Tunes of Glory
Encyclopedia
Tunes of Glory is a 1960 British film directed by Ronald Neame
, based on the novel and screenplay by James Kennaway
. The film is a "dark psychological drama" centring on events in a Scottish
Highland regimental barracks in the period following World War II. It stars Alec Guinness
and John Mills
, and features Dennis Price
, Kay Walsh
, John Fraser
, Susannah York
, Duncan MacRae and Gordon Jackson
.
Writer Kennaway served with the Gordon Highlanders, and the title refers to the bagpiping
that accompanies every important action of the regiment. The original pipe music was composed by Malcolm Arnold
, who also wrote the music for The Bridge on the River Kwai
. The film was generally well received by critics, the acting in particular garnering praise. Kennaway's screenplay was nominated for an Academy Award.
) announces that this will be his last day as Commanding Officer before Colonel
Basil Barrow (John Mills
) arrives to take over. Sinclair had been in command since their colonel was killed in action during the Second World War, leading the battalion for the rest of the war, but Barrow is considered by Brigade HQ to be a more appropriate peacetime commanding officer.
Barrow arrives early, and observes the battalion's officers (including Sinclair) dancing rowdily. Barrow and Sinclair briefly swap their respective military backgrounds. Sinclair had joined as a bandsman and rose spectacularly through the ranks, winning the Military Medal
and Distinguished Service Order
in the process. Barrow by contrast came to the regiment directly from Oxford University, his ancestors having been colonel of the regiment before him - although he has served only a year with the regiment back in 1933 before being posted to "special duties". When Sinclair humorously tells of the time he was briefly thrown in Barlinnie Prison
for being drunk and disorderly (also in 1933), Barrow rather reticently mentions his own experience in a prisoner of war
camp. Sinclair assumes that Barrow received preferential treatment usually afforded to officers ("officer's privileges and amateur theatricals") - in fact Barrow is deeply psychologically scarred after being tortured by the Japanese
but does not tell this to Sinclair.
Sinclair resents the fact that he is being replaced by a "stupid wee man" and appears determined to regain control of the battalion, although by what means is initially unclear. Sinclair's daughter Morag is also observed illicitly meeting with a piper
for romance.
Barrow immediately passes several orders designed to instill discipline that Sinclair had allowed to slip. Particularly controversial is an order that every officer take lessons in Highland dancing in an effort to make their customary rowdy style more formal and suitable for mixed company. The consequential shouting and energetic dancing of the officers, led by a drunken Sinclair, at Barrow's first cocktail party with the townspeople incites his anger, leading to an extreme outburst that seriously damages his own authority.
The tensions come to a head when Sinclair publicly assaults the uniformed corporal piper he discovers with his daughter (Susannah York
) – "bashing a corporal" as he puts it. Barrow decides an official report must be made, meaning an imminent court-martial
, aware that the action will only further the erosion of his popularity, and authority, within the battalion. Barrow is eventually persuaded to back down, despite the fact that Sinclair was guilty of striking an NCO
and deserved to be court-martialled. However, he finds that this decision further undermines his authority and Sinclair and others, notably Captain Alec Rattray (Richard Leech
), treat him with renewed lack of respect. He finds that some senior officers believe that Sinclair is really running the battalion, having forced Barrow to dismiss the charges against him. When he realizes that his authority will never be accepted, he shoots himself.
With the death of Barrow, Sinclair realizes he is to blame. He calls the officers to a meeting and announces plans for a grandiose funeral, fit for a field marshal
, complete with a march through the town, in which all the tunes of glory will be played by the pipers. Pointed out how out of proportion these plans are, especially given the manner of the colonel's death, Sinclair insists that it was not suicide, it was murder. He himself was the murderer and the other senior officers were his accomplices, with the exception of the colonel's adjutant. Minutes afterwards, Sinclair suffers a nervous breakdown
and is escorted from the barracks, while the officers and men salute as he passes.
Cast notes
in London. Establishing location shots were done at Stirling Castle
in Stirling, Scotland, which was the actual location where James Kennaway served with the Gordon Highlanders. Although the production was initially offered broad cooperation to film within the castle from the commanding officer there, as long as it didn't disrupt the regiment's routine, after seeing a lurid paperback cover for Kennaway's book, that cooperation evaporated, and the production was only allowed to shoot distant exterior shots of the castle.
Director Ronald Neame
worked with Guinness on The Horse's Mouth
(1958), and a number of other participants were also involved in both films, including actress Kay Walsh, cinematographer Arthur Ibbetson
and editor Anne V. Coates
.
for Best Adapted Screenplay
, but lost to Elmer Gantry
. It also received numerous BAFTA nominations, including Best Film, Best British Film, Best British Screenplay and Best Actor nominations for both Guinness and Mills.
The film was the official British entry at the 1960 Venice Film Festival
, and John Mills won the Best Actor award there. That same year the film was named "Best Foreign Film" by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.
Ronald Neame
Ronald Elwin Neame CBE, BSC was an English film cinematographer, producer, screenwriter and director.-Early career:...
, based on the novel and screenplay by James Kennaway
James Kennaway
James Kennaway was a Scottish writer. He was born in Auchterarder in Perthshire and attended Glenalmond College.-Career:...
. The film is a "dark psychological drama" centring on events in a Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
Highland regimental barracks in the period following World War II. It stars Alec Guinness
Alec Guinness
Sir Alec Guinness, CH, CBE was an English actor. He was featured in several of the Ealing Comedies, including Kind Hearts and Coronets in which he played eight different characters. He later won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Colonel Nicholson in The Bridge on the River Kwai...
and John Mills
John Mills
Sir John Mills CBE , born Lewis Ernest Watts Mills, was an English actor who made more than 120 films in a career spanning seven decades.-Life and career:...
, and features Dennis Price
Dennis Price
Dennis Price was an English actor, remembered for his suave screen roles, particularly Louis Mazzini in Kind Hearts and Coronets, and for his portrayal of the omniscient valet Jeeves in 1960s television adaptations of P. G...
, Kay Walsh
Kay Walsh
Kay Walsh was an English actress and dancer. She grew up in Pimlico, raised by her grandmother....
, John Fraser
John Fraser (actor)
-External links:* http://www.johnfraser.org/...
, Susannah York
Susannah York
Susannah York was a British film, stage and television actress. She was awarded a BAFTA as Best Supporting Actress for They Shoot Horses, Don't They? and was nominated for an Oscar and Golden Globe for the same film. She won best actress for Images at the 1972 Cannes Film Festival...
, Duncan MacRae and Gordon Jackson
Gordon Jackson (actor)
Gordon Cameron Jackson, OBE was a Scottish Emmy Award-winning actor best remembered for his roles as the butler Angus Hudson in Upstairs, Downstairs and George Cowley, the head of CI5, in The Professionals....
.
Writer Kennaway served with the Gordon Highlanders, and the title refers to the bagpiping
Bagpipes
Bagpipes are a class of musical instrument, aerophones, using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. Though the Scottish Great Highland Bagpipe and Irish uilleann pipes have the greatest international visibility, bagpipes of many different types come from...
that accompanies every important action of the regiment. The original pipe music was composed by Malcolm Arnold
Malcolm Arnold
Sir Malcolm Henry Arnold, CBE was an English composer and symphonist.Malcolm Arnold began his career playing trumpet professionally, but by age thirty his life was devoted to composition. He was ranked with Benjamin Britten as one of the most sought-after composers in Britain...
, who also wrote the music for The Bridge on the River Kwai
The Bridge on the River Kwai
The Bridge on the River Kwai is a 1957 British World War II film by David Lean based on The Bridge over the River Kwai by French writer Pierre Boulle. The film is a work of fiction but borrows the construction of the Burma Railway in 1942–43 for its historical setting. It stars William...
. The film was generally well received by critics, the acting in particular garnering praise. Kennaway's screenplay was nominated for an Academy Award.
Plot
The film opens in the officers' mess of a Scottish battalion in the early post-war era. Major Jock Sinclair (Alec GuinnessAlec Guinness
Sir Alec Guinness, CH, CBE was an English actor. He was featured in several of the Ealing Comedies, including Kind Hearts and Coronets in which he played eight different characters. He later won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Colonel Nicholson in The Bridge on the River Kwai...
) announces that this will be his last day as Commanding Officer before Colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
Basil Barrow (John Mills
John Mills
Sir John Mills CBE , born Lewis Ernest Watts Mills, was an English actor who made more than 120 films in a career spanning seven decades.-Life and career:...
) arrives to take over. Sinclair had been in command since their colonel was killed in action during the Second World War, leading the battalion for the rest of the war, but Barrow is considered by Brigade HQ to be a more appropriate peacetime commanding officer.
Barrow arrives early, and observes the battalion's officers (including Sinclair) dancing rowdily. Barrow and Sinclair briefly swap their respective military backgrounds. Sinclair had joined as a bandsman and rose spectacularly through the ranks, winning the Military Medal
Military Medal
The Military Medal was a military decoration awarded to personnel of the British Army and other services, and formerly also to personnel of other Commonwealth countries, below commissioned rank, for bravery in battle on land....
and Distinguished Service Order
Distinguished Service Order
The Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September...
in the process. Barrow by contrast came to the regiment directly from Oxford University, his ancestors having been colonel of the regiment before him - although he has served only a year with the regiment back in 1933 before being posted to "special duties". When Sinclair humorously tells of the time he was briefly thrown in Barlinnie Prison
Barlinnie (HM Prison)
HM Prison Barlinnie is a prison operated by the Scottish Prison Service and located in the residential suburb of Riddrie, in the north east of Glasgow, Scotland.-History:Barlinnie was designed by Major General T.B...
for being drunk and disorderly (also in 1933), Barrow rather reticently mentions his own experience in a prisoner of war
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
camp. Sinclair assumes that Barrow received preferential treatment usually afforded to officers ("officer's privileges and amateur theatricals") - in fact Barrow is deeply psychologically scarred after being tortured by the Japanese
Imperial Japanese Army
-Foundation:During the Meiji Restoration, the military forces loyal to the Emperor were samurai drawn primarily from the loyalist feudal domains of Satsuma and Chōshū...
but does not tell this to Sinclair.
Sinclair resents the fact that he is being replaced by a "stupid wee man" and appears determined to regain control of the battalion, although by what means is initially unclear. Sinclair's daughter Morag is also observed illicitly meeting with a piper
Bagpipes
Bagpipes are a class of musical instrument, aerophones, using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. Though the Scottish Great Highland Bagpipe and Irish uilleann pipes have the greatest international visibility, bagpipes of many different types come from...
for romance.
Barrow immediately passes several orders designed to instill discipline that Sinclair had allowed to slip. Particularly controversial is an order that every officer take lessons in Highland dancing in an effort to make their customary rowdy style more formal and suitable for mixed company. The consequential shouting and energetic dancing of the officers, led by a drunken Sinclair, at Barrow's first cocktail party with the townspeople incites his anger, leading to an extreme outburst that seriously damages his own authority.
The tensions come to a head when Sinclair publicly assaults the uniformed corporal piper he discovers with his daughter (Susannah York
Susannah York
Susannah York was a British film, stage and television actress. She was awarded a BAFTA as Best Supporting Actress for They Shoot Horses, Don't They? and was nominated for an Oscar and Golden Globe for the same film. She won best actress for Images at the 1972 Cannes Film Festival...
) – "bashing a corporal" as he puts it. Barrow decides an official report must be made, meaning an imminent court-martial
Court-martial
A court-martial is a military court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of members of the armed forces subject to military law, and, if the defendant is found guilty, to decide upon punishment.Most militaries maintain a court-martial system to try cases in which a breach of...
, aware that the action will only further the erosion of his popularity, and authority, within the battalion. Barrow is eventually persuaded to back down, despite the fact that Sinclair was guilty of striking an NCO
Non-commissioned officer
A non-commissioned officer , called a sub-officer in some countries, is a military officer who has not been given a commission...
and deserved to be court-martialled. However, he finds that this decision further undermines his authority and Sinclair and others, notably Captain Alec Rattray (Richard Leech
Richard Leech
Richard Leech , born Richard Leeper McClelland, was an accomplished actor.Richard Leeper McClelland was born in Dublin, Ireland, son of Isabella Frances and Herbert Saunderson McClelland, a lawyer. He was educated at Haileybury and Trinity College, Dublin...
), treat him with renewed lack of respect. He finds that some senior officers believe that Sinclair is really running the battalion, having forced Barrow to dismiss the charges against him. When he realizes that his authority will never be accepted, he shoots himself.
With the death of Barrow, Sinclair realizes he is to blame. He calls the officers to a meeting and announces plans for a grandiose funeral, fit for a field marshal
Field Marshal
Field Marshal is a military rank. Traditionally, it is the highest military rank in an army.-Etymology:The origin of the rank of field marshal dates to the early Middle Ages, originally meaning the keeper of the king's horses , from the time of the early Frankish kings.-Usage and hierarchical...
, complete with a march through the town, in which all the tunes of glory will be played by the pipers. Pointed out how out of proportion these plans are, especially given the manner of the colonel's death, Sinclair insists that it was not suicide, it was murder. He himself was the murderer and the other senior officers were his accomplices, with the exception of the colonel's adjutant. Minutes afterwards, Sinclair suffers a nervous breakdown
Nervous breakdown
Mental breakdown is a non-medical term used to describe an acute, time-limited phase of a specific disorder that presents primarily with features of depression or anxiety.-Definition:...
and is escorted from the barracks, while the officers and men salute as he passes.
Cast
- Alec GuinnessAlec GuinnessSir Alec Guinness, CH, CBE was an English actor. He was featured in several of the Ealing Comedies, including Kind Hearts and Coronets in which he played eight different characters. He later won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Colonel Nicholson in The Bridge on the River Kwai...
as Major Jock Sinclair, DSODistinguished Service OrderThe Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September...
, MMMilitary MedalThe Military Medal was a military decoration awarded to personnel of the British Army and other services, and formerly also to personnel of other Commonwealth countries, below commissioned rank, for bravery in battle on land.... - John MillsJohn MillsSir John Mills CBE , born Lewis Ernest Watts Mills, was an English actor who made more than 120 films in a career spanning seven decades.-Life and career:...
as Lieutenant Colonel Basil Barrow - Dennis PriceDennis PriceDennis Price was an English actor, remembered for his suave screen roles, particularly Louis Mazzini in Kind Hearts and Coronets, and for his portrayal of the omniscient valet Jeeves in 1960s television adaptations of P. G...
as Major Charles Scott, MC & BarMilitary CrossThe Military Cross is the third-level military decoration awarded to officers and other ranks of the British Armed Forces; and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries.... - Kay WalshKay WalshKay Walsh was an English actress and dancer. She grew up in Pimlico, raised by her grandmother....
as Mary Titterington - John FraserJohn Fraser (actor)-External links:* http://www.johnfraser.org/...
as Corporal Piper Ian Fraser - Susannah YorkSusannah YorkSusannah York was a British film, stage and television actress. She was awarded a BAFTA as Best Supporting Actress for They Shoot Horses, Don't They? and was nominated for an Oscar and Golden Globe for the same film. She won best actress for Images at the 1972 Cannes Film Festival...
as Morag Sinclair - Gordon JacksonGordon Jackson (actor)Gordon Cameron Jackson, OBE was a Scottish Emmy Award-winning actor best remembered for his roles as the butler Angus Hudson in Upstairs, Downstairs and George Cowley, the head of CI5, in The Professionals....
as Captain Jimmy Cairns, MC - Duncan MacRae as Pipe Major Maclean
- Percy HerbertPercy Herbert (actor)Percy Herbert was an English character actor who often played soldiers, most notably in The Bridge on the River Kwai, The Wild Geese and Tunes of Glory. However, he was equally at home in comedies and science fiction...
as Regimental Sergeant Major Riddick - Allan CuthbertsonAllan CuthbertsonAllan Cuthbertson was a naturalised Anglo-Australian actor.-Early life:Born Allan Darling Cuthbertson in Perth, Western Australia, son of Ernest and Isobel Ferguson Cuthbertson, he performed on stage and radio from an early age.During World War II, he served as a Flight Lieutenant with the RAAF...
as Captain Eric Simpson - Paul Whitsun-JonesPaul Whitsun-JonesPaul Whitsun-Jones was a Welsh actor.He was educated at Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood, Middlesex.-Career:Whitsun-Jones played the role of Mr Bumble in the original West End production of the musical Oliver!...
as Major 'Dusty' Miller - Gerald HarperGerald HarperGerald Harper is an actor, best known for his work on television, having played the title roles in Adam Adamant Lives! and Hadleigh ....
as Major Hugo MacMillan - Richard LeechRichard LeechRichard Leech , born Richard Leeper McClelland, was an accomplished actor.Richard Leeper McClelland was born in Dublin, Ireland, son of Isabella Frances and Herbert Saunderson McClelland, a lawyer. He was educated at Haileybury and Trinity College, Dublin...
as Captain Alec Rattray - Peter McEneryPeter McEneryPeter McEnery is an English stage and film actor. His daughter Kate, by his first marriage to British actress Julie Peasgood, is an actress....
as 2nd Lieutenant David MacKinnon - Keith FaulknerKeith FaulknerKeith Faulkner is an English-born British actor who started his career at Corona Academy in childhood at the age of eleven and moved onto andult career in film and television in the late 1950s and early 1960s before leaving the "business" and moving to Australia, with the Telecommunications...
as Corporal Piper Adam - Angus LennieAngus LennieAngus Lennie is a Scottish actor best known for his film appearance as Steve McQueen's friend Archibald Ives in the 1963 film The Great Escape. He was also known for being in the television soap opera Crossroads....
as Orderly Room Clerk - John HarveyJohn Harvey (actor)John Harvey was an English actor. He appeared in 52 films, two television films and made 70 television guest appearances between 1948 and 1979....
as Sergeant Finney - Andrew KeirAndrew KeirAndrew Keir was a Scottish actor, who rose to prominence featuring in a number of films from Hammer Film Productions in the 1960s. He was also active in television, and particularly in the theatre, in a professional career that lasted from the 1940s to the 1990s...
as Lance Corporal Campbell - Jameson ClarkJameson ClarkJameson Clark was a Scottish character actor who appeared in 22 films and made many appearances on television.-Career:...
as Sir Alan - Lockwood WestLockwood WestLockwood West was a British actor. He is the father of actor Timothy West and the grandfather of actor Samuel West....
as Provost
Cast notes
- According to an article in the New York Times Alec Guinness wanted to play the role of Barrow, and John Mills wanted to play Sinclair – both initially turned down the film for those reasons. It took a meeting between Guinness, Mills and director Ronald NeameRonald NeameRonald Elwin Neame CBE, BSC was an English film cinematographer, producer, screenwriter and director.-Early career:...
to straighten out why each was best suited for the role they had been offered. However, in his autobiography, John Mills claimed that he brought the script to Guinness, and between them they decided who should play which role. Guinness believed this performance to be among his best. - Tunes of Glory was Susannah York's film debut. Her opening screen credit reads "and Introducing".
Production
Tunes of Glory was shot at Shepperton StudiosShepperton Studios
Shepperton Studios is a film studio in Shepperton, Surrey, England with a history dating back to 1931 since when many notable films have been made there...
in London. Establishing location shots were done at Stirling Castle
Stirling Castle
Stirling Castle, located in Stirling, is one of the largest and most important castles, both historically and architecturally, in Scotland. The castle sits atop Castle Hill, an intrusive crag, which forms part of the Stirling Sill geological formation. It is surrounded on three sides by steep...
in Stirling, Scotland, which was the actual location where James Kennaway served with the Gordon Highlanders. Although the production was initially offered broad cooperation to film within the castle from the commanding officer there, as long as it didn't disrupt the regiment's routine, after seeing a lurid paperback cover for Kennaway's book, that cooperation evaporated, and the production was only allowed to shoot distant exterior shots of the castle.
Director Ronald Neame
Ronald Neame
Ronald Elwin Neame CBE, BSC was an English film cinematographer, producer, screenwriter and director.-Early career:...
worked with Guinness on The Horse's Mouth
The Horse's Mouth (film)
The Horse's Mouth is a 1958 film directed by Ronald Neame and filmed in Technicolor. Alec Guinness wrote the screenplay from the 1944 novel The Horse's Mouth by Joyce Cary, and also played the lead role of Gulley Jimson, a London artist.-Synopsis:...
(1958), and a number of other participants were also involved in both films, including actress Kay Walsh, cinematographer Arthur Ibbetson
Arthur Ibbetson
Arthur Ibbetson BSC was a British cinematographer.His best-known projects were films with or for children, including Whistle Down the Wind , The Railway Children and Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory .-Selected filmography:*The Horse's Mouth *The Angry Silence *The League of Gentlemen...
and editor Anne V. Coates
Anne V. Coates
Anne Voase Coates is a British film editor with a more than 40-year long career in film editing. She is perhaps best known as the editor of director David Lean's epic film, Lawrence of Arabia in 1962...
.
Awards and honours
James Kennaway, who adapted the screenplay from his novel, was nominated for an Academy AwardAcademy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
for Best Adapted Screenplay
Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay
The Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay is one of the Academy Awards, the most prominent film awards in the United States. It is awarded each year to the writer of a screenplay adapted from another source...
, but lost to Elmer Gantry
Elmer Gantry (film)
Elmer Gantry is a 1960 drama film about a con man and a female evangelist selling religion to small town America. Adapted by director Richard Brooks, the film is based on the 1927 novel of the same name by Sinclair Lewis and stars Burt Lancaster and Jean Simmons.Lancaster won an Academy Award for...
. It also received numerous BAFTA nominations, including Best Film, Best British Film, Best British Screenplay and Best Actor nominations for both Guinness and Mills.
The film was the official British entry at the 1960 Venice Film Festival
Venice Film Festival
The Venice International Film Festival is the oldest international film festival in the world. Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi in 1932 as the "Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica", the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the...
, and John Mills won the Best Actor award there. That same year the film was named "Best Foreign Film" by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.
Adaptations
Tunes of Glory was adapted for the stage by Michael Lunney, who directed a production of it which toured England in 2006.External links
- Murphy, Robert "Tunes of Glory", Criterion Collection essay