The King's Speech (DVD)

After the death of his father King George V (Michael Gambon) and the scandalous abdication of his brother King Edward VIII (Guy Pearce), Bertie (Colin Firth in his Academy Award winning performance), who has suffered from a debilitating speech impediment all his life, is suddenly crowned King George VI of England. With his country on the brink of war and in desperate need of a leader, his wife, Elizabeth (Helena Bonham Carter), arranges for her husband to see eccentric speech therapist Lionel Logue (Academy Award Winner Geoffrey Rush). Winner of 4 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director (Tom Hooper), Best Original Screenplay and Best Actor (Colin Firth), The King's Speech is an inspirational tale of one man's quest to find his voice, inspire his people, and rally the world.

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Candidates for president and prime minister choose to run, but kings rarely have a choice. Such was the case for Prince Albert, known by family members as Bertie (Colin Firth), whose stutter made public speaking difficult. Upon the death of his father, George V (Michael Gambon, making the most of a small part), the crown went to Bertie's brother, Edward VIII (Guy Pearce), who abdicated to marry divorcée Wallis Simpson. All the while, Bertie and his wife, Elizabeth (Helena Bonham Carter, excellent), try to find a solution to his stammer. Nothing works until they meet Australian émigré Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush), a failed actor operating out of a threadbare office. He believes Bertie's problem stems from emotional rather than physiological issues, leading to a clash of wills that allows the Oscar®-winning Rush (Shine) and the Oscar-nominated Firth (A Single Man) to do some of their best work (in a neat bit of casting, Firth's Pride and Prejudice costar, Jennifer Ehle, plays Logue's wife). All their efforts, from the tense to the comic--Bertie doesn't stutter when he swears--lead to the speech King George VI must make to the British public on the eve of World War II. At a time when his country needs him the most, he can't afford to fail. As Stephen Frears did in The Queen, Tom Hooper (HBO's Elizabeth I) lends vulnerability to a royal figure, showing how isolating that life can be--and how much difference a no-nonsense friend like Logue can make. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

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Special Features

Feature Commentary with Director Tom Hooper

The King's Speech: An Inspirational Story of an Unlikely Friendship

Q&A with the Director & the Cast

Speeches from the real King George VI

The Real Lionel Logue

The Stuttering Foundation

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