# TUNES OF GLORY (Movie Review)



## Danjanou (14 Mar 2005)

*TUNES OF GLORY (Movie Review)*   

Alec Guinness is Major "Jock" Sinclair the acting CO of an unnamed Highland Battalion in the movie _   Tunes of Glory_. Jock may be an officer but he is no Gentleman. He's a hard drinking, fighting Highlander who probably should be kept in glass case with a small sign on it stating, "break in case of war." 

Jock joined the Regiment as a boy piper at the age of 14 years thus escaping a life of the streets. Somehow over the years he clawed his way up through the ranks including the wide chasm between the other ranks and the officer's mess. It is not stated in the movie but the implication is that he earned his commission on the battlefield. 

During the Second World War, Sinclair is an over the hill Major until the crucial battle of El Alamein. Here when the Colonel is killed, Jock takes command and obviously does so well he continues to lead the Battalion for the rest of the war. 

When the movie begins though the war has been over for several years and the bureaucrats who habitually run the military, only disappearing when the guns are actually firing, have once more emerged from whatever safe billet they have remained hidden and once more begun to take over. 

The British Army is shrinking as it demobilizes those who signed up for the duration of the war. There is a surplus of senior officers who need employment and someone has had enough of a certain acting Lieutenant Colonel who while an excellent combat commander is "no one fer the paper work laddy." 

It's Jock's last night as acting CO and the Officer's Mess is holding a wake for him. In the morning a new commander Lieutenant Colonel Basil Barrow (John Mills) will arrive on the morrow to take command. 

Jock however has decided that he will not surrender without a fight. As he confides to a brother officer after their all night drinking binge "he will be Colonel again." 

The conflict between the two starts when the incoming Colonel arrives early, and in fact interrupts Jock''s party. From the start the battle lines are drawn and it becomes obvious the two Colonels have opposite ways of doing things. 

Colonel Barrow is a by the book soldier and and quickly begins to make his mark on â Å“â Å“hisâ ?â ? battalion. He is also highly interested in bringing back the pre war social customs of the Army and the Regiment. 

Most of this does not sit well with many of the officers who openly side with Jock in what could be best described as just shy of insubordination. Some don''t even stop at that mark and are openly hostile and disobedient to Barrow. Another clique seems to support the new Commanding Officer, not so much because they approve, but more so as a way to get back at Sinclair for past slights real and imagined. Only one officer the adjutant Captain Jimmie Cairns MC (Gordon Jackson) makes any attempt to welcome Barrow and sides with him. 

What makes it worse is that Barrow also started off in the Regiment before being sent off to a career as a staff officer, and his Grandfather once commanded it. It's his family too. Barrow has also had a bad war, part of it as a prisoner of the Japanese. It's evident he's not fully recovered from his ordeal. 

The battle between Sinclair and Barrow spills over from the Officers Mess into all aspects of the Regiment, from how training is conducted to the manner in which officers will conduct themselves at mess parties and functions. 

There is a related subplot involving Sinclair's daughter Morag (Susannah York) and her secret illicit affair with a young Corporal Piper. When Jock discovers this and reacts in his normal inappropriate manner it sets the stage for the final confrontation with Barrow, A confrontation that will have tragic consequences for one of the parties involved. 

* Tunes of Glory* is one of those classic films that are character driven, and now rare in the age of CGI blockbuster epics. The three principles here, Guinness, Mills, and Jackson all turn in stellar performances, as does the supporting cast, some on whom are a veritable who''s who of British character actors of the time; Dennis Price, Duncan MacRae, John Fraser and Allan Cuthbertson. 

These performances allow one to overlook some of the production values that do not stand up so well forty odd years later such as scenes of Jackson and Mills in a jeep with an obvious filmed backdrop of city streets that while acceptable at the time have not kept pace with modern production values. 

In regards to it's accuracy. I've known more than one former or serving soldier who agrees that it captures perfectly the atmosphere of a military unit especially a Highland one. 

The soundtrack is almost entirely Highland bagpipes, marches and other pieces. Somehow it works to enhance the tone and mood of the story. Only in the final stages are other instruments used to compliment the music from which the film gets its title. 

The DVD comes with relatively few extras. There are interviews with Guinness and Mills on their roles and one with the director Ronald Neame. The only extra as such is the original theatre trailer, which makes much use of Guinness Oscar wining performance earlier in the _Bridge On The River Kwai_, and tries to draw comparisons between the two movies. A last minute addition to the trailer touts Mills Best Actor award at the Venice Film Festival for his performance as Colonel Barrow.


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## beach_bum (14 Mar 2005)

I got a copy of this movie a few years back now.  It is an outstanding movie.  One that I have watched many times.


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## Danjanou (14 Mar 2005)

Actually my friend I'm well aware. 

It is as I'm led to believe shown in more than one mess, kilted or non kilted. In fact I've seen it in an "official" capacity as a training aid in all the units I've served with.


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## mariomike (25 Nov 2009)

I watched "Tunes of Glory" recently on TCM. I hadn't seen it in years. I've read the book. Both book and movie were wonderful. I wish I could write a better review, except to say I think it's my favorite movie of all time. The part where the Sergeant-Major startled the little soldier so bad he scalded himself with a pot of hot tea, and then ordered the Sergeant to "take his name!". It made me very nostalgic! My wife loved the bagpipe music.


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## The Bread Guy (25 Nov 2009)

Ah, one of the classics for me, too...

It was mentioned more than once when I was a senior NCO in a Scottish regiment where instructors were brought in to teach us highland dancing (well, that and "The General Danced at Dawn") - hard to get us to step off on the right foot when we were SO used to stepping off with the left.   ;D


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