All the King's Men (1999) (TV)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Julian Jarrold

Writers:

Alma Cullen (writer)
Nigel McCrery (novel)

Release Date:

20 February 2000 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery | War

Plot:

Feature-length drama about the mystery of Sandringham Company, which disappeared in action at Gallipoli in 1915...

Plot Keywords:

Gallipoli | Prisoner Of War | Disappearance | British Army | WWI

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

David Jason	...	Capt. Frank Beck
Maggie Smith	...	Queen Alexandra
William Ash	...	Sgt. Ted Grimes
Sonya Walger	...	Lady Frances
Stuart Bunce	...	2nd Lt. Frederick Radley
James Murray	...	Pvt. Will Needham
Ed Waters	...	Cpl. Herbert Batterbee
Tom Burke	...	Pvt. Chad Batterbee
Ben Crompton	...	Pvt. Davy Croft
Eamon Boland	...	Arthur Beck
Jo Stone-Fewings	...	Lt. Alec Beck
James Hillier	...	2nd Lt. Evelyn Beck
David Troughton	...	King George V
Emma Cunniffe	...	Peggy Batterbee
Adam Kotz	...	Oswald Yeoman
Patrick Malahide	...	Capt. Claude Howlett
Gaye Brown	...	Queen Mary
Phyllis Logan	...	Mary Beck
Ian McDiarmid	...	Rev. Pierrepoint Edwards
Danny Worters	...	Pvt. George Dacre
Laurence Dobiesz	...	Luke Grimes
Roland Oliver	...	Mr. Adams
Jamie Beddard	...	Roland Adams
Patrick Burke	...	Publican
Francis Magee	...	Able seaman
William Hoyland	...	Lt. Col. Proctor Beauchamp
Jenny Dewsbury	...	Sandringham villager
Steve Davidson	...	Sandringham villager
Nick Haverson	...	Private at station (as Nicholas Haverson)
Chris Fox	...	Corporal at station
Darren Tighe	...	Cpl. Lloyd
Roger Morlidge	...	Private in pub
Daisy Gough	...	Princess Mary
Heather Tobias	...	Mrs. Batterbee
Jasper Jacob	...	German doctor
Oliver Haden	...	Kamal Demiriz
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ben Shockley	...	Neil Marklew
Paul T.T. Easter	...	Soldier (uncredited)

Directed by
Julian Jarrold

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Alma Cullen		writer
Nigel McCrery		novel

Produced by
Rebecca Eaton	....	executive producer
Ruth Maturuas	....	associate producer
Nigel McCrery	....	co-producer
Gareth Neame	....	producer
Hilary Salmon	....	executive producer
Jane Tranter	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Adrian Johnston

Cinematography by
David Odd

Film Editing by
Chris Gill

Casting by
Maureen Duff
Gail Stevens

Production Design by
Donal Woods

Art Direction by
Charmian Adams
Fernando Gonzalez

Costume Design by
Howard Burden

Makeup Department
Jo Hofner	....	makeup artist
Joe Hopker	....	makeup artist
Suzanne Jansen	....	makeup artist
Nicola Matthews	....	makeup artist
Fran Needham	....	makeup artist
Fran Needham	....	makeup supervisor

Production Management
Sonia Lea	....	unit manager: special unit
Liz Pearson	....	post-production supervisor
Julio Vallejo	....	production supervisor: special unit

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Alison Banks	....	second assistant director
Robert Fabbri	....	first assistant director
James Haven	....	second assistant director
Diane Kasperowicz	....	additional third assistant director
Cecilia Maric	....	first assistant director: special unit
Jill Riley	....	second assistant director
Lee Tailor	....	third assistant director

Art Department
Roy Beeston	....	stand-by props
Graham Bishop	....	property buyer
Rachel Cocks	....	assistant art director
Paul Emerson	....	property master
Michael Green	....	dressing props
Ryan Hayward	....	stand-by carpenter
Terry Kyte	....	dressing props
Andy Mortimer	....	stand-by props
Roger Wilkins	....	construction manager

Sound Department
Jaya Bishop	....	boom operator
Michael Corden	....	sound editor
Reg Mills	....	sound recordist
William Parnell	....	dialogue editor
Aad Wirtz	....	sound re-recording mixer

Special Effects by
Dominic Tuohy	....	special effects supervisor

Stunts
Sy Hollands	....	stunts
Rowley Irlam	....	stunts
Nick Powell	....	stunt coordinator
William Willoughby	....	stunts (as Will Willoughby)

Camera and Electrical Department
Paul Devlin	....	electrician
Steve Ellingworth	....	grip
Craig Feather	....	focus puller
Rodrigo Gutierrez	....	camera operator: second unit
Ian Jackson	....	best boy
Ian Livesey	....	assistant camera
Wayne Mansell	....	electrician
Mike McHugh	....	electrician
Zac Nicholson	....	clapper loader: second unit
Tony Slater-Ling	....	clapper loader
Alf Tramontin	....	Steadicam operator
Tony Wilcock	....	gaffer

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Rosie Grant	....	wardrobe mistress
Ginnie Reay-Humble	....	wardrobe assistant (as Virginia Reay-Humble)
Richard Sale	....	wardrobe supervisor

Editorial Department
Jim Marchant	....	assistant editor
Tim Marchant	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Terry Davies	....	conductor
Mike Savage	....	location music recording

Other crew
Edith Christie	....	script supervisor
Julie Connor	....	assistant coordinator
Cherry Fiddaman	....	production accountant
Richard Fiddaman	....	assistant accountant
Taff Gillingham	....	military advisor
Lynn Grant	....	location manager
Pippa Harris	....	script executive
Simon Jacobs	....	researcher
Anya Keith	....	production assistant
Ingrid Litman	....	production coordinator
Geoffrey Paget	....	production executive

Production Companies

• British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
• WGBH

Distributors

• British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Special Effects

• Effects Associates (special effects)

Other Companies

• BBC Concert Orchestra  orchestra
• Perdix Firearms Ltd.  armory

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Australia:MA

Filming Locations:

Holkham Hall and Estate, Norfolk, England, UK

Company:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

War and the British stiff upper lip

Ostensibly about the 'amazing' disappearance of a regiment of British soldiers in Turkey during 1915, All The King's Men is a much more rich and layered film than a single-narrative mystery. That only forms the tail-end of the story, and the solution is blatantly obvious anyway; the real value in this telemovie is its exploration of so many of the cultural values, misconceptions and stultifying niceties of the English class system, all in the face of a war that had no respect for aristocratic sensibilities or subservient naivete. The fascination here is in the way that people treat each other and respond to difficult, provocative or potentially intimate social situations. Some attempts to prick the surface of class protocol are flickered across the screen but not explored, such as an affair between the regiment's doctor and a lady engaged to another officer, and some homo-erotic bonding between two young men in a stable. It was good judgement to provide these scenes as food for thought but not to progress with him and make the whole show too issue-laden.

David Jason is tremendous as Captain Frank Beck, King George V's estate agent and a favourite of Alexandra the Queen Mother. Given the job of whipping the men on the Sandringham royal estate into a competent military unit, Beck does so adeptly and now wishes to serve with them abroad when they are called into action at Gallipoli. He has to defy the King's orders to do so, although he has the quiet support of the Queen Mother; curiously, his wife's wishes aren't really relevant. Beck's preconceptions of the war are based on the old British colonial experience, an insistence on rules, regulations, uniforms and decorum. The regimental doctor possesses no such idealism. With his young charges, Beck faces a Turkish enemy fighting on their own terms rather than his, and is determined to lead his charges with courage and nobility.

For a television movie, this film shows the horrors of war in quite graphic detail (blood, bayonetting, missing limbs, disfigured faces and all) although this is done sparsely, for impact rather than repetitive shock. Its emotional ending, told in shifting perspectives, works well and highlights the liberties that were often taken with the truth 'to protect morale' during the Great War. A great war movie it is not, but as a package of historical and social interest, it's well worth watching.