The Debate Continues
★ 7.0•1950-10-28•30 min
This historic film documents the restoration of the House of Commons, which was severely damaged by a bombing raid in May 1941. It also commemorates the secret location, in nearby Church House, where MPs met following the destruction of the Commons chamber. The film features Sir Winston Churchill giving a lighthearted commemorative speech to mark the occasion of the reopening of the restored House of Commons. There is also rare footage of King George VI delivering an address to both House of Parliament in Westminster Hall - the only monarch to have done so since Charles I. Many of the skills employed to restore the chamber to its original condition are also featured in sequences showing the craftsmen at work.
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CinemaSerf
TMDB User•Feb 13, 2026
★ 7
It seems all the more apposite to watch this now in 2026 when the self-same House of Commons that was bombed by the Luftwaffe is now facing bills of some £40 billions to make the whole Palace of Westminster fit for purpose and less of a rat-infested fire hazard. It opens with some archive images of it’s charred ruins, then illustrates some of the artisan craftsmanship of the construction work before taking us directly to a sort of dedication ceremony in the eight-hundred year old Westminster Hall in the presence of Their Majesties. It is this part that I found the more interesting, as it is one of the few times I have seen the real King George VI give a speech. Knowing now, thanks to Geoffrey Rush, what we do about the King’s speech therapy it is interesting to watch him deliver the text to the great and the good of the Kingdom and the Commonwealth. I also quite liked the shrewdness of the parliamentarians when it came to refurbishing the House. They managed to get just about everything from the Speaker’s Chair to the door handles as gifts from around the world, and that succeeded in giving the mother of parliaments a certain international look to it. It’s standard newsreel fayre to look at, but it’s still a bit of British history that is worth a watch.