Line #1 Film/Glorious39


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/glorious_thirty_nine_ver2.jpg]]
2	''Glorious 39'' is a 2009 Stephen Poliakoff film, starring a ridiculous number of [[AllStarCast high-profile actors]], such as Creator/RomolaGarai, Creator/BillNighy and Creator/DavidTennant. It tells the story of an upper-class family in the months leading up to the Second World War - sort of like ''Literature/BridesheadRevisited'', but with more politics.
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4	The film begins with a young schoolboy, Michael Walton (Creator/TobyRegbo) asking about his great-aunt Anne Keys. Anne grew up the adoptive daughter of Sir Alexander Keyes, a notable politician in favour of appeasing Nazi Germany. Anne lives a charmed life, spending most of her days running round the family ruins in GorgeousPeriodDress and flirting with her boyfriend, Lawrence. Until one day, she organises a birthday party for her father... and the mysterious Mr Balcombe shows up.
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6	At the party, family friend Hector Haldane delivers a passionate speech about the need to stop Nazi tyranny -- and two weeks later apparently kills himself. Tragic -- but hidden in the family archives Anne finds a recording of Hector, which makes it clear that someone was blackmailing him.
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8	Meanwhile, at a family picnic the baby Anne was supposed to be looking after goes missing, and only after Anne has roused the entire family to search the woods is he found -- safe and sound, in a place she'd already looked. Anne ''knows'' Balcombe has something to do with all of this, but now everyone else thinks she's hysterical.
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10	Or they appear to, anyway. Most of the recordings in the archives have been taken away by Balcombe, but Anne has kept a few hidden. Desperate to find some proof of a conspiracy, she listens to them all and hears her brother's voice come through loud and clear. Politicians at the highest level of government have been involved in a plan to avoid war at all costs -- and now want peace at any cost -- and Anne's family are at the heart of it.
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12	!!Tropes include:
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14	* AnyoneCanDie: And does.
15	* AristocratsAreEvil: The point is heavily made that it's the privilege and the blindness that comes with that that causes the action in the film. The three most sympathetic characters - Anne, Hector and Gilbert - are not aristocratic by birth.
16	* TheAtoner: [[spoiler: Walter]] is clearly saddened for the part he played in discrediting Anne.
17	* AwfulTruth: [[spoiler:The family is involved in a treasonous plot to make peace with Hitler.]]
18	* BlueBlood: A major theme -- Anne is adopted, remember. [[spoiler:And was the child of gypsies, as it happens -- this is the implicit motive behind her family's attempts to make peace with Hitler. Because if they're not at war with Germany, Germany can't win...]]
19	* BreakTheCutie: [[spoiler:Anne is the victim of gaslighting, her family are completely corrupt, her boyfriend is murdered, two of her friends ''apparently'' commit suicide, and then her family lock her in a small room and sedate her, possibly for years.]]
20	* BringNewsBack: [[spoiler:Once Sir Alexander is proved corrupt, Anne tries to send the evidence to Winston Churchill... and fails.]]
21	* DeadStarWalking: David Tennant.
22	* DisposingOfABody: [[spoiler:You can hang him from the rafters with the other dead animals!]]
23	* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: At one point in the film, someone notes that the declaration of war means that people are having their pets put down by the thousands. [[spoiler:Later, while running from the vet's, Anne comes across people throwing the dead animals onto bonfires.]]
24	* DoomedMoralVictor: Hector. [[spoiler:Not to mention Gilbert, Lawrence and Anne, though Anne at least survives the film.]]
25	* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler:Hector, probably. It's only ambiguous because Balcombe is perfectly capable of faking it.]]
26	* FallenPrincess: Anne.
27	* ForegoneConclusion: We know from the beginning that Anne is going to disappear. [[spoiler:But as it happens, she gets away from her family -- she just drops off the radar afterwards, until the end.]]
28	* ForYourOwnGood: [[spoiler:Anne has Romany heritage and her family are desperate to stop Hitler from invading Britain -- so they want to make peace.]]
29	* FramingDevice: The story begins with Michael Walton, a present-day schoolboy, asking his elderly cousins what happened to his great-aunt Anne, who disappeared during the war.
30	* {{Gaslighting}}: [[spoiler:Balcombe is doing this to Anne in order to destroy her credibility. Her family are helping him.]]
31	* HeadInTheSandManagement: [[spoiler:Sir Alexander.]]
32	* IdiotBall: But ''why'' doesn't Anne send the evidence to her political heavyweight father, whom she loves and trusts absolutely? [[spoiler:Subverted, however. In the event, it's just as well she didn't, though it doesn't do her any good.]]
33	* MadwomanInTheAttic: [[spoiler:Her family attempt to turn Anne into one of these.]]
34	* NarrowedItDownToTheGuyIRecognize:[[invoked]] Played with. In a cast of heavyweights, every other person ''must'' have something more to do than that bit part -- right? [[spoiler:Ultimately, Bill Nighy is ''not'' merely a supportive but curiously ineffective helper to Anne.]]
35	* NobleFugitive: [[spoiler:Anne, until the end.]]
36	* NoodleIncident: We aren't told what Balcombe was blackmailing Hector with, only that "people do all sorts of things when they're young."
37	* OhCrap: When Anne hears [[spoiler: Ralph]] on the meeting recording
38	* PetTheDog: Anne's mother[[spoiler: unlocks the door to let Anne escape]]. However, this is subverted when it turns out to be [[spoiler: a final ploy to get Anne to go along with the family]]
39	* PrecisionFStrike: When Anne gets confirmation that [[spoiler: her family has indeed been drugging her to keep her from talking about the peace deal]] her response is "You FUCKING bastards, you have nothing to do with me!," followed by a ClusterFBomb.
40	* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Sir Alexander. [[spoiler:Apparently, anyway. Poor Anne. Churchill, although never appearing, is also treated as this.]]
41	* SacrificialLamb: Hector.
42	* ShoutOut (with a touch of LiteraryAllusionTitle): The title refers to the year of the events, but very likely also has something to do with another wartime conspiracy thriller with 39 in the title. Since the film aspires to a Hitchcockian aesthetic and feel the title is likely more than just a coincidence, though interestingly the emphasis in the plot on the motivating factors behind the war resonates more with [[Literature/TheThirtyNineSteps Buchan's book]] than [[Film/The39Steps1935 Hitchcock's film]].
43	* StiffUpperLip: While it's a very stressful time for all the characters and one can't blame Anne in particular for getting quite a bit upset, it's notable that the declaration of war occurs while Anne and Gilbert are filming a scene. The director stops them, announces the news (as it's important and he felt everyone should know as soon as possible), and then they go back to work.
44	* UpperClassTwit: Equally, no one in this film is at all stupid. Unfortunately for Anne.
45	* VideoWills: [[spoiler:Gilbert leaves a message for Anne in the scene they film together; she only realises it when she's called back for redubbing.]]
46	* WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue: In the frame story.
47	* YouHaveToBelieveMe: Often averted. Most of the people Anne appeals to about the conspiracy believe her after explanation and a look at the records - except her father, who is clearly humouring her. Used, however, in the scene where baby Oliver goes missing.

Context Film / Glorious39