Summaries

A woman tries to reunite the swing band with which she played during World War II.

After Elizabeth's (Dame Judi Dench's) husband dies, she begins to play her tenor saxophone again, and remembers when she was fifteen and a member of the Blonde Bombshells, an all-girl (with one exception) swing band. Accompanied by the exception and urged on by her granddaughter, Elizabeth hunts up all the old members of the band and urges them to perform, and in doing so, learns more than she knew about the band, its members, the roses on the drum set, and herself, the last of the Blonde Bombshells.—Kathy Li

After her husband's death, Elizabeth (Dame Judi Dench) decides she wants to re-kindle her musical roots. Encouraged by her granddaughter, she seeks out the almost all-female band with which she played during World War II. The one non-female in the troop was a cross-dressing drummer with whom she still is friends. With his help, they start tracking down their old cronies, and find some dead and some mentally incompetent. Slowly the band grows, but their sound is lacking. When the singer is added to the mix, everything comes together.—John Sacksteder <[email protected]>

Details

Keywords
  • prologue
  • flashback
  • funeral
  • singer
  • flash forward
Genres
  • Comedy
  • Music
Release date Aug 25, 2000
Motion Picture Rating (MPA) PG-13
Countries of origin United States United Kingdom
Language English French
Filming locations Craigievar Castle, Kintocher, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, UK
Production companies British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Universal Television HBO Films

Box office

Tech specs

Runtime 1h 23m
Color Color
Sound mix Dolby Digital
Aspect ratio 1.78 : 1

Synopsis

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