Countdown to War (1989, TV Docudrama)

Countdown to War is a television film made in 1989 as a co-production by Granada Television and PBS. It recounts the events that occurred between 15 March 1939, when the German army commanded by Adolf Hitler invaded Czechoslovakia and created the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, and 3 September 1939, the date when France and United Kingdom declared war on Germany. The film is divided into 4 different stages: Mussolini's study, Hitler's Chancellery, Stalin's Kremlin and Chamberlain's Cabinet. The script is based on private letters, diaries and records of meetings between the different leaders.

Cast:
Ian McKellen as Adolf Hitler
Michael Aldridge as Neville Chamberlain
Alex Norton as Joseph Stalin
Barrie Rutter as Benito Mussolini
David Swift as Édouard Daladier
John Woodvine as Joachim von Ribbentrop
Peter Vaughan as Hermann Göring
Michael Culver as Lord Halifax

--- This is shared without profit for educational and historical purposes ---