A character page for Darkest Hour (2017).
Main Characters
Winston Churchill
The Right Honourable Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Played by: Gary Oldman
"Success in not final, failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts."
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 and again from 1951 to 1955, previously Chamberlain's First Lord of the Admiralty. As is known to many, his stalwart leadership of the country through the trials of the Second World War turns him from a hated political pariah to larger-than-life legend of the 20th century.
- The Alcoholic: One of the strikes against Churchill in the eyes of his detractors is how he drinks literally all day long. He may have been what we now consider a Functional Addict.Clementine: How much have you had to drink this morning?
- Armchair Military: Leads the war effort from an underground bunker beneath the Treasury building, as does the rest of his War Cabinet and executive staffnote . In a rare occurrance, this is not played for cowardice.
- Berserk Button: It's clear that the Gallipoli campaign still haunts Churchill, even as he keeps a Stiff Upper Lip. He absolutely explodes when Halifax uses that failure to accuse him of hubris and warmongering.Halifax: I will not stand by and watch another generation of young men die at the bloody altar of your hubris!
Churchill: No, you would have us die as lambs!
Halifax: Was Gallipoli not enough for you?!
Churchill: [outraged] HOW DARE YOU! Our troops were chewing barbed wire in Flanders and I saw it! Opening a second front, outflanking the Turks was a serious military idea and it could have damn well worked if the Admirals and the First Sea Lord hadn't dithered away the element of surprise! - Category Traitor: Is by-and-large a conservative man who supports a powerful monarchy and believes in a strong British Empire, yet switched to the Liberal Party for twenty years from 1904 to 1924. While it does make him the only choice the Labour Party will accept as Prime Minister, Churchill's own Conservative Party is uncertain he can be trusted.
- Cigar Chomper: Churchill smokes cigars (preferably Cuban brands) like a chimney, which was very much Truth in Televisionnote .
- Darkest Hour: The very theme of the film has the German victory in France, the near decimation of British forces in Western Europe and the imminent invasion of the British Isles bring Churchill to the negotiating table (at Halifax's urging) and the very edge of the Despair Event Horizon. It takes the King himself giving Churchill his support that breaks the despondent Prime Minister out of his funk.
- Flipping the Bird: Churchill has to be informed by Elizabeth that when he makes the "V" gesture with the palm facing inward, he is basically doing this. He takes it well, very, very well. He later faces the palm outward instead, resulting in the famous 'peace' sign.
- Good Is Not Nice: Churchill is rude, cantankerous, short-tempered, stubborn, and absolutely determined to not give an inch to the Nazis.
- The Hat Makes the Man: Invoked by the man himself before his first audience with the King, while choosing a suitable hat from the many hung above his mantelpiece. Specifically, what hat he should wear and by extension the persona he should display before the reigning monarch. He eventually chooses a top hat, in those days regarded as the pinnacle of formality in headwear.[surveying his many hats, including a Royal Naval Yacht Club Cap, a plumed Admiral's hat, French WW1 helmet, etc] Which self shall I be today?
- The Hero: Of the film, which centres around his rise to the premiership and internal struggles with his own ministers.
- Hypocritical Humor: When Halifax says they need to consider peace talks with Hitler, he and Churchill engage in a verbal duel. Churchill ends it with the following:Churchill: Will you stop interrupting me when I am interrupting you?!
- Large and in Charge: Not only is he in large in spirit, but large in body too, no doubt helped by a humungous appetite.
- Large Ham: Quirky habits, loud, booming voice, and Rousing Speeches? Churchill fits all those boxes, a reason why he's become such a larger-than-life figure of British mythos.
- The Leader: Of the wartime government from 1940 to 1945, and until de Gaulle joins the mix the top politician in Europe fighting against the Nazis.
- Naked People Are Funny: Churchill spends a lot of time dictating a speech to Parliament to his secretary, not even pausing while he's taking a bath. He stops only to warn her that he's about to come out "in a state of nature". The flustered woman flees the scene just before the bathroom door opens. This is also Truth in Television; Churchill was very casual about nudity.
- Prone to Tears: Described as such "a slave to his emotions" in Real Life that he was nicknamed Cry-Baby. He admits as much to a young girl he meets on the Underground.
- Rank Up: Rises from being the First Lord of the Admiralty to the top job of PM within hours of Chamberlain's resignation despite not being the obvious candidate for the job (see Unexpected Successor, below).
- Rousing Speech: Nothing less to be expected from the wartime Prime Minister of the 20th century. His first speech in the House of Commons fails to elicit any response from either the Conservative or Labour side. His second "We shall fight them on the beaches" speech is far more effective, so much so that it secures him the backing of the Cabinet, both Conservative and Labour, and most importantly Chamberlain's respect, and the film closes on him leaving the chamber with every member of Parliament fervently agreeing with him.
- Suddenly Shouting: Churchill erupts into quite a lot of those during the film, either out of impatience or displeasure at the defeatist outlooks of Chamberlain and especially Halifax.
- Technologically Blind Elders: Churchill has a hard time accepting fast-moving armoured vehicles being the new way of warfare, insisting they are harmless without supporting infantry. He apparently thinks WW2 will be exactly like WW1.
- Unexpected Successor: Chamberlain's Cabinet is surprised and more than a little displeased that Churchill is to be Chamberlain's successor, having expected Lord Halifax to take up the position. Despite Churchill's oddities and unpopularity within the Conservative Party, the outgoing PM contends that he is the only person the Opposition will accept.
Elizabeth Layton
Miss Elizabeth Shakespear Layton, Personal Secretary to the Prime Minister
Played by: Lily James
"No-one tells us anything. It’s all classified and - we hear scraps and it’s worse than knowing nothing."
Churchill's new secretary, and the Deuteragonist of the film. She served as the Prime Minister's loyal assistant until his defeat in the 1945 election, marrying Frans Nel and bearing a child the next year.
Viscount Halifax
The Right Honourable Edward Frederick Lindley Wood, 3rd Viscount Halifax, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
Played by: Stephen Dillane
"Europe is lost! And before our forces are wiped out completely, now is the time to negotiate in order to obtain the best conditions possible."
Foreign Secretary in Chamberlain's government and the favourite to succeed him as Prime Minister. While Churchill gets the top job instead, Halifax becomes a persistent thorn in Churchill's plan to wage a relentless and likely suicidal war against the seemingly invincible German forces.
- Ambiguously Evil: Refuses to answer the question of becoming Prime Minister (he was the favourite for it after all) if Churchill is ousted, hinting at a Secretly Selfish side. Logically, this could mean the collapse of the wartime alliance between the Tories and Labour, since the latter wanted Churchill for PM in the first place.Chamberlain: And would you agree to be Prime Minister (if Churchill resigns)?
Halifax: With Winston out of the way ... who can say, but the important thing, Neville, is that your policies, of peace and the protection of this nation, would be back on the table. - Anti-Villain:
- Big Bad Duumvirate: With Chamberlain, though Halifax is the more antagonistic of the two.
- Blue Blood:
- The Confidant: Halifax is the only one in the film who knows that Chamberlain has cancer and has but months to live, which is one of many motivations for his trying to topple Churchill from power.
- Know When to Fold 'Em:
- Obstructive Bureaucrat:
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech:
- Reassigned to Antarctica:
- Suddenly Shouting:
Neville Chamberlain
The Right Honourable Arthur Neville Chamberlain, Lord President of the Council
Played by: Ronald Pickup
"You’re suggesting that somehow we’re winning. We’re not."
The outgoing Prime Minister after losing a vote of no confidence and head of the Privy Council under Churchill's government. While he's ousted from the top job, Chamberlain still has plenty of support within the Conservative Party and like Halifax, pushes for peace talks with the Nazis.
- Alas, Poor Villain:
- Anti-Villain:
- Chekhov's Gun: His handkerchief. As a senior MP (Kingsley Wood) advises a junior in the forward bench, if it is waved at the end of Churchill's (first) speech, the Conservative side is expected to show approval; if not, to keep quiet. Indeed, voting with handkerchiefs was and still is an important custom within Parliament
, since applause is forbidden. Chamberlain puts the handkerchief back in his pocket at the start of the film but after the second speech. When it is clear that Churchill has won the support of the Opposition at the second speech, Chamberlain finally gives in and waves his handkerchief after a long period of silence at the final speech, causing the other Conservatives to follow suit and earning Churchill the support of both parties in the House of Commons. - Determined Defeatist: Zig-zagged. Instead of someone who knows something will fail yet tries anyway, he's a defeatist who undeterredly pushes for diplomacy instead of the prolonged war Churchill wants, all for the sake of saving a few lives.
- Incurable Cough of Death: In the latter stages of the movie, Chamberlain begins coughing copious amounts of blood into his handkerchief.
- Never Live It Down: He is shouted out of office by the Labour opposition in favour of Churchill because his policy of appeasement left Britain unprepared to confront the Nazis. Even after his death when historians conclude he was treated unfairlynote , Chamberlain is still regarded as one of the worst PMs in British history.
- Sour Supporter: Chamberlain is one of many political rivals that Churchill brought into his War Cabinet, and the latter is perfectly aware that he doesn't like his successor's more aggressive approach to war.
- The Topic of Cancer: He reveals that he is suffering from cancer to Halifax, and it wears him down throughout the course of the film.
- Your Days Are Numbered: Chamberlain is dying of cancer and has only a few months to live, which he reveals to Halifax ahead of time, saddened that he will never see Europe at peace again. Indeed, he passes exactly five months after Churchill's last speech. It's even more gut-punching when you realize that by the time the Allies did win World War II, he wasn't alive to see it.
Anthony Eden
The Right Honourable Robert Anthony Eden, Secretary of State for War
Played by: Samuel West
"You’re suggesting that somehow we’re winning. We’re not."
King George VI
His Majesty King George VI
Played by: Ben Mendelsohn
"Go to the people. Let them instruct you. Quite silently, they usually do. But tell them... the truth unvarnished."
King of the United Kingdom from 1936 to 1953.
Supporting Characters
Clement Attlee
The Right Honourable Clement Richard Attlee, Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal
The Leader of the Labour Party and one of Chamberlain's strongest opponents in the House of Commons. Attlee would become Lord Privy Seal in Churchill's wartime government.
- Demoted to Extra:
- Rank Up: Rises from being Leader of the Opposition to a full government position under Churchill as head of the Privy Council. In Real Life, Attlee rose even further in 1942 as the first Deputy Prime Minister, and then Prime Minister in his own right aftering beat Churchill in the 1945 general election.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: His most notable role sees him rake Chamberlain over the coals for his mishandling of the war effort, brutally tearing into the current head of the government and demanding he step down.
