CLASSIC or ANTIQUE? Tell England (1931)

 

                “Tell England” is a British film about the Gallipoli campaign in WWI.  It is alternately titled “Battle of Gallipoli”.  The movie was based on the novel by Ernest Raymond.  It was co-directed by Anthony Asquith (“Carrington, VC”) and Geoffrey Barkas.  Barkas worked on camouflage for Gen. Montgomery before the Battle of El Alamein.  The deception included 600 tanks disguised as lorries.  Asquith also wrote the screenplay.  The movie was originally meant to be a silent film.  There are title cards like you would see in a silent movie.  The title is a reference to the Spartan monument at Thermopylae.

                It is basically a buddy film set in war.  Kind of similar to Mel Gibson’s “Gallipoli” in that respect.  Rupert (Tony Bruce) and Edgar (Carl Harbord) are best friends.  Edgar is daring and Rupert is a stick in the mud.  Suddenly, they are in the army.  The movie is in a hurry to get to Gallipoli so there is no enlistment and no training.  Not even a montage.  For some reason the movie depicts fighting on the beachhead before our duo arrives.  The British assault a Turkish position.  We get some POV from the perspective of a Turkish machine gun.  The scene looks surprisingly like “Saving Private Ryan” to the point where you wonder if Speilberg was influenced by the movie.  There are quick intercuts between the machine gun and the British soldiers.  Meanwhile, Rupert and Edgar are living it up on the voyage over.  Being upper class, they are both officers and have bat men.  After they arrive, Rupert gets promoted to Captain, instead of the seemingly more qualified Edgar.  We are given no explanation for this.  The two men have switched personalities.  Naturally, there is going to be command dysfunction.

                The movie is very micro.  We get no idea of what is happening outside the field of the camera.  You won’t get an understanding of the campaign.  However, you will get the impression that it was not worth the losses.  The movie is not patriotic flag-waving.  It  does have some interesting cinematography.  There are quick cuts before they became standard in war movies.  Other than the character arcs, the movie is predictable.  The acting is average and it is really just a two man show.  At least they don’t overly emote like in silent movies.  The combat may be gritty, but the sets are too pristine.  Although there is a reference to picking lice, the trenches and dugout are far from the reality of WWI trench warfare.  The dialogue is average, some of it is soldier banter, but mostly we get officer talk.

                “Tell England” is a trifle.  It is not in a league with other WWI movies from that era.  It is more of an antique than a classic.  If you have seen all the other ones, go to You Tube and watch this one.  It’s only 80 minutes long. 

GRADE  =  C