SPEECHES ON THE RADIO

It is different listening to speeches on the radio. Gone are the setting, the visuals, the body language, the crowd, there is the voice and just the voice. And because of that, more is left to the imagination.

This morning I listened to the speech which King George VI gave to the nation, after Britain had declared war on Nazi Germany in September 1939. You can picture people, my mother included, sitting or standing around the radio, listening to the momentous announcement. Technology was less developed then, so there is a slight crackle on the airwaves. And the voice itself is hesitant; the king suffered from a terrible stammer, which took years of therapy to make better, though he never lost it completely and couldn't say his r's properly (the hour was "gwave", for instance). Even though I wasn't born at the time, it still moved me to tears.

They have just made a film about the king and his problems, called The King's Speech, starring the ever-watchable Colin Firth in the title role and Helena Bonham Carter as Queen Elizabeth. Nominated this week for seven Golden Globes, it has a good chance of picking up an Oscar or two. I look forward to watching it on a Thursday with my daughter when it comes to our local cinema.

Walter Blotscher