Young Winston 1972

Jay Cocks, TIME Magazine: Since Young Winston attempts to be a kind of vest-pocket spectacle, there are also a couple of the battles in which he fought (a set-to in the Sudan, a Boer skirmish). Attenborough stages them with all the fury of a grade school recess. Read more

Vincent Canby, New York Times: Robert Shaw and Anne Bancroft, as Lord and Lady Randolph Churchill, are such interesting actors that they could have wrecked the film had it been better: you wish it were about them, not him. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: It is dignified, occasionally exciting, filled with lots of walk-ons so eminent British actors can play eminent British statesmen, and more or less faithful to the facts. But it's nothing more than that. Read more

Adrian Turner, Time Out: A frightfully Boering biopic chronicling the adventures of 2nd Lt Winston Churchill. Read more

Variety Staff, Variety: Both a brilliant artistic achievement and a fascinating, highly enjoyable film -- a combination not always obtained. Read more