Film about Churchill debuts in Fulton

Timothy Riley, right, director and chief curator of the National Churchill Museum, stands with Joe Wright, director of the new Winston Churchill feature film, "Darkest Hour." They met at the 34th International Churchill Conference in New York.
Timothy Riley, right, director and chief curator of the National Churchill Museum, stands with Joe Wright, director of the new Winston Churchill feature film, "Darkest Hour." They met at the 34th International Churchill Conference in New York.

Last week, National Churchill Museum director Tim Riley was hobnobbing with a famous British movie director, Joe Wright, in New York City.

This week, he's planning the Midwest premiere of that director's latest movie, "Darkest Hour," starring Gary Oldman as Winston Churchill.

The premier will be next week at the Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Aldermanbury, part of the National Churchill Museum at Westminster College in Fulton. Tickets are now available. The Thursday event will precede national premiere events in New York City and Los Angeles, college officials said.

Wright is the director of 2007's "Atonement," which starred Keira Knightley and James McAvoy. He also directed "Pride & Prejudice "(2005), also starring Knightley. Wright was recently in the Fulton area scouting locations for his next project, "Stoner," Riley said.

"When I told him we were showing his film in this church, he said, 'Wow. That's really cool,'" Riley said of their recent conversation at the 34th International Churchill Conference.

However, Wright won't be in town for the upcoming premiere.

"He was very enthusiastic about the showing, but he is unable to come," Riley said. "He'll be in Britain. But he knew about the church and Fulton."

Darkest Hour is being distributed by Focus Features. It explores the tumultuous first weeks of Churchill's premiership in May 1940. St. Mary's was selected as an appropriate site being the only church in North America that witnessed and survived the German Blitzkrieg at the start of World War II.

"The historic church is a unique venue for this premiere, but it also is a natural one," Riley said. "St. Mary the Virgin, Aldermanbury is the only structure in North America that was bombed during the Blitz, and sat in ruins until the early 1960s, when Westminster acquired the building, and moved it to our campus."

The Christopher Wren-designed church was carefully disassembled and all 7,000 stones were shipped across the Atlantic, then railroaded to Fulton.

"It was reconstructed by skilled craftsmen, replicated much as it stood from 1677 to the bombing on Dec. 29, 1940, at Aldermanbury and Love Lane in Central London," Riley said.

The church was brought to Fulton to commemorate Winston Churchill's famous "Iron Curtain" speech, given in 1946.

"There is a natural, highly symbolic connection between this church, the Churchill Museum, and this excellent movie, Darkest Hour," Riley added.

He first learned about the movie last year.

"I heard about it from Randolph Churchill, great-grandson of Winston Churchill, who was visiting the sets. He said the movie showed great promise," Riley said. "When I heard the (Churchill) family had endorsed the project - and they don't endorse every Churchill project - I thought about how to get Fulton involved."

Westminster officials reached out to officials at Focus Features.

"They were enamoured of showing the film in this historic church," Riley added. "It was fairly recently that they gave us permission to show the film."

That permission followed some persuasion.

"We had to convince them we could transform a (1600s) church into a 21st century movie premiere location," Riley said, laughing. "We can think of no better place to show this film."

The movie is two hours, five minutes long.

Schedule of events

There will be a red carpet gala at 5:30 p.m. before the 7 p.m. screening, and a special salute at 6:45 p.m. to the Eagle Squadrons, a band of American flyers who volunteered with Britain's Royal Air Force to fight the invading Nazi's in the air during the Battle of Britain. One of those pilots was Lt. John Lutz, of Fulton, who was killed in action in 1943. The Eagle Squadrons - which were later assigned to the 4th Fighter Group of the U.S. Army Air Corps (later to be renamed the U.S. Air Force) - designated the church in 1992 as its official chapel.

Tickets to the red carpet gala, screening and after party are $80 each and seating is limited. The dress code is formal/red carpet attire optional. A photographer will be on hand.

"It's going to be very festive," Riley said.

To watch the movie trailer, visit focusfeatures.com/darkesthour/. To make a reservation, contact Meda Young at 573-592-5602.

Events will all be at the church and National Churchill Museum, 501 Westminster Ave., Fulton. Riley said Focus Features made this special screening possible with the support of the Callaway Tourism Board.