The Queen's Guards
| The Queen's Guards | |
|---|---|
theatrical poster
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| Directed by | Michael Powell |
| Produced by | Michael Powell |
| Written by | Simon Harcourt-Smith Roger Milner |
| Starring |
Daniel Massey Raymond Massey Robert Stephens Ursula Jeans |
| Music by | Brian Easdale |
| Cinematography | Gerry Turpin |
| Edited by | Noreen Ackland |
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Production
company |
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| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
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Release date
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17 October 1961 (UK) |
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Running time
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110 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
The Queen's Guards is a 1961 military drama film directed by Michael Powell from a script by Simon Harcourt-Smith and Roger Milner. It stars Daniel Massey, Raymond Massey, Robert Stephens, and Ursula Jeans.
The film tells the story of John Fellowes (Daniel Massey), an officer in the Grenadier Guards as he prepares for the Trooping the Colour ceremony on 11 June 1960. John is the son of retired guardsman Capt. Fellowes (Raymond Massey) and Mrs. Fellowes (Ursula Jeans). John's older brother was also a Guards officer, but he was killed in action and John feels he is being forced to follow in his brother's footsteps.
The film follows John through his training where he makes some mistakes in an exercise and is told that it was a mistake like that which got his brother and a lot of his men killed at an oasis.
But he makes friends with Henry Wynne-Walton (Robert Stephens) and Henry is invited home to meet Mr. and Mrs. Fellowes. Mr. Fellowes is quite fanatical about the Guards. The eldest son in the family has been a Guards officer for as long as anyone can remember, and they even live next door to the Guards barracks in London.
Capt. Fellowes is disabled, his legs don't work and he hauls himself around the house by hooking canes into loops on an overhead rail. This system was designed by the elder brother that John is always expected to live up to. His mother thinks that the elder brother is just "missing in action" and will return someday. The father knows he's really dead but never seems to give John a chance.
John is dating Ruth (Judith Stott), the daughter of George Dobbie (Ian Hunter), a haulage contractor. When John goes to see Mr. Dobbie he tells John that he was fighting in the desert and was let down by a platoon of Guards that were meant to hold a certain position – the platoon that was led by John's brother.
Months later John is in command of a unit of Guardsmen involved in a combat operation in an unnamed desert country. John leads an assault on a fortress held by some rebels. All the time he is haunted by thoughts about how his brother died, John manages to defend against a counter-attack until Henry arrives with his men in their armoured scout vehicles. The mission is a success. John has managed to do what his elder brother could not.
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Wikipedia