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Countdown to War

Countdown to War is a television film made in 1989 as a co-production by Granada Television and PBS. It recounts the events that occurred between 15 March 1939, when the German army commanded by Adolf Hitler invaded Czechoslovakia and created the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, and 3 September 1939, the date when France and United Kingdom declared war on Germany. The film is divided into 5 different stages: Mussolini's study, Hitler's Chancellery, Stalin's Kremlin, Beck’s bedroom, and Chamberlain's Cabinet. The script is based on private letters, diaries and records of meetings between the different leaders.[1] The film starred Ian McKellen, Michael Aldridge, Alex Norton and Barrie Rutter.

Countdown to War

Patrick Lau

  • 1989 (1989)

78 minutes

English

Plot[edit]

Europe's most powerful leaders desperately plot their strategies, attempting to determine the next moves of both their allies and enemies. The private meetings, arguments, anguish and personal battles will change the course of history. The Second World War is about to begin.

- Adolf Hitler

Ian McKellen

- Neville Chamberlain

Michael Aldridge

- Édouard Daladier

David Swift

- Joseph Stalin

Alex Norton

- Benito Mussolini

Barrie Rutter

- Joachim von Ribbentrop

John Woodvine

- Hermann Goering

Peter Vaughan

- Lord Halifax

Michael Culver

- Vyacheslav Molotov

Michael Cronin

- Galeazzo Ciano

James Laurenson

- Arthur Greenwood

Bernard Gallagher

- Rab Butler

Jonathan Coy

- Eric Phipps

Ronnie Stevens

- Leslie Hore-Belisha

Lee Montague

- Nevile Henderson

Tony Britton

- Euan Wallace

Richard Heffer

- Georges-Étienne Bonnet

Robert Ashby

- Józef Beck

Stephen Moore

- Józef Lipski

Bill Stewart

- Emil Hácha

John Stratton

- Maurice Gamelin

Michael Mellinger

- Sir John Simon

Anthony Bate

Bernard Brown -

Charles Corbin

- Birger Dahlerus

Hilary Minster

Availability[edit]

A DVD of this film was released on 22 January 2008.[2]

at IMDb

Countdown to War

on YouTube

Countdown to War clip