Le premier ministre

Ok, so the acting was rather theatrical and the message rather patriotic. But, like Henry VI, it was a propaganda war film to stir the spirit of the English people in the height of the second world war. It didn't have the writing credits of Shakespeare but this must also be taken into consideration. To critise a film written for the sole purpose of bolstering the battered and bombed people of the British Isles in WWII and comparing it with what we are used to now as historical films (although Braveheart, The Patriot and U571 may be more deserving of criticism than The Prime Minister) is being blindsighted.

This film should be considered for what it's purpose is and what film has ever portrayed any historical figure in his or her real light. We have documentaries for that.

Just watch the film for what it is.

Such an abscure film, which finally came to TCM. There have been several films made about disreali, from his humble beginnings as writer to prime minister in the late 1800s, and trusted friend of the royals. The mighty geilgud had already been doing stage for twenty years when this role came along, although most of us know him from the films "arthur" and "becket". To some, the specific details of british political history can be pretty dry. The writers must have thought so also, as they frequently use written cards to move the story along, showing disreali, as he climbs the steps of offices. It's okay. The 1929 version with george arliss focuses more on trying to purchase the suez canal and keeping the russians in check. That one is a little more fun to watch. This 1941 version is directed by thorold dickinson, who was nominated for "oeuverture". Released in 1941, geilgud made this very early in his film career, possibly to influence england's actions during world war II.

This film had one serious flaw. It did not mention even once that Disraeli was Jewish. Almost the whole history of Disraeli's personal and political life was a history of struggling to overcome Anti-Semitism and struggling to be accepted into mainstream British society.Just describing the history of a dandy young man and novelist who becomes one of the rising stars of a young group of politicians during the earlyVictorian period doesn't give us the complete story of the real Disraeli

"The Prime Minister" is Benjamin Disraeli, one of the most determinedly interesting figures of nineteenth-century England. This film is very obviously a piece of wartime propaganda, with a few bits of Socialist speechmaking tossed in as well. Many of Disraeli's famous witty quotes are included (to add authenticity, of course), the costumes and sets are reasonably lavish for a moderately-budgeted film, and the performances are more than adequate. The biggest problem is that the first half of the film is pretty bad, and it's Gielgud's fault. A great actor with a great voice, he had absolutely no idea how to play an ardently romantic young man in love and, given no help from the dialogue, comes off as stiff as a board. About halfway through the film, though, about 25 years in Disraeli's (and England's) life are passed over in a few explanatory titles, and Gielgud suddenly appears as a much older Disraeli, sporting a kind of inverted grin and made up to look remarkably like Raymond Massey as Abraham Lincoln. From this point on, Gielgud is in his glory - he's exciting to listen to, and his facial expressions are pricelessly funny. From this point on, the film picks up steam and doesn't lose impetus until the final frames.

A stodgy love story, loosely tied in to the life of Disraeli. One of those films where it starts out with the main stars as young lovers, and then you get a few paragraphs of text that fill in 30 years or so, and then they are old and dying. Perhaps there is a good film to be made from the political battles of the Victorian 'giants', Disraeli and Gladstone, but this is not it.