Went to see Pressure

[MsAmerica]

And I'm surprised not to see it mentioned here.

I figure that anyone going to see it knows what it’s about: The weather forecasting which was so crucial on the eve of D-Day, as Eisenhower was about to launch the American military across the English Channel in WWII.

The hero is a prim Scot named Stagg, recommended to Eisenhower by Churchill, who declared him the best meteorologist in England. Stagg is the doughty loner among all the Americans in the group, and particularly butts up against Eisenhower’s own trusted cocky meteorologist, who blithely predicts perfect weather, no matter how strongly Stagg contradicts this with his rock-firm conviction of potentially lethal storms. Even if you don’t know history, all cinematic convention dictates that Stagg will be proved right, so there’s that pleasant wait for the shoe of vindication to drop.

The cast was almost completely unfamiliar to me, with the exception of a beefy Brendan Fraser as Ike. But it looks to be a real labor of love with Anthony Maras as director, co-screenwriter, and editor.

It’s a curious movie, because you could undoubtedly make an interesting free 50-minute documentary on it for television, but it takes nerve to think you can pull off a feature film, and get people to come and pay for it. (Of course, if it had been made 20-70 years ago, you could get WWII vets to go.) It works well, though. It’s a nice production, and manages to convey the tension and high stakes, even in the absence of car chases or explosions.

(Trivia, via IMDB: In a remarkable coincidence, one of the assistant editors hired to go through that archival footage turned out to be James Stagg - the grandson of the real Dr. James Stagg whose story the film tells - a fact that was not known when the hiring decision was made.)

I love Andrew Scott's acting and I really enjoyed Pressure. If anyone is interested in seeing 2 men who can say so much with so few words I recommend the prison cell scene , AS and Michael Kitchen in the Foyle's War episode "The Hide".

I'm Scottish and I would say he did a very mild Scottish accent which is a lot better than the "och aye the noo" accents some actors adopt. Having never heard the actual man he was portraying speak I couldn't tell you if he got it right. In short, his accent didn't distract me and I knew he was Scottish so it must have been decent.

I saw this a few weeks ago & loved it! AS is fabulous in everything and really is captivating in this. I obviously knew the ending but was enthralled with the drama behind the scenes.

@ApolloandDaphne

Having never heard the actual man he was portraying speak

Here you go, about 2 minutes into this BBC piece.

He was also interviewed for the D-Day episode of the classic World at War TV series (I put a link to that upthread recently).

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RKgivqM2INg

I heard this story on the bbc podcast about D-Day last year. I highly recommend it. It takes a different aspect each episode - like the weather, or the boat design. It’s fascinating.

Can I just correct you. Eisenhower wasn’t just launching the American military - even if the film shows that.

Eisenhower wasn’t just launching the American military - even if the film shows that.

Yikes, I haven't seen the film yet but if it makes out that was the case I won't bother.

Eisenhower was in charge of operation Overlord which of course featured soldiers etc from all of the Armies.

Exactly..

At the time of D-Day Eisenhower was "Supreme Allied Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force"...so US, Brits, Canadians, French, Poles ....and apologies for those I must have missed.

Have to say I have heard good things about the film from a few mostly Brit ex-military who have seen it and so far no quibbles from them about the portrayal of Ike or his role.

I really liked the film, but then I am a big Andrew Scott fan and would likely to go see him watching paint dry. I think his acting in this film was first class, but the others were all very good too.
(My only nit picking point was that I don’t think Stagg would have been sleeping in a tent in the grounds with the American soldiers, when there was surely room somewhere in that huge house!)

If you're on about Southwick house there were a heck of a lot of personnel encamped there in Spring 44, many of them much much senior in rank to Stagg, so it's not impossible he ended up in a tent at some point..

The film shows that it was an Allied effort. After all, one of the two main characters is British, and they are in England.

I've got a decent idea of the characters and history behind this from way, way back, honest....however in the movie world anything is possible.

I was therefore a bit concerned from the comment made by a PP that Hollywood had maybe been playing games again....- Brits only sat around drinking tea, that sort of thing - a certain well known American author almost made a career out of doing that in his WW2 so called histories.

Gald to hear it appears for once Hollywood have tried to get it right.

I wasn’t quibbling about the film, more the OP’s description of it. And it was only a quibble. I love the story.

there’s also been a Witness History episode about it recently, featuring the woman in the post office on the west coast of Ireland who had the job, along with the post mistress, of sending weather reports every 20 minutes, 24/7. Surely the real heroine! Imagine getting something wrong!!

This thread has made me want to see it again, which will be for the third time.

One of the things that I really like about it is that it is essentially an intimate film that draws you in and makes you feel (at least for me) as though you are right there as these world-altering decisions are being made by some ordinary and a few not-so-ordinary people.

Watching it made me recall that Ike, when he left the White House, wanted to be called and referred to as "General Eisenhower," rather than as "President," which was and is the norm for former presidents. He asked his successor, JFK, to restore his Army rank (which he had to relinquish in order to run for president) so that he could be a general again. And he asked to be buried in his Army uniform. Clearly, military service and especially his leadership during WWII were the core of his identity.

Great film. I loved it . I bet Damien had a great laugh with his portrayal as the blustering Monty 😂

I loved this film, thanks for the thread.

Thought it was excellent. I love Andrew Scott in anything and Brendan Fraser was good too.

Excuse me, but it doesn't seem sensible to avoid a film for a minute or two of showing something with which you disagree. They show an American president, and there's nothing wrong with them choosing to momentarily emphasize his concern for American troops.

I've already been reassured to some extent on that point by a p p.....

..and then we got the "stuffy Montgomery" comment....(very much the standard view of Montgomery in US eyes)....

It's not so much me disagreeing with something, it's very much the case that some recent US productions (film and TV) have tended to almost write off the contribution of UK, Commonwealth and other forces to events such as D-Day.

Eisenhower the man wouldn't have done that, and it sounds like in the main Pressure has also avoided that - I look forward to seeing it.

I guess I feel that so many supposedly history-based movies include so much fantasy, I think twice about quibbling about small things.

God knows I get aggravated enough thinking, "Damn, that hairstyle is all wrong for the period."

It would be interesting to compare the original Pressure stage play to the movie version - I don’t think Montgomery was in the play, it had quite a small cast.

That's exactly what I was thinking. I know he pouts anyway but I think he was going for it even more for the part.

I want to see it. I have a weird obsession with D-Day and think it sounds brilliant, but Dh just laughed and said, 'The weather? How can that be a story?' and didn't want to go. I need to find somewhere still showing it and go on my own.

@HorseandHeron even though I know what happened I still felt the jeopardy and found it exciting if that makes sense.

Saw it and loved it. How Andrew Scott managed to block out his Irish costar and nail his Musselburgh accent I have no idea - the man is spellbinding. I agree with others, I would pay to see him watching paint dry.

I found the splicing in of real DDay footage really moving. I think it was the sudden change in dynamic from being in one building with a few people under huge pressure to those huge beaches filled with thousands of men all grappling with the real world consequences of those choices.