Narrator: This is the story of britain's greatest leader,
Seen in color for the first time.
[gunfire]
A born fighter, he's drawn to the sound of guns.
[gun firing]
The first world war tests his skills...
[gunfire]
...And his character.
Winston churchill: I have nothing to offer
But blood, toil, tears, and sweat.
Narrator: He is a maverick who makes catastrophic blunders.
Rarely seen home movies
Record his ups...
And downs...
[gunfire]
...Peaking as prime minister in the crucible of world war ii.
He boosts morale and national resolve
In britain's darkest hour...
Churchill: We shall fight on the beaches.
We shall fight on the landing grounds.
We shall never surrender.
Narrator: ...Leading britain to victory.
Churchill: Advance britannia.
Long live the cause of freedom.
Narrator: And cementing his place
In the nation's heart.
This is the story of winston churchill,
As you've never seen it before.
♪
Princess elizabeth: ...I'll be devoted to your service.
♪
Narrator: 1942.
El alamein, egypt.
[guns firing]
British forces begin to beat back
German troops occupying north africa.
It's a decisive moment in world war ii.
Churchill: A bright gleam
Has caught the helmets of our soldiers
And warmed and cheered all our hearts.
Narrator: Prime minister winston churchill
Delivers the news at a lunch at mansion house,
The lord mayor's residence in london.
Churchill: Rommel's army has been defeated.
Narrator: Inside and out, people hang on every word.
Churchill: Now, this is not the end.
It is not even the beginning of the end.
But it is perhaps the end of the beginning.
[applause]
Narrator: Churchill is nearing his zenith,
A journey he's been on for 68 years.
♪
As a boy, winston leonard spencer churchill
Loves all things military.
He marshals brigades of toy soldiers
In the sprawling grounds of his ancestral home,
Blenheim palace,
Where he was born on November 30, 1874.
His father randolph
Is a maverick conservative politician.
His mother, jennie jerome, here with two-year-old winston,
Comes from a wealthy american family.
Even aged 16,
Churchill is already certain destiny has chosen him.
He tells a friend, "I see into the future.
I shall save london and England from disaster."
It seems unlikely.
He fails the entrance exam at the royal military academy
At sandhurst twice before finally enrolling at 18.
His military training will serve him well
Through his long and varied career.
1899.
South africa.
[gunfire]
Films capture british highlander troops
Fighting descendants of dutch settlers,
Known as boers,
For control of the colony.
Eager for action and glory,
Churchill, just 25, heads to the frontline
As war correspondent for the morning post.
His skill as a writer
Makes him the highest paid journalist there,
Earning 250 pounds a month--
A staggering 25,000 pounds today.
[whistle blows]
On November 15,
He's aboard a british armored train on a scouting run
When boers derail and attack the locomotive.
Churchill is captured.
After 27 days imprisoned in pretoria,
He stages a daring escape.
♪
The boers offer 25 pounds for his capture.
But over 11 days, trekking 300 miles,
The fugitive evades the foe.
The escapes makes him a national hero.
[cheering]
Back in britain, churchill turns his newfound fame
Into political office.
In October 1900,
The 25-year-old is elected conservative mp
For oldham in lancashire.
This busy mill town is home to 35,000 cotton workers.
Churchill now represents ordinary working men and women.
He begins to call for social reform.
Four years later, he defects and boldly joins the liberals.
[mendelssohn's wedding March playing]
September 12, 1908.
St. Margaret's, westminster.
It's churchill's wedding day.
He's marrying clementine hozier.
She's from an established liberal family
And will be her husband's rock and social conscience.
His star rises.
By 1910, churchill is home secretary,
In charge of prisons and the police,
And about to face his first crisis.
Early on January 3, 1911,
200 police officers besiege a house on sidney street
In east london.
Inside are three anarchists who have killed policemen.
[gunfire]
Churchill makes the newsreels-- a personal first--
By edging close to the firing line.
[gunfire]
Controversially, he deploys the scots guards.
For six hours, the sides exchange shots.
[gunfire]
Hundreds gather to witness the firefight.
Eventually the hideout catches fire,
And two of the three robbers burn to death.
Critics fault churchill for using excessive force.
But his no-nonsense approach means the siege of sidney street
Builds his reputation as a military man.
That October, aged 36,
Winston churchill is named first lord of the admiralty,
The royal navy's political head.
♪
The former soldier takes to navy life,
Often sailing the admiralty yacht, enchantress,
To visit bases and warships.
Churchill and king george v
Inspect hms new zealand at portsmouth.
Churchill warns the king
That germany is expanding its navy for war.
He persuades the government
To modernize and reshape the royal navy.
He commissions super-dreadnoughts,
The latest and fastest battleships.
♪
By 1914, europe is at war.
Outside buckingham palace,
King george and queen mary
Review british, australian, and new zealand troops.
Below the podium,
Churchill doffs his hat in salute.
The first lord orders the british fleet
To sail with all speed to the north sea
To prevent a german invasion.
[guns firing]
[explosion]
February 19, 1915.
The dardanelles strait.
This 38-mile waterway links europe and asia.
The strait also controls access to constantinople--
Today, istanbul--
Capital of the ottoman empire,
A german ally.
Hoping to weaken the ottoman turks,
Churchill authorizes a naval assault.
[firing]
He badly miscalculates.
The turks sink three allied ships,
Killing 700 men.
The war cabinet pushes to withdraw.
Ignoring political and military advice,
Churchill throws another 30,000 australians and new zealanders
At the gallipoli peninsula
On the north shore of the dardanelles.
In nine months of fighting, 46,000 men perish.
Stubbornly, churchill stands by his actions.
But gallipoli, infamous as "churchill's folly,"
Will haunt him for the rest of his days.
Disgraced, he resigns from government.
Clementine thinks he might die of grief.
But within a year,
Churchill hungers to return to office.
He and clementine attend an event in chelmsford
To raise money for scottish prisoners of war.
[boom]
His reputation as a speaker is growing.
10,000 come to hear him.
"we must not weaken our resolve," he tells them.
"whilst the germans may be reeling,
They are not beaten.
Far from it."
♪
In 1916, with the war still raging,
New liberal prime minister lloyd george
Forms his cabinet.
At some personal risk,
He appoints churchill minister of munitions.
In his new role, he tours factories
Like manchester's westinghouse works,
Which makes trains for the war department.
Churchill's job is to keep allied armies shooting,
Supplying more than 50 million shells a year.
This is a day's supply of rounds for a single gun.
By 1918, as the tide turns against the central powers,
Churchill visits liberated areas in France.
He goes to lille for a parade by the 47th london division.
Never far from the action,
He takes up position on the saluting base.
Fourteen days later, an armistice ends the war.
Back in london,
Churchill survives the shift to a peacetime cabinet.
But once again,
His maverick tendencies lead him to a fall.
Trafalgar square, london.
On March 19, 1924,
With the liberals tilting sharply left,
Churchill stands as an independent
In the westminster by-election...
And loses.
In that October's general election,
He again crosses party lines.
In epping, he rejoins the conservatives
And wins--
Part of a wave bringing that party back to power.
But fellow mps mistrust his disloyalty.
They protest when conservative prime minister stanley baldwin
Names him chancellor of the exchequer.
Churchill's new office
Is one door down from 10 downing street.
The war has wrecked britain's economy.
With no previous experience,
Churchill takes an enormous and controversial risk.
To steady the fluctuating currency,
He returns britain to the gold standard,
Linking the pound to the price of gold.
It will be a disastrous move.
Britain's limited gold reserves render the pound overvalued.
It means goods like coal, britain's biggest export,
Cost too much to sell abroad.
Miners balk at the resulting pay cuts.
Unemployment rises.
On may 4, 1926,
1.7 million workers join a general strike,
Paralyzing britain.
The military has to step in to deliver milk and food.
Critics call churchill the worst chancellor ever.
Churchill says he's inclined to agree with them.
His gold standard decision
Leads to the conservative defeat in 1929.
Churchill remains an mp,
But has held his last ministerial office for a decade.
The wilderness years begin.
♪
In August 1929,
Churchill crosses the atlantic to his mother's homeland
For the first time in almost 30 years.
He's supposed to be on holiday in america,
But uses the trip to promote his book about the great war.
Brother jack brings along a movie camera.
The churchills stay at white eagle,
The long island home
Of their cousin, frederick edward guest,
And family.
In california,
Tycoon and politician william randolph hearst,
To churchill's left,
Hosts the author and studio boss louis b. Mayer.
Actor-director charlie chaplin welcomes his countryman
On the set of "city lights" at his studios on sunset boulevard.
Chaplin's crew films his visitors--
Churchill,
Son randolph, right, and at left,
British ambassador alexander moore.
For once, churchill is happy to be upstaged.
In a letter to clementine,
Churchill describes chaplain as "a marvelous comedian,
Bolshie in politics and delightful in conversation."
Back in britain,
Churchill delivers a newsreel message
To his american hosts.
Churchill: In every part of the united states
I have found a friendly welcome,
And I find it a matter of absorbing interest
To travel about throughout this vast land.
♪
Narrator: At home, now 60,
Churchill retreats to chartwell, his residence in kent.
He says with his happy family around him,
He dwelt at peace...
Reflecting, recharging,
And planning how to battle back into public life
From an all-time low.
This amateur film,
Thought to be shot by his friend lord cherwell,
Captures churchill and son randolph
Away from the ups and downs of politics.
With his children, churchill enjoys the swimming pool
He's just built.
Happy moments against a backdrop of his infamous black-dog moods.
♪
Escaping to the french riviera with family and friends,
He starts writing a second book about the great war.
Randolph and daughter diana join him.
Another guest is aristocratic socialite
Doris castlerosse.
Decades later, rumors circulate
About both winston and son randolph
Having an affair with her.
But in this footage, no one seems worried
About being caught with their pants down.
In 1935, epping re-elects churchill,
Though he still holds no cabinet post.
Churchill: I'm very glad to begin my fourth contest
For the epping division,
And in an election of such momentous consequence
To our country, both at home and abroad.
[cheering]
Narrator: German belligerence and the growing shadow of war
Consumes him.
[crowd chanting and cheering]
However, prime minister stanley baldwin
Opposes rearming britain.
Stanley baldwin: I will never stand for a policy
Of great armament.
And I give you my word,
And I think you can trust me by now.
Narrator: Churchill, here in essex, disagrees
And argues tirelessly that britain must prepare for war.
Churchill: Many people think that the best way to escape war
Is to dwell upon its horrors.
But how would it help us
If we were attacked or invaded ourselves?
That is the question we have to ask.
Narrator: His predictions will come all too true
And all too soon.
When neville chamberlain becomes prime minister in 1937,
Germany is openly aggressive.
In munich the following year,
Chamberlain negotiates with hitler.
The prime minister returns,
Brandishing a scrap of paper promising "peace in our time."
Chamberlain: Here is the paper
Which bears his name upon it as well as mine.
[cheering]
Narrator: Less than a year later,
Germany reneges and invades poland.
[bell tolling]
September 3, 1939.
After three years of appeasing hitler,
An ill-prepared britain declares war on germany.
Churchill is vindicated.
Chamberlain invites the veteran into his war cabinet
To serve as first lord of the admiralty again.
A few weeks later, ever eager to put himself forward,
Churchill addresses the nation.
Churchill: We are in a very different position
From that we were in ten weeks ago.
We are far stronger than we were ten weeks ago.
We are far better prepared
To endure the worst malice of hitler and his huns
Than we were at the beginning of September.
[guns firing]
[explosion]
Narrator: The worst comes.
Germany invades neutral nations denmark and norway
With ground troops and its luftwaffe air force.
For years, governments have ignored
Churchill's warnings about german air power.
Denmark surrenders.
And after only nine weeks, norway falls, too.
The conservatives turn on neville chamberlain,
Forcing him out on may 10, 1940.
Reflecting popular will and despite cabinet opposition,
Churchill is appointed prime minister.
It's as if his whole life has been building up to this moment.
He later writes that he was "walking with destiny."
Three days into the job,
He addresses the house of commons.
As always, he's ready for a fight.
Churchill: I have nothing to offer
But blood, toil, tears, and sweat.
You ask what is our aim?
I can answer in one word.
Victory.
Victory at all costs.
Victory in spite of all terror,
Victory, however long and hard the road may be.
For without victory, there is no survival.
Narrator: This tenacity earns him the nickname
"british bulldog."
But his confidence seems to fly in the face of reality.
[explosions]
[gunfire]
German troops are advancing on France's northern coast,
Threatening allied forces.
At dunkirk, over 300,000 troops are stranded
And facing annihilation.
A desperate churchill calls civilian boats
To join allied warships to cross the channel,
Defying the relentless luftwaffe.
He rallies his nation by radio.
Churchill: We shall fight on the beaches.
We shall fight on the landing grounds.
We shall fight in the fields and in the streets.
We shall fight in the hills.
We shall never surrender.
Narrator: The miracle of dunkirk
Momentarily lifts britain's spirits.
But the germans are closing in.
[cheering]
On June 14, 1940, paris falls.
Hitler rejoices.
France capitulates to germany.
Churchill is certain britain is the reich's next target.
[gunfire]
[explosion]
German bombers blitz britain night after night
For eight months.
As the country burns,
Churchill once again turns to his words
To inspire a beleaguered nation.
Churchill: Though fury and might of the enemy
Must very soon be turned on us,
Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties.
If the british empire and its commonwealth
Last for a thousand years,
Men will still say this was their finest hour.
Narrator: But the prime minister is clearly shocked
By the ruins of coventry cathedral.
Still, he maintains a fierce public presence.
Bombed-out londoners cheer their tenacious leader.
Police restrain the crowds.
But one woman breaks through the cordons
To get an autograph.
Churchill works tirelessly,
But with 43,000 civilians dead,
Britain is teetering on the edge of defeat.
Desperate for help, on August 9, 1941,
Churchill sails west aboard hms prince of wales.
Off newfoundland,
The prime minister boards
U.S. Navy cruiser uss augusta.
He's there to meet with president franklin d. Roosevelt.
Handing him a letter from king george,
Churchill initiates a series of crucial meetings
That occur throughout the war.
Roosevelt wants to help britain,
But americans are wary of joining another european war.
Churchill fears that without america's might,
Britain will fall.
When the japanese bomb pearl harbor a few months later,
America finally enters the fray.
♪
Churchill: Now we are not alone.
We have mighty allies.
We shall drive on to the end and do our duty, win or die.
Narrator: He heads straight back to america
To meet president roosevelt
And cement his relationship with the nation and its leaders.
[applause]
As a mark of respect and urgency,
Congress invites churchill to address a joint session.
Churchill: It is not given to us
To peer into the mysteries of the future.
Still I avow my hope and faith,
Sure and inviolate,
That in the days to come
The british and american peoples
Will, for their own safety and for the good of all,
Walk together in majesty,
In justice, and in peace.
[applause]
Narrator: With america in the fight,
Churchill believes victory is now within their grasp.
♪
February 1943.
Tripoli, libya.
Soldiers at castel benito field
Crowd around churchill's commando liberator.
Wearing an honorary raf uniform,
The prime minister congratulates general bernard montgomery
On his triumph at el alamein in egypt,
A battle that has turned the tide
Against the axis powers.
Churchill watches the celebratory parade
From a saluting base.
He later writes,
"before el alamein, we never had a victory.
After alamein, we never had defeat."
[train whistle blows]
A huge reception marks his return
From his north africa tour.
Wife clementine, brother jack, and cabinet ministers
Greet the prime minister.
Grandson julian is happiest of all.
Newly confident crowds cheer their war leader
As he heads back to 10 downing street
Before his next trip abroad.
November 28, 1943.
Tehran, capital of iran.
It's been two years since hitler invaded the u.S.S.R.
At the soviet embassy,
Churchill meets marshall joseph stalin
With president roosevelt.
The big three begin what will be a series of conferences
On how to win the war and organize a peaceful europe.
Working closely with general dwight eisenhower,
Commander of american forces in europe,
Churchill, cigar in hand, plans the liberation of France.
[guns firing]
On June 6, 1944,
Nearly 7,000 allied ships and landing craft
Cross the english channel.
As ever, churchill is desperate to accompany the fleet,
But is forbidden by his great friend,
King george vi.
The vessels land
156,000 american, british, and canadian soldiers
Along a 50-mile stretch of normandy,
Undertaking one of history's largest military assaults.
Churchill's vision of victory is coming true.
As the frontline shifts,
The war leader, with general montgomery,
Visits the rhine city of remagen.
Only days before, american troops captured
One of the last standing bridges across the river.
Ever the daredevil, churchill persuades montgomery
To join him aboard an amphibious vehicle.
The two cross into enemy territory
For thirty minutes.
[cheering]
A delighted churchill returns unharmed.
It's his last tour of a battlefield
Before world war ii ends.
[bell tolling]
May 8, 1945.
A huge crowd celebrates victory in trafalgar square.
The prime minister is to give an historic broadcast.
Churchill: The german war is at an end.
Advance britannia.
Long live the cause of freedom.
God save the king.
[cheering]
Police struggle to control joyous citizens
As churchill leads mps to st. Margaret's, westminster,
To attend a victory service.
Up and down the country,
Britons begin two days of celebrations,
With street parties, dancing, and singing.
Crowd: ♪ once you live down lambeth way ♪
♪ any evening, any day ♪
♪ you'll find us all ♪
♪ doing the lambeth walk, oh! ♪
Narrator: After years of rationing,
And fond of a drink or two himself,
Churchill gets assurances from the ministry of food
That there's enough beer for all.
Tens of thousands make their way down the mall.
They've come to see their war hero
With the royal family
On the balcony of buckingham palace.
[applause]
Among many great moments,
This is the greatest
In winston churchill's exuberant life.
[cheering]
On may 23, 1945,
Churchill dissolves the war cabinet.
Confident of the outcome,
He calls the first general election in a decade.
The conservatives build their campaign
Around him and his wartime valor.
He criss-crosses the country,
Convinced of the nation's support.
He urges them to help him finish off japan.
Churchill: For the sake of the country
And of your own happiness,
I call upon you to March with me under the banner of freedom.
Narrator: On election day, 25 million people vote.
So do millions of servicemen in the field.
Collection of absentee ballots delays the count.
Churchill spends the three-week interim
Relaxing in the south of France.
As a diversion, he paints,
One of his favorite hobbies.
But mediterranean scenes cannot muffle thoughts
Of the ballots stacked at home.
The count begins.
Churchill is re-elected as an mp.
But in a shock result,
The war-weary voters turn out the conservatives.
A campaign for peace and a welfare state
Has put labour on top by a landslide.
Clement attlee: The country is ready for a new policy
To face new world conditions.
Narrator: Churchill says the power to shape the future
Has been denied him.
In peacetime, no one needs a war hero.
King george names clement attlee prime minister.
As leader of the opposition, a role he loathes,
Churchill looks instead to the world stage.
[cheering and applause]
Americans still love him.
He travels there in March 1946 to a hero's welcome.
President harry truman welcomes the lion of british politics
To fulton, missouri.
30,000 people descend on the town
Where churchill will give yet another historic speech.
Truman: It's one of the great privileges of my lifetime
To be able to present to you that great world citizen,
Winston churchill.
[applause]
Narrator: The man of the hour
Does not disappoint the audience at westminster college.
Churchill: The name westminster
Somehow or other seems familiar to me.
[laughter]
Narrator: Jokes aside, he turns to graver matters.
He popularizes the definitive phrase
Of the post-war era.
Churchill: From stettin in the baltic
To trieste in the adriatic,
An iron curtain has descended across the continent.
Narrator: To guarantee peace and check soviet ambitions,
Churchill believes the continental european states
Must unite.
In 1948, as honorary president,
He attends the congress of europe in the netherlands.
He passionately urges 800 delegates
To work towards a united states of europe.
Churchill: We cannot aim at anything less
Than the union of europe as a whole,
And we look forward with confidence
To the day when that union will be achieved.
Narrator: At home, britons see him as a world statesman
But write him off as a domestic force.
But the british bulldog will be back.
♪
October 4, 1951.
London.
Labour calls an election.
In liverpool, churchill arrives to cheering thousands.
He launches the conservative campaign.
[cheering]
At 76, churchill still has the power
To inspire crowds and win elections.
Churchill: We are the same people on the same island
As we were in the great days we can all remember.
Never shall we lose our faith and courage,
And never shall we fail in exertion and resolve.
[cheering and applause]
Narrator: After a conservative victory,
King george vi
Names churchill prime minister once more.
[cheering and applause]
Enthusiastic crowds greet him at 10 downing street.
But not everyone thinks he's up to the job.
There's talk he's senile, unable to lead.
Health issues will dog churchill's second premiership.
In December 1953, amid cold war tensions,
Churchill flies to bermuda for talks with western allies.
The greeting committee is governor sir alexander hood
And billie the goat,
Mascot of the royal welsh fusiliers.
Next to arrive is french premier joseph laniel.
Hours before the conference begins,
The american presidential plane lands.
Churchill welcomes his former wartime associate,
Now president dwight eisenhower.
Talks about the rising threat of the soviet union
Take place privately at the mid ocean club.
But eisenhower ignores churchill's calls
For caution and diplomacy.
Britain's empire is crumbling.
The country is fast losing status.
The once revered leader is almost obsolete.
[drumming]
Westminster hall.
November 30, 1954.
Drummers beat churchill's trademark "v for victory" salute
In morse code.
It's his 80th birthday.
2,500 guests attend the televised celebration.
Clementine, his partner in triumph and failure,
Is by his side.
Clement attlee pays tribute to his formidable opponent.
Attlee: You will realize that I should be in breach
Of my duty as leader of the opposition
Were I to wish you long continuance
In your present office.
[crowd laughs]
But may I hope that you will live to see the beginnings
Of an era of peace in the world
After the storm which has been your lot to encounter.
I ask you to accept this portrait.
[cheering]
Narrator: The painting is the work
Of noted british artist graham sutherland.
Churchill famously hates it.
Churchill: It's a remarkable example of modern art.
[crowd laughs]
Narrator: He is resentful of being shown as old.
Years later, clementine secretly burns the canvas.
Churchill: I'm now nearing the end of my journey.
I hope I still have some services to render.
However that may be and whatever may befall,
I'm sure I shall never forget the emotions of this day
Or be able fully to express my gratitude
To those colleagues and companions
With whom I have lived my life
For this wonderful honor they have done me.
[applause]
Narrator: Rumors grow that churchill is about to resign
Due to ill health.
But first, a highly public farewell
To the young monarch he has mentored.
On April 4, 1955,
The churchills host the first and only dinner
Held at 10 downing street
For queen elizabeth and the duke of edinburgh.
The leader has served under six monarchs.
The next day, under the glare of cameras,
Churchill drives to buckingham palace
To resign as prime minister.
In a political career of 55 years,
He has been home secretary,
First lord of the admiralty twice,
Chancellor of the exchequer,
And twice britain's prime minister.
After a life in public service, his new reality hits hard.
Later that day, returning home to hyde park gate,
Churchill is visibly diminished.
Even so, and despite ill health,
He spends much of his retirement traveling.
After a mediterranean journey in 1959,
His decline is clear to see.
He grows ever more frail.
On January 10, 1965, he has a massive stroke.
Two weeks later, on January 24, aged 90,
Winston leonard spencer churchill dies.
A thick fog descends on westminster.
Outside westminster hall,
300,000 mourners line up silently to pay their respects.
Inside, churchill lies in state for three days and three nights.
Commentator: Winston leonard spencer churchill,
Knight of the garter,
Order of merit,
Companion of honor.
Narrator: In the 20th century,
No other prime minister has yet had a state funeral.
142 soldiers draw his coffin on the gun carriage first used
At queen victoria's funeral.
Outside st. Paul's cathedral,
The lord mayor welcomes queen elizabeth.
As a tribute to churchill's place in the nation's history,
She breaks protocol and arrives before his family.
It's one of very few civilian funerals
Ever attended by a british monarch.
[choir singing hymn]
As eight grenadier guards carry the coffin in,
The churchill family follow solemnly behind.
Inside, everyone joins to sing
The hymn requested by churchill himself,
The american "battle hymn of the republic."
Choir: ♪ ...Is marching on ♪
[cannons fire]
Narrator: As his cortege moves down the river thames,
The cranes are lowered in salute.
Choir: ♪ glory, hallelujah ♪
Narrator: It's the end of an era,
But the legend of winston churchill,
The man who led britain
Victoriously through its darkest days,
Lives on.
Choir: ♪ ...Marching on ♪