Glorious 39 (2009)

Glorious 39: Directed by Stephen Poliakoff. With Romola Garai, Eddie Redmayne, Juno Temple, Toby Regbo. The adopted daughter of a privileged British politician uncovers a family secret in the weeks leading up to World War II.

“I first came across the captivating young British actress Romola Garai in the 2004 movie u0026quot;Dirty Dancing: Havana Nightsu0026quot;. Since then, most of her work has been for television, but she was back on the large screen in the 2009 film u0026quot;Glorious 39u0026quot;. The u0026#39;39u0026#39; refers to 1939 when Britain was on the edge of war with Germany. u0026#39;Gloriousu0026#39; relates to both the nature of that yearu0026#39;s summer and the affectionate name for Garaiu0026#39;s character Anne, the adopted daughter of the aristocratic Keyes family which is headed by an influential Conservative Member of Parliament who is appalled by the notion of the country going to war for the second time in only a couple of decades.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWritten and directed by Stephen Poliakoff as a kind of Hitchcockian thriller, this is a work replete with well-known British character actors spanning the age range from Christopher Lee u0026amp; Julie Christie through Bill Nighy u0026amp; Jeremy Northam to David Tennant u0026amp; Eddie Redmayne. With so much talent available, one has a right to expect more than is actually delivered. The plotting is rather silly and often slow and the characterisation somewhat stilted, while the ending is most unsatisfactory. The locations – mostly in Norfolk – are fine though.”