Glorious 39

Glorious 39 is a 2009 Stephen Poliakoff film, starring a ridiculous number of high-profile actors, such as Romola Garai, Bill Nighy and David Tennant. It tells the story of an upper-class family in the months leading up to the Second World War - sort of like Brideshead Revisited, but with more politics.

Our protagonist, Anne, is the adoptive daughter of Sir Alexander Keyes, a notable politician in favour of appeasing Nazi Germany. Anne lives a charmed life, spending most of her days running round the family ruins in Gorgeous Period Dress and flirting with her fiancé, Lawrence. Until one day, she organises a birthday party for her father...and the mysterious Mr Balcombe shows up.

At the party, family friend Hector Haldane delivers a passionate speech about the need to stop Nazi tyranny - and some weeks later shoots himself in the head. Tragic - but hidden in the family archives Anne finds a recording of Hector's last phone call, which makes it clear that someone was blackmailing him.

Meanwhile, at a family picnic the baby Anne was supposed to be looking after goes missing, and only after Anne has roused the entire family to search the woods is he found - safe and sound, exactly where she left him. Anne knows Balcombe has something to do with all of this, but now everyone else thinks she's hysterical...

Or they appear to, anyway. Most of the recordings in the archives have been taken away by Balcombe, but Anne has kept a few hidden. Desperate to find some proof of a conspiracy, she listens to them all and hears her brother's voice come through loud and clear. Politicians at the highest level of government have been involved in a plan to avoid war at all costs - and now want peace at any cost - and Anne's family are at the heart of it.


 * All-Star Cast: Bill Nighy, Romola Garai, David Tennant, Christopher Lee, Jenny Agutter, Julie Christie, Jeremy Northam, Corin Redgrave...
 * Anyone Can Die: And does.
 * Aristocrats Are Evil: The point is heavily made that it's the privilege and the blindness that comes with that that causes the action in the film. The three most sympathetic characters - Anne, Hector and Gilbert - are not aristocratic by birth.
 * Awful Truth:
 * Blue Blood: A major theme - Anne is adopted, remember.
 * Break the Cutie:
 * Bring News Back:
 * The British Empire: set during, etc.
 * Dead Star Walking: David Tennant.
 * Disposing of a Body:
 * Does This Remind You of Anything?: At one point in the film, someone notes that the declaration of war means that people are having their pets put down by the thousands.
 * Doomed Moral Victor: Hector.
 * Driven to Suicide:
 * Fallen Princess: Anne.
 * For Your Own Good:
 * Foregone Conclusion: We know from the beginning that Anne is going to disappear.
 * Framing Device: The story begins with Michael Walton, a present-day schoolboy, asking his elderly cousins what happened to his aunt Anne, who disappeared during the war.
 * Gaslighting:
 * Head-in-The-Sand Management:
 * Hey, It's That Guy!: You've probably seen at least one member of the cast in something else. For example, why the hell are people blackmailing the Doctor?
 * Idiot Ball: But why doesn't Anne send the evidence to her political heavyweight father, whom she loves and trusts absolutely?
 * Madwoman in the Attic:
 * Narrowed It Down to the Guy I Recognize: Played with. In a cast of heavyweights, every other person must have something more to do than that bit part - right?
 * Noble Fugitive:
 * Reasonable Authority Figure: Sir Alexander.
 * Sacrificial Lamb: Hector.
 * Stiff Upper Lip: While it's a very stressful time for all the characters and one can't blame Anne in particular for getting quite a bit upset, it's notable that the declaration of war occurs while Anne and Gilbert are filming a scene. The director stops them, announces the news (as it's important and he felt everyone should know as soon as possible), and then they go back to work.
 * Video Wills:
 * Where Are They Now? Epilogue: In the frame story.
 * Upper Class Wit: averted. Anne is an actress, most of the men are politicians or otherwise government employees, and no one is in a good enough mood to joke around.
 * Upper Class Twit: Equally, no one in this film is at all stupid. Unfortunately for Anne.
 * You Have to Believe Me: Often averted. Most of the people Anne appeals to about the conspiracy believe her after explanation and a look at the records - except her father, who is clearly humouring her. Used, however, in the scene where baby Oliver goes missing.