Queen Christina (1933) – The Film Winston Churchill Watched During the London Blitz
Someone once asked me to track down the old movie Winston Churchill watched in London during German air raids. It turned out to be the classic Hollywood drama starring Greta Garbo – Queen Christina (1933).
Greta Garbo in the historical drama Queen Christina (1933)
Greta Garbo herself later remarked that she was delighted to learn the British prime minister watched Queen Christina in his private screening room on the very nights German bombs were falling on London. For a 1930s film, that behind-the-scenes footnote is almost as memorable as the movie itself.
The Story of Sweden’s Queen and Garbo’s Defining Role
Directed by Rouben Mamoulian for MGM and released in late 1933 (99 minutes), the film stands among Greta Garbo’s finest Pre-Code performances. She portrays 17th-century Queen Christina of Sweden, a monarch worn down by court intrigue and the weight of the crown who tries to carve out a life on her own terms.
Garbo personally chose Mamoulian to direct and insisted that her former off-screen partner John Gilbert play her romantic lead, Don Antonio – even though MGM had initially cast Laurence Olivier. Biographers of Churchill repeatedly noted how fond the prime minister was of the picture, revisiting it inside his London bunker during World War II.
Why It Is Still Worth Watching Today
- Classic 1930s pacing: The film moves in the unhurried style of Golden Age Hollywood, leaning on expressive close-ups, stage-like dialogue, and pure screen presence.
- A bold heroine: Christina feels strikingly independent for a 1933 film, and the famous final close-up of Garbo aboard the ship is still cited in film textbooks for how much emotion a single face can hold.
- Historical backdrop: Even if black-and-white cinema is not part of your usual rotation, knowing this movie helped Churchill catch his breath between war dispatches adds a special atmosphere.
If you want to step away from modern blockbusters for an hour and a half and experience cinema from an entirely different era, Queen Christina is a wonderful choice – and it is easy to see why Churchill kept coming back to it.