,774 --> 01:31:30,223
and whose love he so craved.
1677
01:31:31,521 --> 01:31:35,058
Was this perhaps the key
to the Churchill enigma?
1678
01:31:37,869 --> 01:31:41,686
In the end, did all the
qualities of this exceptional man
1679
01:31:41,686 --> 01:31:44,432
derive from the same source?
1680
01:31:45,131 --> 01:31:48,502
Warrior, it was his father
who made a soldier of him
1681
01:31:48,502 --> 01:31:50,373
when he was 20 years old.
1682
01:31:50,890 --> 01:31:53,909
Speaker, it was by listening
to his father's speeches
1683
01:31:53,909 --> 01:31:56,363
and devouring all the
newspaper articles on him
1684
01:31:56,363 --> 01:31:59,140
that Winston learned to love politics.
1685
01:31:59,937 --> 01:32:02,837
Man of ambition, he was driven to succeed
1686
01:32:02,837 --> 01:32:04,514
where his father had failed,
1687
01:32:04,514 --> 01:32:07,706
and restore the shine to the family crest.
1688
01:32:10,190 --> 01:32:12,526
Churchill never sat next
to him in Parliament
1689
01:32:12,526 --> 01:32:14,221
as he had dreamed of doing.
1690
01:32:14,221 --> 01:32:16,919
But his father's ghost was there
1691
01:32:16,919 --> 01:32:18,807
throughout his entire career,
1692
01:32:18,807 --> 01:32:22,089
staring sternly down on him.
1693
01:32:25,881 --> 01:32:27,812
If only Lord Randolph had seen Winston
1694
01:32:27,812 --> 01:32:29,752
in the summer of 1940,
1695
01:32:29,752 --> 01:32:33,034
when he changed the course of history,
1696
01:32:33,604 --> 01:32:35,334
he might then have
admitted he'd been wrong
1697
01:32:35,334 --> 01:32:36,798
about the boy.
1698
01:32:36,798 --> 01:32:39,948
And had, finally, to accept him
1699
01:32:39,948 --> 01:32:42,393
into the Marlborough clan.
1700
01:32:54,196 --> 01:32:57,620
It was an old Battle of
Britain class steam locomotive
1701
01:32:57,620 --> 01:32:59,101
that hauled the funeral train
1702
01:32:59,101 --> 01:33:01,257
carrying the remains of the Old Lion
1703
01:33:01,257 --> 01:33:03,101
to his final resting place,
1704
01:33:05,211 --> 01:33:07,738
the small cemetery of Bladon,
1705
01:33:09,337 --> 01:33:12,623
where he would lay next
to his father Randolph.
1706
01:33:13,791 --> 01:33:16,447
It's only just over a
mile from Blenheim Castle,
1707
01:33:16,447 --> 01:33:20,239
where Winston Churchill
was born 90 years earlier.
1708
01:33:21,811 --> 01:33:25,054
He took almost a century to travel a mile.
1709
01:33:25,054 --> 01:33:28,351
Yet on the way, he changed
the fate of England
1710
01:33:29,220 --> 01:33:32,166
and the world.
1711
01:33:34,350 --> 01:33:38,503
(soaring, majestic, hopeful music)
1712
01:34:26,687 --> 01:34:28,937
- [Voiceover] Mr. Churchill,
scene two, take one.
1713
01:34:28,937 --> 01:34:31,079
(clapboard snaps)
1714
01:34:34,887 --> 01:34:37,509
- Ladies and gentlemen,
1715
01:34:37,509 --> 01:34:40,181
permit me, please,
1716
01:34:41,008 --> 01:34:43,664
to claim your attention
1717
01:34:45,265 --> 01:34:46,906
for a moment.
1718
01:34:47,574 --> 01:34:50,051
It can only be a moment
1719
01:34:50,051 --> 01:34:51,665
for, as you know,
1720
01:34:52,429 --> 01:34:54,068
we are all of us
1721
01:34:54,767 --> 01:34:57,513
strictly rationed.
1722
01:34:58,106 --> 01:35:00,809
- [Voiceover] Scene six,
take one, wait a moment.
1723
01:35:01,499 --> 01:35:04,166
- We are the chosen few.
1724
01:35:04,166 --> 01:35:05,943
Now wasn't that better?
1725
01:35:05,943 --> 01:35:07,321
- [Voiceover] Scene four, take one.
1726
01:35:07,321 --> 01:35:08,969
(clapboard snaps)
125341
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