Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2014 March 25

Welcome to the Wikipedia Entertainment Reference Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is an archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current reference desk pages.

March 25

German song in History Channel clip

Can anyone name the music that starts at 1:08 here: [1] ? I'd like to find a full recording of it, but don't have the name. Thanks! Buggie111 (talk) 02:07, 25 March 2014 (UTC)

It's the chorus of "Bomben auf Engeland" by Norbert Schultze. ("Kamerad ... Kamerad ...", see link). ---Sluzzelin talk 17:09, 25 March 2014 (UTC)

Thanks! Buggie111 (talk) 00:38, 27 March 2014 (UTC)

Missing characters in The Railway Man

I raised a question at Talk:The Railway Man (film), and also mentioned it at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Film, but there have been zero responses in either place after a fortnight. So, in desperation, I am reduced to asking here. :)

I repeat the question verbatim:

Are there different cuts of this film?

I've just seen it at the cinema, and when I read about it here later, I noticed that Marta Dusseldorp supposedly played a character called "Memsahib". Well, there was no such character in the film I saw. I've seen Dusseldorp in a few things and I would have noticed her if she was here.

Checking IMdB, I see there are also characters called "Mother (rumored)" and "Mrs. Margery Lomax". Apart from not having the faintest idea what "Mother (rumored)" means, I didn't see these characters in the movie either.

What's the story? -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 03:22, 25 March 2014 (UTC)

Not having seen the movie, I nevertheless ask whether you recall a scene, on the protagonist's way home, where a woman shows sympathy toward POWs for not having had the opportunity to "do their bit". This blog refers to that woman as a memsahib, and I think this text refers to the same scene (though without using memsahib. And see also Sahib#Colonial_and_modern_use and memsahib. ---Sluzzelin talk 17:32, 25 March 2014 (UTC)

Thanks for that ref, Sluzzelin. No, I don't remember that scene; but I'd have to see it again before I could categorically deny it was part of the movie. If it was there, Dusseldorp must have been made up to the point of unrecognition. She's had starring roles in some rather high profile Australian TV productions of recent years, so a fleeting scene in a movie at all, let alone one where a keen eye would fail to recognise her, seems contrary to that assault on fame.

I'm still none the wiser about the other two characters I mentioned. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 19:46, 25 March 2014 (UTC)

All Ref Desk Regulars: Your mission for the weekend is to see The Railway Man and report back no later than Monday on the above issues. This is mandatory. That is all. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 21:39, 27 March 2014 (UTC)

Is it available in the US? The article indicates only the UK and Australia. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 23:10, 27 March 2014 (UTC)

Saw the movie. Don't recall the scene Jack's interested in. But geographic proximity to Jack (well, a couple of hundred kilometres) makes that unsurprising. We probably saw the same commercial cut. HiLo48 (talk) 23:25, 27 March 2014 (UTC)

So, this is relevant to my first question. I know about directors' cuts etc, but they typically happen some time after the initial release of the film. This film is still in its initial cinema run, at least down here. Why would it be released in different cuts (presumably for different geographical audiences) right from the start, and how would a random viewer ever know he isn't necessarily getting exactly the same finished product as another viewer elsewhere? I've read various reviews of The Railway Man (which is why I went to see it), but nothing about the issues I'm raising. And nothing in our article either. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 10:04, 28 March 2014 (UTC)