This one's been sitting in my collection for a while and I finally popped it in and watched it. I'm glad I did. Not only was I treated to an amazing drama, but also to the brilliance of Sir Alec Guinness and John Mills. Alec Guinness was one of our finest actors, and in Tunes of Glory, he is without peer. His portrayal of the whiskey-loving and irascable Jock Sinclair is one of the highlights of his estimable career. John Mills, who plays his antithesis, is equally memorable as the replacement colonel whose by-the-book leadership sets the stage for a clash of wills that is mesmerizing to watch.


Mills plays his role so well his frustration with Guinness's Sinclair is almost palpable. At times, Colonel Barrows's head almost explodes in apoplectic fits. Sinclair's heavy-drinking and jocular exploits is too much for the straight-laced Barrows, and the confrontation between these two large egos can only end in tragedy.


A great examination of military ritual and tradition, and a fine example of superb acting. Highly recommended.

This is a sad, great, superbly acted movie about the struggle for dominance in a Scottish regiment after WWII. Colonel Jock Sinclair (Alec Guinness) was named acting commander of his regimental battalion and now expects to be confirmed. He's an up-from-the-ranks officer, hard drinking, bluff but sly, whose whole life as been the regiment. He demands loyalty and manliness in his officers. But he isn't confirmed. Coming to replace him as battalion commander is Colonel Basil Barrow (John Mills). He's everything Sinclair dislikes, aristocratic, privileged, from a military family. He also is something of martinet, a man who prizes decorum in his officers, a man who was a prisoner of war and returned shaken. Something of a weak man.

The stage is set for Barrow to try to take moral command of the batallion, and for Sinclair to undermine him every step of the way. The result is that both men, with their own weaknesses, destroy themselves.

A number of elements makes this, in my opinion, a powerful motion picture. The setting is batallion headquarters in Scotland, located in a towering, massive stone hulk of a building that reeks of tradition. It's winter and it's cold, and it's a perfect setting for the struggles going on. The customs of the regiment, the playing of pipes, all underline the closed-in atmosphere of this all-male society. The cast is excellent, from the actors playing the soldiers to the NCOs to the officers. Dennis Price, a first-class actor, is cool and enigmatic as the battalion's exec who may have to pick up the pieces and who may not be so disinterested as he appears. And Guinness and Mills are extraordinary, with both playing against type. While Guinness has the flashier role, Mills brings such depth of well-intentioned weakness that the match is equal between the two. You wind up understanding both men and having sympathy for both. Most of all, I think, is the story. It is a fascinating look inside a regiment, tied to a story of real power and tragedy as these two men ruin their lives. This is great story telling and great acting. I recommend the movie.

The Criterion disc is first rate. Among other extras, it features an excellent interview with the director, Ronald Neame, in which he describes the filming of the movie.

This review is for the Criterion Collection DVD edition of the film.

"Tunes of Glory" is one of the greatest films I have seen which star Alec Guiness. The film is about a batallion of soldiers in Scotland under the command of Jock Sinclair (Guiness) He is an eccentric man and is nearing retirement. When his replacement arrives, he disaproves of his methods. They begin to argue over the right way to command and later the argument is on the verge of becoming violent.

The film has some excellent acting and excellent music performed on the bagpipes. Much of it was composed for the film. There is also excellent scenery and great acting by Alec Guiness and John Mills.

The special features on the DVD are a video interview with director Ronald Neame and an audio interview with actor John Mills. There is also a 1970's BBC interview with Alec Guiness. There is also a theatrical trailer.

I highly recommend this film and it is bound to remain a classic for a long time.

"Tunes of Glory" is everything you might want from this type of movie. Full of rough-hewn Scots drinking life with the same enthusiasm as they drink their whisky, "Tunes of Glory" plays wistfully with the Scottish stereotypes of good natured, dancing and singing soldiers of a highland regiment. There are tunes a'plenty, and twirling kilts and bagpipes as well. A story of post-war peacetime soldiers, one cannot call it a war movie or but it is military in flavor,with pipes and drum corp assembled.

In addition to the Scottish pageantry is a surprisingly deep storyline and some of Sir Alec Guinness's and Sir John Mills's best acting, which is saying a lot about those two giants of film. Both play against type, with Guinness's surprising turn as red-haired Jock Sinclair, the course and gutter-born Major who seeks to be Battalion Commander, and Mill's emotionally unstable yet straight-laced Battalion Commander Basil Barrow, the very opposite of the spirited garrison who struggles to keep control. Both characters are likeable, yet deeply flawed, and it is a question as to which will overcome their defects and rise.

The looseness and fun-loving background of the regiment is a fine background for the tense struggle of Sinclair and Barrow. Supporting characters, such as the slippery Charlie Scott, and Sinclair's daughter Morag and her beau the handsome piper Ian Fraser, provide counter balance and some much-needed affection in this heroless film.

The Criterion Collection DVD is of course excellent, with a few insightful interviews with Sir Alec Guinness, Sir John Mills and director Ronald Neame. There is also a nice essay by Robert Murphy, which adds to the appreciation of the film.

This is a great movie. The time: immediately following the Second World War. The place: Scotland, specifically the Scotts Highland Regiment. The Regiment has returned from hard combat in North Africa and Europe, and once again is esconced in its barracks in the Scottish Highlands--the place in which it has been headquartered for over three hundred years. The Acting Commanding Officer is Col. Jock Sinclair (Alec Guiness), a rough, uneducated man from the lower classes who worked his way up to Colonel from the ranks. Sinclair got his promotion in the desert, fighting Rommel, and one senses that these experiences have created strong bonds of friendship between Sinclair and certain other officers in the battalion. Now higher headquarters has assigned a new Commanding Officer to the battalion--Col. Basil Barrow, a university-educated man from the upper classes who comes from a long line of officers who served with, and indeed commanded, the battalion. But Barrow, for all that, is viewed as an outsider and newcomer--while the other officers forged friendships in the war, fighting the Germans, Barrow was in the Pacific theater. Sinclair is relegated to second-in-command. Sinclair is deeply resentful of Barrow, and immediately gets off on the wrong foot with his new commander, unintentionally belittling Barrow's war service, most of which involved the horrors of being a POW tortured by the Japanese. In fact, Colonel Barrow is deeply scarred by his wartime experience, and has lost perspective in dealing with his officers. He is a martinet, and appears to forget that leadership involves earning the respect of one's subordinates--it is not simply bestowed from on-high. Although both men love the Regiment above all else, this film is about an implacable conflict between Sinclair and Barrow. For Sinclair does not respect Barrow, who he views as a "spry wee gent who will not command the Battalion for very long..."

The interaction between Barrow and Sinclair provides for an intense psychological confrontation. This is a war movie without a war. None is needed. This is a superb study in leadership, confrontation, loyalty, and the nature of the tradition-rich Highland Regiment. The class divisions among the Regimental officers is interestingly portrayed. The entire cast turns in a fine performance, and Guiness is truly stellar as the rough-spoken Colonel Sinclair.

The DVD is beautifully remastered, with crisp audio and video. I've been keeping an old ratty videocassete of this film for years, hoping that the film would eventually turn up on DVD. Now it has, and any film afficianado will enjoy this crisp, fast-paced and intense story.