Alec Guiness

(On Cable TV, May 2021) If you’re looking at film history as a vast tapestry of individual works in relationship with each other, a surprising number of movies are best seen when compared to others. They stand alone narratively, but their interest comes from being variations on preceding films, responses to previous work, conscious attempts to get away from something else or simply new (and not necessarily successful) combinations of elements used elsewhere. Tunes of Glory, at face value, is a somewhat dry and downbeat drama about two officers having a clash of personalities in a Highland Regiment outpost. As an almost-theatrical exploration of two different men battling for power, it’s not uninteresting even if it does play to a very specific audience and premise. It does not end well. But Tunes of Glory becomes substantially more interesting when you compare it to other films in their lead’s filmography, what with Alec Guiness playing a slob and John Mills a snob — both playing against type in a mutually-agreed upon exchange of the roles they’d initially been selected for. It’s a particularly interesting contrast when placed alongside Guiness’ previous turn as a by-the-book officer in Bridge on the River Kwai. While I can’t quite recommend Tunes of Glory as a film to watch on its own (it’s good, but it’s not that good in a universe with plenty of other unseen movies), it does become a provocative follow-up to Bridge on River Kwai, or as part of any career retrospective for Guiness or Mills. But that’s the nature of the game once you start seeing not just individual movies but pieces of film history.