Where is the 'Glory'?


I love Alec Guinness but I'm sorry to say this is a very humdrum and very small movie.

It might have better been a TV movie with the standard repertory actors doing their regular roles.

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With the colonel's death, Sinclair realises he is to blame. He calls the officers to a meeting and announces plans for a grandiose funeral fit for a field marshal, complete with a march through the town in which all the "tunes of glory" will be played by the pipers. When it is pointed out how out disproportionate the plans are to the circumstances, especially given the manner of the colonel's death, Sinclair insists that it was not suicide but murder! He tells everyone he himself was the murderer and the other senior officers were his accomplices with the exception of the colonel's adjutant. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunes_of_Glory


Guess you missed that part, huh? To each their own. I would say this is probably one of Sir Alec's best performances, surrounded by many others. If anything this is a film about former glory lost, attempted to be regained too late.



"Dave, this conversation can serve no purpose anymore. Goodbye." 2001: A Space Odyssey

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Exactly, Tunes of Glory, referring to the traditional Scottish military pipe music, such as Black Bear, Hieland Laddie, and others.
Being originally from Edinburgh, and my late mother and godparents knowing Sir Alec quite well when he acted in the capital, I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed this little movie.
The funeral preparations scene with Guinness was extremely moving, and I was close to tears.
Hearing the pipe music brought nostalgia down on me in veritable waves!
Scots are extremely proud of their traditional pipe music and Regiments, and these ancient tunes of glory(military victories where Scots played a major part, eg. Balaklava, Lucknow, Mafeking to name a few only)stir the overwhelming majority of Scots everywhere. It can be hair-raising on the nape of one's neck.
(Btw, liked your brief response, docasualty).

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Thanks for your kind words, ronfirv.

While I have no Scottish ancestry, I have played the pipes for over forty years and the music and history of the GHB and the Scottish Regiments are near and dear to my heart. I'm sure that has a lot to do with my fondness for this film, though I truly see it as an unsung gem. I finally purchased the DVD last year just so I could watch it every now and again.



"Dave, this conversation can serve no purpose anymore. Goodbye." 2001: A Space Odyssey

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This film (and his role in it) were Sir Alec Guinness's favorites out of a remarkable career. I watch this film at least once each year and many a friend and relation I've loaned to over the years has had the same reaction. It's certainly not a film likely to be enjoyed by the majority of today's film-goers. That would be like wasting a fine Single Malt Scotch on those whose favorite drink is "Bud Light."

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Great comment.

However, I was a lad in Edinburgh, my father was a proud ex-NCO in the British Army,my mother knew Alec Guinness in his early years, so I can very much identify with this story.

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