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PEOPLE/ARTS Thursday 21 sepTember
Review: ‘Alone’ is perfect complement to filmdom’s ‘Dunkirk’

By JERRY HARKAVY eration to Hollywood after cisive encounter with the by German aircraft or ther into the details and
Associated Press wartime manpower de- French army while delaying drowned when their ship context of that historic
Interest in the 1940 cross- mands made it impossible an advance in the marshy was mined, bombed or tor- episode.q
channel evacuation of Brit- to finish his films in England. terrain of Flanders. pedoed.
ish soldiers amid the French The trans-Atlantic move “Alone” reaches its climax A total of 338,226 troops,
collapse in World War II had the British govern- in the days depicted in No- including 139,921 French,
has sprung to life this sum- ment’s clandestine bless- lan’s film. made it to England, but it
mer, thanks to Christopher ing and financial support The author’s descriptions was only months later —
Nolan’s blockbuster mov- in hopes that Alex’s subse- of fire and smoke along after the Battle of Britain
ie “Dunkirk.” On its heels quent film “That Hamilton with smells of burning rub- — that fears of invasion dis-
comes “Alone,” Michael Woman,” about Admiral ber and unburied bodies sipated and the “spirit of
Korda’s masterful account Horatio Nelson and his mis- evoke images as vivid as Dunkirk” became cause
of that epic drama and its tress, would build pro-British any to hit the screen. One for celebration. It was, ac-
impact on his family. sentiment in the United writer quoted by Korda cording to Korda, “that rar-
Few of the soldiers, airmen States. likens it to “a scene from est of historical events, a
and mariners whose hero- Family issues highlight some Dante’s Inferno.” military defeat with a hap-
ism allowed Britain to carry of the more fascinating dy- Korda likens the evacua- py ending.”
on a singlehanded battle namics in “Alone,” but the tion to a big lottery. “Some It is rare and fortuitous that
against Nazi Germany are book is first and foremost a people went to the beach, this spellbinding account
alive today. riveting account of the fate fell into the right line, were came out within weeks
Korda was only 6 years old of the 300,000-man British taken aboard a ship with of the release of Nolan’s This cover image released
at the time, living in London Expeditionary Force during a minimum of drama, and film that struck box-office by Liveright / WW Nor-
with his filmmaking family its retreat toward the Eng- disembarked a few hours gold. One can only hope ton shows “Alone: Britain,
whose roots were in central lish Channel as German later at Dover.” Others that many of those drawn Churchill, and Dunkirk: De-
Europe. But he was remark- tanks overran Belgium and were shelled while on the to the movie will go on to feat Into Victory,” by Mi-
ably aware of events that set their sights on Paris in a beach, machine-gunned read “Alone” to delve fur- chael Korda.
propelled Europe into war. blitzkrieg that left France Associated Press
Korda recounts how he demoralized and prey to a
and his family had to cut wave of defeatism and re-
short their August vacation criminations.
in France as war clouds Illuminating profiles of key
thickened in the weeks players include those of
prior to Adolf Hitler’s inva- Vice Admiral Bertram Ram-
sion of Poland. They were say, architect of the evacu-
glued to the radio for Nev- ation plan dubbed Opera-
ille Chamberlain’s grim an- tion Dynamo; German tank
nouncement that Britain warfare strategist Heinz
was at war. The author re- Guderian; and a string of
calls air raid sirens, the fam- hapless French generals.
ily’s temporary move to the On the political side, we
countryside and his evacu- meet the British appeasers
ation to a farm in Yorkshire whose lapses in judgment
followed by his stay at a paved the way for Churchill
boarding school on the Isle — described by Korda as
of Wight before his return to “that rarest of men, a well-
London. functioning, even hyper-
Korda’s family was mov- functioning alcoholic” — to
iemaking royalty. His un- rally his people to ultimate
cle, Alexander, was a re- victory.
nowned producer and Perhaps the biggest ques-
director, married to actress tion that Korda and other
Merle Oberon, and his fa- historians have struggled
ther, Vincent, was a film art to address is why the Ger-
director. When war broke mans temporarily halted
out, the family production their race to the channel, a
company, London Films, decision that allowed Brit-
was in the midst of one of ain to assemble a fleet that
its most ambitious projects, ranged from Royal Navy
the Arabian fantasy movie destroyers and commer-
“The Thief of Bagdad.” cial ferries to fishing boats
“Alone” describes in detail and yachts, enabling its
the tense political drama troops to survive and fight
that surrounded the emer- another day.
gence of Winston Churchill Some suggest that Hitler
as prime minister just hours chose to spare the British
before Germany invaded army as a sign of his good
France and the Low Coun- intentions and encourage
tries. Alex was a longtime a peace settlement. For
friend and supporter of his part, Korda believes the
Churchill, who gave his three-day rest break was
blessing to the producer’s designed to prepare the
decision to move his op- panzer divisions for the de-