Alternative Version

Does anyone remember a longer version of this film?

There are two run times given, varying by about half an hour.

Years ago, I recorded it late at night on ITV while having aerial trouble. I later re-recorded it on Channel 4 to find that several scenes I remembered had gone. This 'shorter' version is now the one shown on TV every time, and so I am left with these dim memories of several other scenes, namely:

- A 'face to face' interview with Winston Churchill, Randolph Churchill and Jennie Jerome. The shorter version has kept the scene interviewing Winston Churchill, but some lines have definitely been cut from the Jenny Jerome interview, where she is asked about her husband's condition, and the Randolph Churchill scene has been cut entirely.

-The start is slightly different- after the opening titles, the camera stays on the black and white photo of Churchill on his horse, and we overhear the lines "Who's that damn fool on the grey?"/ "Somebody who wants to get noticed I expect."/ "He'll get noticed alright- get his head blown off" from later in the film. Also, I seem to remember some of the flashback scenes in a different order, since the scene with this line seemed to be later in the film.

-The ending is definitely different. In the short version, it ends on a freeze frame on Churchill talking to his mother about marriage. I remember several scenes at the end of the long version actually featuring Clementine, his bride-to-be. I KNOW I'm not imagining these things because Clementine Hosier is cerdited in the end titles, yet isn't even in the short version.

-As I say,some of the scenes may also be in a different order, though it still had the effect of intercutting back and forth in time.

-Most interestingly, it had a scene near the end based on a story Churchill wrote in the 1940s, called "The Dream." This is possibly the most touching scene in the film- I can't understand why it was cut. In it, the elderly Churchill (seen in silhouette) meets the ghost of his father, and they discuss how the world has changed in the last 50 years. Randolph is surprised at how well his son has turned out, and expresses approval at his son's paintings ("They take up all my time now"). It's a beautifully played scene, with real remorse in Robert Shaw's eyes, and if a complete DVD version comes out I'd snap it up just to watch this scene. The key to it is it's so understated- Winston Churchill provides his father's ghost with a complete update of the last 50 years of politics, and describes the fates of all the people his father knew, but he never mentions his own role in all of this, or that he is even involved in politics, and his father is left proud of him even though he's not aware of his son's greatest achievements- he comments on how Winston has intellectually grown far beyond even his best expectations.

As I haven't seen the longer version of the film in years, I wonder if anyone who has can remember any more scenes I may have forgotten about?