Official US Trailer for British Comedy ‘The Duke’ with Jim Broadbent
by Alex Billington
June 25, 2021
Source: YouTube
“What’s he actually asking for?” “140,000 Pounds.” “For what?” “Charity.” “Good grief!” Sony Classics has debuted a follow-up official US trailer for the kooky British crime comedy film The Duke, the latest from filmmaker Roger Michell (Notting Hill, Changing Lanes, Venus, Morning Glory, Hyde Park on Hudson, My Cousin Rachel, Blackbird). This premiered at last year’s Venice Film Festival and is opening in cinemas in the UK this September, then in the US later this fall. In 1961, Kempton Bunton, a 60 year old taxi driver, steals Goya’s portrait of the Duke of Wellington from the National Gallery in London. This is the story of how, why, and who he was. It turns out he was just a bumbling British guy who didn’t like paying for the BBC and wanted to come up with a scheme to make them change. Jim Broadbent stars as Kempton, with Helen Mirren, Matthew Goode, Charlotte Spencer, Fionn Whitehead, and John Heffernan. This is a rather harmless, feel-good British laugher but it’s not innovative or iconic. Good fun stealing a painting.
Here’s the official US trailer for Roger Michell’s The Duke, direct from Sony Classics’s YouTube:
You can still watch the original UK trailer for Roger Michell’s The Duke here, to see more footage.
The Duke is the true story of Kempton Bunton, a 60-year old taxi driver, who stole Goya’s portrait of the Duke of Wellington from the National Gallery in London. It was the first (and remains the only) theft in the Gallery’s history. Kempton sent ransom notes saying that he would return the painting on condition that the government invested more in care for the elderly – he had long campaigned for pensioners to receive free television. What happened next became the stuff of legend. Only 50 years later did the full story emerge – Kempton had spun a web of lies. The only truth was that he was a good man, determined to change the world and save his marriage – how and why he used the Duke to achieve that is a wonderfully uplifting tale. The Duke is directed by acclaimed British filmmaker Roger Michell, director of many other films including Persuasion, My Night with Reg, Titanic Town, Notting Hill, Changing Lanes, The Mother, Enduring Love, Venus, Morning Glory, Hyde Park on Hudson, Le Week-end, My Cousin Rachel, and last year’s Blackbird previously. The screenplay is written by Richard Bean and Clive Coleman. It’s produced by Nicky Bentham. This premiered at the Venice Film Festival last year. Pathe will release The Duke in select UK cinemas starting September 3rd this year. No US release is set yet. First impression? Look any good?
