Young Winston

Young Winston
Theatrical release poster
Directed byRichard Attenborough
Written byCarl Foreman
Based onMy Early Life: A Roving Commission
1930 book
by Sir Winston Churchill
Produced byCarl Foreman
StarringSimon Ward
Robert Shaw
Anne Bancroft
Anthony Hopkins
John Mills
CinematographyGerry Turpin
Edited byKevin Connor
Music byAlfred Ralston (includes original music and his arrangements of works by Edward Elgar)[1]
Distributed byColumbia Pictures (through Columbia-Warner Distributors[2])
Release date
  • 28 July 1972 (1972-07-28)
Running time
157 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Box office$2,150,000 (US/ Canada rentals)[3]

Young Winston is a 1972 British epic biographical adventure drama war film covering the early years of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, based in particular on his 1930 book, My Early Life. The first part of the film covers Churchill's unhappy schooldays, up to the death of his father. The second half covers his service as a cavalry officer in India and the Sudan, during which he takes part in the cavalry charge at Omdurman, his experiences as a war correspondent in the Second Boer War, during which he is captured and escapes, and his election to Parliament at the age of 26.

Churchill was played by Simon Ward, and the cast included Robert Shaw (as Lord Randolph Churchill), John Mills (as Lord Kitchener), Anthony Hopkins (as David Lloyd George) and Anne Bancroft as Churchill's mother Jennie. Other actors included Patrick Magee, Robert Hardy, Ian Holm, Edward Woodward and Jack Hawkins.

The film was written and produced by Carl Foreman and directed by Richard Attenborough. It was nominated for three Academy Awards: Best Screenplay, Best Art Direction (Donald M. Ashton, Geoffrey Drake, John Graysmark, William Hutchinson, Peter James) and Best Costume Design.[4]

Young Winston was released to cinemas on July 28, 1972.

  1. ^ IMDb credits
  2. ^ "Young Winston (1972)". BBFC. Retrieved 29 March 2021.
  3. ^ "Big Rental Films of 1973", Variety, 9 January 1974 p 19
  4. ^ "NY Times: Young Winston". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. 2010. Archived from the original on 23 April 2010. Retrieved 28 December 2008.