Churchill at War a timely primer as we march into World War III

If you believe that those who fail to study history are doomed to repeat it, this is probably a very good time to watch Churchill at War. You can’t help but watch and not think: with dictatorships would-be kings and other autocratic leaders ascending to power around the world, where is the Churchill of today?

The Netflix docuseries mixes actual footage (much of it colourized from the original black and white) with recreations as well as the usual mix of talking head commentators to profile the British prime minister who stood up to Hitler during World War II.

Winston Churchill, we learn, grew up in privlege, was a soldier who seemed to have horseshoes whenever he waded into battle (during the Second Boer War and World War I). He also was a member of parliament who crossed the floor at will to be with whichever party was in power.

For years, throughout the 1930s, he stood in Parliament as a lone voice warning that Adolph Hitler was an existential danger to democracy. Leaders at the time, however, not wishing to drag weary citizens through another world war, allowed the Nazi dictator to invade neighbouring countries and re-build a German war machine that had been dismantled and banned.

The four-part docuseries, from Imagine Documentaries executive producers Ron Howard and Brian Glazier and showrunner Sara Enright as well as director Malcolm Venville, relies heavily on a pretty good source: Churchill’s own words and speeches. A tremendous orator in Parliament and (when his ever-present cigar wasn’t muffling his words) on radio, viewers can hear just how powerful and inspiring he was at rallying a scared, war-weary populous during some very dark days and years.

That viewers hear it today all in Churchill’s voice is gimmicky but effective. The producers used AI technology to bring the text of Churchill’s speaches to life in what sounds like the statesman’s own voice. They had a lot of material to draw from. Viewers learn that Churchill, who died in 1965, was a more prolific writer, in terms of speeches, letters and published newspaper articles, than Shakespeare and Dickens combined.

The colourized war footage? I don’t know why this is necessary. Imagine did the same with footage of The Beatles in early live concert appearances in their 2016 doc “The Beatles Eight Days a Week: The Touring Years.” The reality is that the footage was originally shot and seen in black and white and remains a powerful reminder of how the world saw things then. Colourizing it, I guess, makes it new again for people who have seen it before.

I’m just always reminded of what movie comedy pioneer Hal Roach, then in his nineties, said to me 40 years ago when I asked him what he thought of efforts to colourize Laurel & Hardy shorts from the late 1920s and ’30s. Noting that the “funnies” (newspaper comic strips) were in black and white during the week and in colour in the weekends, he asked, “Do you just laugh on the weekends or every day?”

Then there are the recreations. English actor Christian McKay, who won praise when he played another famous person in Richard Linklater’s 2008 biopic “Me and Orson Welles,” is just okay as Churchill. It is a tough part, especially when you consider great actors such as Brian Cox, Albert Finney, Michael Gambon, John Lithgow, Brendan Gleeson and Gary Oldsman (in 2017’s “Darkest Hour”) have all given it their best shot. In this docuseries, McKay also has to compete with scenes of Churchill himself. That is, as Anne Murray once said when asked to pose back-to-back with Patti LaBelle, “an odious comparison.” Churchill was simply one of the greatest political actors of any era.

My co-critic here in Orangeville, Sandra, found McKay looked more like Zero Mostel than Winston Churchill. Once she said it, it was hard to ignore. You don’t want Max Bialystock going against Hitler, unless it is in “Springtime for Hitler,” and then the whole thing goes south.

That said, the history is fascinating. Some of Churchill’s gaffs and missteps would have sunk many a career. That he was the exact right man for the hardest job of holding democracy together as Britian stood alone in Europe cannot be overstated. Scenes of the statesman on the roof of 10 Downing Street, watching London being shelled in the Battle of Britian, pounds it all home.

Langely Kirkwood is not particularly impressive as Franklin Delano Roosevelt either, especially during the unsettling recreation of the late 1943 Tehran conference. There Churchill gets thrown under the bus by FDR, who takes a rather cruel means-justifies-the-ends approach.

The docuseries also offers an uneven bench of commentators. Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson should evoke a “Why him?? response as one of the first politican observers. Former U.S. president George W Bush adds a folksy touch I suppose. British historian Richard Toye injects some relevant observations.

Churchill at War isn’t the definitive examination of World War II but as a primer it is an entertaining place to start. With some asking “Is World War III Already Here?” it also seems like it should be required viewing for those who still prize the democratic process.