mark.waltz The United States only had a year's worth of involvement in the first World War war, with our British brothers giving their lives long before we went over there. This is one story of one troop, all servants of the Queen Mother (Maggie Smith), who go off to battle and never return. David Jason is excellent as the Queen's former butler who is in command of the battalion. The fact that he is joined in this battle by several of his own sons is reminiscent of the American Sullivan brothers, all killed on the same navy ship during the second World War.While this is set during historical times also covered in the second season of "Downton Abbey", it is ironic to see two of its cast members (Dame Maggie Smith and Phyllis Logan) here playing two totally different kind of characters. As Lady Violent on "Downton Abbey", Smith is extremely imperious and sardonic; Here, she is the mother of King George V, one that Lady Violet would have to curtsy towards. However, this Queen Mum is not at all imperious; She shows extreme loyalty to her servants who have been loyal to her, stops by a country wedding to comment on the beautiful bride, and is the force behind the investigation as to what happened. Every word out of mouth denotes gentility and kindness, and in a few spots, I thought I was seeing Vanessa Redgrave, not Dame Maggie. Logan here plays a lady of some means, also quite different than her "Downton Abbey" housekeeper.While this is an intriguing movie and certainly well filmed, I thought that the battle scenes were blurry and somewhat dizzying. This made the impact of what happens somewhat lessened for me, although what the final outcome ends up being is certainly horrifying and definitely shocking.

rboon33455 "All the King's Men" is a richly textured piece of television drama, sensitively directed by Julian Jarrold. Its carefully nuanced script explores the horrors of the Gallipoli campaign in Turkey in World War One and the myth surrounding the mysterious "disappearance" of the Sandringham Regiment, who were drawn from King George the Fifth's estate.The men are led by Captain Frank Beck,the agent on the estate, who with the support of the Queen Mother defies the King and, despite his age, leaves Sandringham to lead the men who he has trained and whose lives he has been intimately involved with on the estate. Through the excellent performance of David Jason we see a man of some nobility of spirit,used to respecting his superiors all his life,trying to do his best in a situation where his superiors got it completely wrong.His idealism is nicely contrasted with the humane pragmatism of the regimental doctor who has no such illusions. The truth of a body of men ineptly led and totally unprepared for fighting in an unknown and hostile terrain with appalling logistical support is graphically portrayed and echoes the much better known Australian film, "Gallipoli." The deliberate burying of the truth of what happened(which involved large numbers of men being shot in the head rather than taken prisoner)in order to protect social sensitivities and preserve morale is nicely dealt with through the superbly restrained performance of Maggie Smith as the Queen Mother who is clearly not fooled but never betrays the fact. The film also sympathetically explores the social values of the English class system and particularly the close knit generation of Sandringham workers who made up the regiment. Their naive and in some cases romantic confidence in the right of King and Country fighting with God on their side(despite the fact that they were invading another country)is believably portrayed. The performances of the cast are without exception of a very high class with some excellent cameos. This is the BBC at its very best and I thoroughly recommend it to you!

Jmhl3 This is the story of the Sandringham Company of the Royal Norfolk Regiment. The Sandringhams were made up out of servants or tenants of the Royal Family's estate at Sandringham. It follows there loves, hopes, fears throughout early 1915, as some lads want to see the world, another wants to marry before leaving, the officers are the same. The Medical Officer's wife has left him but is quite happy to go around with other women, other officers are uneasy about leaving home or their inexperience gets to them. The main character is Captain Frank Beck a respected figure at Sandringham and friend of the Royal Family, together with most of the others in the film he was a person in real life. The film passed to the Sandrighams deployment to the Dardenelles. It shows the chaos at Gallipoli with regards to logistics and discipline. Now we come to the attack the Sandringhams make. The film erroneously portrays the Sandringhams as going over the top without a preparatory barrage and from behind a sandbag barricade. In actual fact they went over with their brigade, with a short barrage and from trenches, the Sandrighams objective was to capture a farm. They were not led by Captain Beck, they were led by Lt Col Proctor with Beck as second in command, their battalion commander. The film gets it correct in showing the Sandringhams getting minced up by shell and sniper fire and there being few left once they reach the farm. They pushed the Turks out of the farm but the Turks regrouped and surrounded the farm. Proctor decided to surrender. The 40 or so survivors out of a company of 150 were marched out of the farm by the Turks and forced to kneel where they were then shot in the back of the head. The film shows Beck getting executed but it was later reported that he was fatally wounded just as the men got out of the trenches. After the war their remains were discovered and given a proper burial albeit there was nothing to identify a person with though except for the Royal Norfolk shoulder flashes. This film is very good and I believe the historical adviser wrote a fine book about the Sandringhams which should be interesting to many. If you want to see the forgotten story of a very sad but heroic tale, then this is the film for you.

BWag Surprisingly graphic for British TV, this is the wrenching story of a rifle company composed of estate workers from the King's country home at Sandringham, a sort of perfect Camelot from which men go forth to be slaughtered in World War I. Don't look too hard at the mystery of what happened to this unit, which apparently disappeared into the hell of battle at Gallipoli. More important is the metaphor of the illusion of war-worn "glory" hitting the rerality of modern battle. In much the same way that an egg hits a sidewalk.