This is a fine movie. If anyone wants to examine the difference between what passes for a "good movie" these days and a "good movie" fifty years ago, "Tunes of Glory" is a good place to start. The direction is economical, with little in the way of razzle dazzle. Ronald Neame has almost "edited himself out of existence." And the writers are equally straightforward.
I'll give an example. As Col. Barrows, John Mills spent several years in a POW camp during World War II, as a result of which he's about to pop. This is a golden opportunity for a dramatic flashback. Neame could have stopped the narrative short and taken us back to a Japanese prisoner of war camp in Burma or someplace, and then shown us Mills starving, Mills shivering with fever, Mills being waterboarded, Mills being beaten by sadistic guards, Mills crawling through the mud. But instead we see Mills and a younger captain (Gordon Jackson) racing along in a Jeep. Mills pulls the vehicle to a halt, slumps behind the wheel, and in a brief monologue he tells Jackson a little of his experiences. The scene lasts about two minutes. That's "economy." And it's all the more effective for not being spelled out in detail. The horrors are left to our imaginations.
The movie is a Shakespearian kind of tragedy addressed to adults and the script leaves a lot to the viewer's own judgment. There are no easy "good guys" and "bad guys." That brings us to the acting and I'm reluctant to get into it for fear of running out of space. Alec Guiness is Jock Sinclair, the long-time temporary commander of the Scottish regiment who is replaced by an uptight, by-the-book John Mills. Guiness has never been better. He's been as good before, but not better. Let's just say he embodies the bluff, raucous, whisky-loving, brave, deceitful, superior officer, very different from his Col. Nicholson in "The Bridge on the River Kwai."
He has the most screen time, but John Mills has the more complicated role -- a commander new to his post, unknown to his men, given to following the kinds of rules that Guiness has made a point of ignoring, slightly deranged by his war experiences, loyal to the regiment and willing to compromise his principles for its sake.
When Mills lets Guiness get away with a major public offense, Guiness tells him he's grateful, but then goes on to celebrate what he deems his victory over Mills. Guiness and his loyal officers carry on loudly and drunkenly at one end of the table while Mills sits humiliated and alone at the other. Mills loses more than his dignity. One of the officers -- next in command, in fact -- is Dennis Price, in a splendid performance. Want a challenge? Figure out if he's a "good guy" or a "bad guy." Justify your answers. Five minutes allowed, beginning -- now! The location, which looks more like the Edinburgh Castle than a military barracks, are almost as beautiful as the teen-aged Susannah York.
Enough. Watch this film.
I'll give an example. As Col. Barrows, John Mills spent several years in a POW camp during World War II, as a result of which he's about to pop. This is a golden opportunity for a dramatic flashback. Neame could have stopped the narrative short and taken us back to a Japanese prisoner of war camp in Burma or someplace, and then shown us Mills starving, Mills shivering with fever, Mills being waterboarded, Mills being beaten by sadistic guards, Mills crawling through the mud. But instead we see Mills and a younger captain (Gordon Jackson) racing along in a Jeep. Mills pulls the vehicle to a halt, slumps behind the wheel, and in a brief monologue he tells Jackson a little of his experiences. The scene lasts about two minutes. That's "economy." And it's all the more effective for not being spelled out in detail. The horrors are left to our imaginations.
The movie is a Shakespearian kind of tragedy addressed to adults and the script leaves a lot to the viewer's own judgment. There are no easy "good guys" and "bad guys." That brings us to the acting and I'm reluctant to get into it for fear of running out of space. Alec Guiness is Jock Sinclair, the long-time temporary commander of the Scottish regiment who is replaced by an uptight, by-the-book John Mills. Guiness has never been better. He's been as good before, but not better. Let's just say he embodies the bluff, raucous, whisky-loving, brave, deceitful, superior officer, very different from his Col. Nicholson in "The Bridge on the River Kwai."
He has the most screen time, but John Mills has the more complicated role -- a commander new to his post, unknown to his men, given to following the kinds of rules that Guiness has made a point of ignoring, slightly deranged by his war experiences, loyal to the regiment and willing to compromise his principles for its sake.
When Mills lets Guiness get away with a major public offense, Guiness tells him he's grateful, but then goes on to celebrate what he deems his victory over Mills. Guiness and his loyal officers carry on loudly and drunkenly at one end of the table while Mills sits humiliated and alone at the other. Mills loses more than his dignity. One of the officers -- next in command, in fact -- is Dennis Price, in a splendid performance. Want a challenge? Figure out if he's a "good guy" or a "bad guy." Justify your answers. Five minutes allowed, beginning -- now! The location, which looks more like the Edinburgh Castle than a military barracks, are almost as beautiful as the teen-aged Susannah York.
Enough. Watch this film.