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Wynne-Candy is first seen as a walrus-like figure in a large spa, waiting for the clock to strike midnight so he can help enact a training exercise in the streets of London to prepare the Home Guard for the coming onslaught of the Nazis. However, he's beaten to it by a group of sneaky, shrewd young soldiers who rightly suppose that Hitler wouldn't wait for the clock to strike midnight. As Wynne-Candy lashes out at these youngsters, we travel back in time to the turn of the 20th century, as the Boer War rages. Wynne-Candy is now a younger man, thinner, and sans mustache. Through a series of circumstances where he stands out as an honorable figure, Wynne-Candy has to duel a German soldier named Theo, ostensibly over the honor of one Edith Hunter, a beautiful woman who protests the propaganda being spread by some Germans during the war.

After the duel, of all things, Theo and Clive become fast friends as they recuperate in a hospital. During this time, Theo falls quickly in love with Hunter, an upright Englishwoman; only once they become engaged does Clive realize that he is also hopelessly in love with Hunter and can do nothing about it. Time passes, and as both World Wars rage into Britain, Clive is either fighting for his country, or fighting to regain that lost love through other people. During World War I, he meets a nurse named Barbara who he marries; he is certainly in love with her, but it's very clear that he's predisposed to like her based on her stunning resemblance to Edith. No other character fully appreciates this fact except for Theo, who shows up full-force in World War II, trying to escape the iron hand of Hitler and the Nazis, who have swayed his children but not him.

By this time, Edith has passed away, so Theo is eager to once again spend time with his good friend Clive. Yes, you may have realized at this point that Colonel Blimp is not a movie about plot. You may have also picked up some parallels here with the Alfred Hitchcock classic Vertigo, where the lead character tries to regain a love of some kind with another woman. Here, though, we are not meant to feel like Clive is creepy or truly pathetic. His honor and pride are strong, and his love is real and heartfelt. What makes Colonel Blimp so unique, so enjoyable, and so thrilling to watch are the characters and, as you would expect, the performances. Though the most well-known (or, to be fair, the only known) actor in the film is the late Deborah Kerr, the title role is played by Roger Livesey, who ended up being Powell and Pressburger's choice after Sir Laurence Olivier was unavailable.

I know, you're probably guessing that this is a major step down in quality, but who knows what this film would have looked like with such a prominent, almost over-the-top thespian as Olivier as the lead? Moreover, I wouldn't want him here; Roger Livesey, at all times, IS Colonel Wynne-Candy. There is certainly makeup aiding his aging process, but it is seamless. One shot in particular, where Wynne-Candy pushes an arrogant soldier into a pool and fights him, ending with a much younger title character exiting, is truly amazing, flashy while simple. He enters an old man, emerges a younger one, and we believe both men are one and the same. The makeup is there, but you only see it if...well, if you're not involved and you don't care to accept the transformative process.

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