The King's Speech

Colin Firth Director: Tom Hooper Tom Hooper

Overview

Emmy Award-winning director Tom Hooper (John Adams) teams with screenwriter David Seidler (Tucker: A Man and His Dreams) to tell the story of King George VI. When his older brother abdicates the throne, nervous-mannered successor George "Bertie" VI (Colin Firth) reluctantly dons the crown. Though his stutter soon raises concerns about his leadership skills, King George VI eventually comes into his own with the help of unconventional speech therapist Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush). Before long the king and Lionel have forged an unlikely bond, a bond that proves to have real strength when the United Kingdom is forced to flex its international might.

Product Details

Release Date:	04/19/2011
UPC:	0013132313092
Original Release:	2010
Rating:	R
Source:	Starz / Anchor Bay
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Time:	1:59:00
Sales rank:	409

Special Features

Audio commentary with director Tom Hooper; Making of featurette: an inspirational story of an unlikely friendship; Q&A with the director & the cast including Colin Firth ; Speeches from The Real King George VI; The Real Lionel Logue highlights

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Colin Firth	King George VI
Geoffrey Rush	Lionel Logue
Helena Bonham Carter	Queen Elizabeth
Guy Pearce	King Edward VIII
Timothy Spall	Winston Churchill
Derek Jacobi	Archbishop Cosmo Lang
Jennifer Ehle	Myrtle Logue
Michael Gambon	King George V
Robert Portal	Equerry
Richard Dixon	Private Secretary
Paul Trussell	Chauffeur
Adrian Scarborough	BBC Radio Announcer
Andrew Havill	Robert Wood
Charles Armstrong	BBC Technician
Roger Hammond	Dr. Blandine-Bentham
Calum Gittins	Laurie Logue
Dominic Applewhite	Valentine Logue
Ben Wimsett	Anthony Logue
Freya Wilson	Princess Elizabeth
Ramona Marquez	Princess Margaret
David Bamber	Theatre Director
Jake Hathaway	Willie
Patrick Ryecart	Lord Wigram
Teresa Gallagher	Nurse
Simon Chandler	Lord Dawson
Claire Bloom	Queen Mary
Orlando Wells	Duke of Kent
Tim Downie	Duke of Goucester
Dick Ward	Butler
Eve Best	Wallis Simpson
John Albasiny	Footman
Danny Emes	Boy in Regent's Park
Anthony Andrews	Stanley Baldwin
John Warnaby	Steward
Roger Parrott	Neville Chamberlain

Technical Credits

David Seidler

Tom Hooper	Director
Tariq Anwar	Editor
Jenny Beavan	Costumes/Costume Designer
Erica Bensly	Production Manager
Paul Brett	Executive Producer
Iain Canning	Producer
Danny Cohen	Cinematographer
Alexandre Desplat	Score Composer
Charles Dorfman	Associate Producer
Simon Egan	Co-producer
Mark Foligno	Executive Producer
Frances Hannon	Makeup
Peter Heslop	Co-producer,Executive Producer
Scarlett Mackmin	Choreography
John Midgley	Sound/Sound Designer
Maggie Rodford	Musical Direction/Supervision
Geoffrey Rush	Executive Producer
David Seidler	Screenwriter
Emile Sherman	Producer
Tim Smith	Executive Producer
Eve Stewart	Production Designer
Gareth Unwin	Producer
Bob Weinstein	Executive Producer
Harvey Weinstein	Executive Producer

Scene Index

Disc #1 -- The King's Speech
1. Chapter 1 [5:17]
2. Chapter 2 [2:20]
3. Chapter 3 [4:37]
4. Chapter 4 [5:35]
5. Chapter 5 [11:24]
6. Chapter 6 [5:07]
7. Chapter 7 [4:18]
8. Chapter 8 [7:04]
9. Chapter 9 [10:15]
10. Chapter 10 [4:50]
11. Chapter 11 [4:07]
12. Chapter 12 [6:44]
13. Chapter 13 [2:44]
14. Chapter 14 [2:12]
15. Chapter 15 [4:38]
16. Chapter 16 [2:10]
17. Chapter 17 [7:28]
18. Chapter 18 [2:42]
19. Chapter 19 [8:01]
20. Chapter 20 [6:27]
21. Chapter 21 [3:17]
22. Chapter 22 [6:53]

Menu

Disc #1 -- The King's Speech
   Play Movie
   Captions & Subtitles
      English for the Hearing Impaired
      Spanish
      Subtitles: None
   Scene Selection
   Special Features
      Feature Commentary With Director Tom Hooper: On
         Proceed
      Feature Commentary With Director Tom Hooper: Off
      The King's Speech: An Inspirational Story of an Unlikely Friendship
      Q&A With the Director & the Cast
      Speeches From the Real King George VI
         Pre-War Speech Radio Broadcast September 3, 1939 (As Seen at the End of the Film)
         Post-War Speech Newsreel May 14, 1945
      The Real Lionel Logue
      The Stuttering Foundation (Public Service Announcement)

Editorial Reviews

Let's take a moment to consider the atypical career of Colin Firth. He became a superstar in his native Britain in his mid-thirties thanks to his definitive portrayal of Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice, a role that made him so iconic there that he spent many years parodying or acknowledging it in films like Love Actually and Bridget Jones's Diary. Sure, he worked in other capacities -- a talent as versatile as his is almost guaranteed steady work in British film -- but it was his turn in Tom Ford's 2009 drama, A Single Man, that brought Firth international acclaim, as well as his first Oscar nomination in the United States. Just one year after that, with Tom Hooper's The King's Speech, Firth solidifies his status as one of the best actors of his generation. Playing the future King George VI, Firth takes the kind of part that stereotypically wins Oscars -- a powerful man with a physical handicap -- and makes him a three-dimensional human. Bertie, as the man is known to close friends and family, has suffered from a stutter his entire life. When his older brother, Edward (Guy Pearce), abdicates the throne just as World War II becomes eminent, Bertie must not only overcome the emotional pressures of ascending to power, but control his stammer as well in order to address and inspire his people on what was, at that point, the most widespread form of mass communication -- radio. To that end, he hires Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush), a commoner who has worked in the nascent field of speech pathology long enough to offer some relief to the self-doubting Bertie, and to force the future monarch to consider the deeper psychological issues that lie at the core of the problem. That description, however, doesn't come close to doing justice to how entertaining The King's Speech is. David Seidler's juicy script is packed with dialogue that alternates between belly laughs, witty retorts, and dramatic revelations with such deftness that each scene -- like the one where Bertie and Lionel first meet -- feels like its own mini-movie, with the character arcs all advancing steadily but surely toward the big day when the king must tell his people that they are at war with the Nazis. Given such an airtight script, director Tom Hooper delivers the goods. His ability to hold a shot -- especially close-ups -- for just the right amount of time is uncanny; he knows where the dramatic or comedic beat is at every point, and he focuses on it with minimum fuss. The King's Speech is old-fashioned in the best sense of the word. Firth is outstanding in the lead role, playing a man with a disability as opposed to simply playing a disability. An actor always capable of indicating the emotions boiling inside a repressed person, he brings out Bertie's neuroses in the subtlest of ways -- hand gestures, eye squints -- as well as in his speech. He makes us feel the near-constant physical frustration of not being able to express yourself. Firth is the biggest reason to see this movie, but he's far from the only one. Rush offers flawless support (and gets the vast majority of the best laugh lines), and Helena Bonham Carter, as Bertie's wife, Elizabeth, reminds everybody that she can handle much more than just Harry Potter movies and her significant other Tim Burton's films. In fact, a scene where she meets Lionel's wife stands as one of the most astoundingly layered exchanges between royalty and a commoner that's ever been filmed. Inspiring, funny, touching, and delivered with craftsmanship and artistry, The King's Speech is a testament to the greatness of King George VI, the talent of Colin Firth, and the joys of quality filmmaking.

All Movie Guide - Perry Seibert