'The King's Speech': Hollywood History Needn't Be Accurate

I don't disagree with Peter Brown's essay in Politics Daily that "The Kings Speech" is bad history. The film, nominated for 12 Academy Awards, including for Best Picture, at this weekend's Oscar ceremony, leaves the average student of 20th-century world history scratching her head.

I seem to remember more about the Third Reich and Hitler's rise and wonder if there wasn't something more historically significant about Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain besides his concerns to alleviate the tongue-tiedness of the new king, George VI. Similarly, Winston Churchill's concern about Prince Albert of York's succession in the House of Windsor was likely not the most important thing on the mind of the British leader who succeeded Chamberlain to become one of the most influential and important statesmen of the 20^th century.

For future moviegoers who have not yet contributed to the film's $210 million worldwide box office, the compelling dramatic tension of the narrative, set in the days before Europe fell into the global conflict of World War II, was over the future king's unfortunate stammer. A debilitating stutter keeps King George V's second son from performing an essential role as an inspirational leader for the citizens of Britain. Even more emotionally resonant is the portrayal of his royal father and a few of his other titled family members, berating and undermining the young Prince Albert, calling him "B-b-b-b-b-bertie" (played to excruciatingly awkward perfect pitch by Colin Firth -- nominated for best actor).

The film and, some would believe the war itself, turned on the ministrations of speech therapist Lionel Logue (played by supporting actor nominee Geoffrey Rush) to mold a convincing public speaker out of the man who would be king. Although an uplifting drama, "the movie misses the big picture," as Peter Brown notes.

But I must disagree with my colleague that the 1-hour-51-minute film does not deserve a gold-plated statuette. However imperfect the historic perspective, Hollywood history is better than none. "The King's Speech" is a drama, not a documentary, and people don't buy movie tickets to get schooled. The feature is based on best original screenplay nominee David Seidler's exhaustive research -- including Logue's unpublished diaries -- of the king, who died in 1952. No matter how Seidler's dramatic license tilts the perspective, best director nominee Tom Hooper (aided by Oscar-nominated editing, costume design, art direction, sound mixing and musical score) nevertheless instructs a whole generation of filmgoers on palaces and power in the mid-20th century.

In the end, the hit film is both a buddy movie and a comedy of manners. The queen mother Elizabeth, the tiny queen consort who raised two daughters, including future and present Queen Elizabeth II, is played winningly by Helena Bonham Carter (nominated for best supporting actress). In one scene, the young wife of King George VI explains correct protocol to the speech therapist's speechless wife, who has found the royal matriarch inexplicably sitting in her tattered parlor. Call me "Your Royal Highness" the first time we speak, the diminutive distingué instructed kindly, and subsequently address me as "Ma'am."

In a subplot highlighting the human frailty of reluctant leaders, Guy Pearce as the Prince of Wales, who became King Edward VIII only to toss his title in abdication to marry Wallis Simpson, a divorced American socialite, reminds more recent royal watchers of the latest title holder's passion for an inappropriate lady friend. (In the latter-day romance, the short-lived king's grandnephew Prince Charles remains next in line to Queen Elizabeth II as the current Prince of Wales. His romance and marriage to Camilla Parker Bowles, after both he and she had been divorced, invites comparisons of the abdication crisis that resulted in his grandfather's ascent.)

The British monarchy, having modernized a bit since King George's day, now has (remarkably) a website and Twitter account to communicate with its subjects, making speech impediments less of an impediment. You can follow royal tweets @BritishMonachy.

Meanwhile, just as the film was released, the next generation of Windsors -- in the person of George VI's great-great granddaughter -- was born. On Dec. 29, Queen Elizabeth II's grandson Peter Phillips and his wife, August, had a new baby, Savannah Phillips, who is 12th in line to the throne. Watch for her story on marquees sometime before the 22^nd century -- but don't expect those future filmmakers to get the story completely right.