All the King's Men [DVD]

The true story of a battalion formed from the workers of the Sandringham estate in 1914 is told here in a thoughtful production which illustrates the perceived glory of war which is quickly shattered by the reality of fighting.David Jason gives one of his best performances as Capt Frank Beck - the head keeper of the Royal estates who drills his troop of young men, many of whom he has known since they were born, into a fighting unit ready for the glory of the First World War. The King is not keen to lose Frank to the fighting, but, even in his 50's, Frank is determined to go and lead his men and he finds an ally in the Dowager Queen Alexandra (Maggie Smith).In a touching scene, before departure, Frank meets a friend whose son is severly disabled following action at the front and it begins to dawn on Cpt Beck that it may not be the valiant battle that he and his men expect. 14 year old friends on the estate are keen to do their bit, but when one proudly becomes a telegram boy, his friend lies about his age to join the regiment. Cpt Beck allows the boy to travel with the estate workers.Husbands, fathers, brothers, boyfriends - every available man sets off to Galipoli where Frank is stunned at the shambolic base camp, inaccurate maps, poor supplies and chronic dysentary that his lads must endure. And when it comes to battle, the tactic is simply to walk, in a straight line, towards the enemy....an enemy which cannot be seen but is in an ideal position to pick off the approaching troops.The story revolves around the apparent 'vanishing' of the Sandringham Company and the attempts by those left behind to learn what happened. Grieving relatives hoped that the men were held prisoner. To this day, the actual events are not clear, but the tale that they 'vanished into a mist' is clearly not accurate and Queen Alexandra is determined to find out the truth. But will her adviser find any answers in peacetime - and is it in the interests of a country torn apart by war to learn of such a waste of life?A truly moving drama with cracking performances from the entire cast, this is a top class BBC production. Included on the dvd is a 30 minute documentary, narrated by Prince Edward and filmed largely at Sandringham and including much archive material, which attempts to tell the viewer what really happened - and this explanation is woven into the preceding drama.A story of the futility of war, this is a solid drama which is well worth purchasing.

I saw this BBC drama on it's initial release many years ago,way back on Remembrance Sunday 1999.It's still a very good BBC production even by today's standards.It hasn't dated much at all.It's unusual to see David Jason in this type of serious performance.It has some strong battle scenes in it too! well worth a watch.

All the King's Men is a fascinating if often horrifying portrayal of a little-known episode of the First World War.David Jason takes a great part as Captain Frank Beck, who has trained a group of workers from the Royal estate at Sandringham into a company of soldiers. This role is very reminiscent of his earlier one as Skullion, the head porter in Porterhouse Blue. Both are essentially "good and faithful servants", firmly committed to the values of their social betters, perhaps to a greater degree than many of the latter themselves. His face is a picture to behold when he arrives at Gallipoli to discover the real conditions there, and perhaps the dawning realisation that said betters may have let him down.With only a few lapses, the atmosphere of the period is well captured. Did anyone else cringe at Beck's question "Why are we here if not to prove ourselves as men?" I would probably count as "unmanly" by 1915 standards, but would have sought at least a slightly more practical reason. Beck displays a similar attitude earlier on, when he is utterly terrified that he may be denied the opportunity to lead his men into action, despite being clearly too old for active service. The scene where the 12yo telegraph boy, proudly showing off his new uniform, is upstaged by his 14yo pal who by lying about his age has acquired a real Army one is also only too believable for the time, as is Beck's remark that the young boy (whose real age he knows) is "more a man than I will get to be" if he himself is not allowed to go to war. Likewise the mobbing of the pacifist who was initially mistaken for a wounded soldier. His injuries were actually inflicted by real soldiers whom he had been treating in hospital.Queen Alexandra makes a revealing comment when someone expresses doubt as to whether the pacifist was truly a coward, saying "We are all compelled to believe that he was a coward", presumably because admitting the possibility of any other motive might lead her and others into thinking socially unacceptable thoughts. The Queen Mother gets a number of memorable lines, notably when her son, King George V, tells her that "Kitchener is confident of victory". She responds "Let us hope that his confidence costs us less in Turkey than it has in France". It is rather hinted that she is more than a little sceptical about the whole war, but carefully concealing this as it is part of her royal duty to maintain morale. The King takes this attitude even further, when toward the end he cautions the clergyman who has sought out the real fate of the "Sandringhams" not to say anything that would contradict the morale-boosting story promoted by the War Office. Shades of "When legend becomes truth, print the legend."There is probably more than a little legend in the film itself, though excusably so given the paucity of firm facts. The theory that the men were "executed" after capture by the Turks cannot be verified. The Turks were indeed disinclined to take prisoners, but any killing is as likely to have been done during the battle ("shot while putting their hands up") as afterwards in cold blood. In particular, the portrayal of Beck's death is highly doubtful, since what evidence there is (admittedly inconclusive) suggests that he was killed in the fighting rather than murdered. But the closing shot, as the men advance to their deaths through the mist, is evocative of that unforgettable final scene in Blackadder Goes Forth.One final twist, which I gather is historically accurate. The sole survivor, reappearing at the end disfigured but alive, owes his survival to being left for dead and found later by a German unit, waking up in their military hospital. The only "Sandringham" ever to see the place again owes his life to the evil Hun. A suitably ironic note on which to end.

I had only seen pieces of this before and I wanted to watch it complete.It is a fantastic storyline and it had me engaged from the very start.it really does convey the thinking of the time towards the war and those taking part in it. It is interesting to have a royal aspect to plot which makes it even more interesting.david Jason is one fine actor and was so believable as the leading actor. He brings to the screen this person who knows his place in society but is concerned for all of men in his command, it is a very human performance that points at the strengths and weaknesses of the main character.So it seems that the story will unfold like any other war story but this is slightly different, without giving anything away it is so worth it to watch the complete story. It did have an impact on me!It is there, the willingness to fight, the problems with the actual warfare and in the end the futility of all, especially more so with the royal connection.this is the BBC at its best.