FAVORITE UK MOVIES

My Lord! I was sure that all the English-language movies were shot in Hollywood... I did not even know that the UK had movies industry of her own (I knew that there were outstanding British actors, e.g. Sir Sean Connery, but they were famous for their participation in the U.S.-made movies).
BTW, was "Trainspotting" a British movie, or it was an American one dealing with lives of the British young men?

steissd - I think it was entirely a UK movie, though I bet some US production companies were involved somehow. Thank god the US isn't the only maker of English language films. What an unbearable situation that would be.

timber - I just searched my local listings on tvguide.com, and passport is showing this saturday night on my local PBS station! Hope I don't forget this time. Many old British movies show up on PBS, maybe its the same in your area.

I search Google Images occasionally for images in areas of interest like favorite movies. This one is an image of Apu and his mother from Pather Panchali, my favorite "foreign" film.

Not only is THE THIRD MAN one of the best movies ever made, its director, Carol Reed, is a criminally underrated talent. His OTHER movies include:

The Fallen Idol--like The Third Man, from a great Graham Greene script

An Outcast of the Islands--based on the Joseph Conrad novel

Odd Man Out--James Mason's most brilliant performance ever

Oliver--one of the best of all movie musicals

Thanks for those titles, Larry - I've heard only of Oliver.

A few more I left off my original list

Madness of King George
A Passage to India
The Captive Heart
High Hopes
Sid and Nancy
Scandal
The Krays
Carrington
Distant Voices, Still Lives
Gregory's Girl
Secret Policeman's Ball
Naked
Let Him Have It

Did I miss earlier mention of The Commitments?

I thought it was a great movie ... and it's soundtrack album is pretty nice too.



timber

I love that movie, and two others based on Roddy Doyle's books, The Van and The Snapper.

ohhhhhhh you mentioned one of my all-time favourites - Gregory's Girl. I still get the giggles just thinking about the deodorant.

ahhhhhh Whisky Galore - do i love the book or the movie more? dunno - love love love them both.

Ealing Studios - i'm passionate for their stuff - an old downstairs neighbour was a video reviewer - i was always borrowing Lavender Hill Mob and the rest of his Ealing Studios collection.

i'm a freak for britcoms. Made mr. and mrs. hamburger take me to an On the Buses stage production when it came to toronto. I think they couldn't believe the depths of my low-brow taste.

Favourite brit books turned into t.v.? a toss-up - Mapp and Lucia or Jeeves and Wooster? I've been reading P.G. Wodehouse and E.F Benson since i was a tweenie - the writing of those two definitely warped my mind (in a good way, i hope).

Keeping Up Appearances just slays me. A lot of family in-jokes with the hamburgers are based on Hyacinthe and dear dear Onslow :snort:

If you love books and love movies, I hope you've read and seen 84 Charing Cross Road. Anne Bancroft and Anthony Hopkins are perfect in as quiet a movie as there ever was. The book takes about an hour to read, but for the maniacal book lover like me, its the bible. I've made it a major goal in my life to obtain copies of every book referenced in 84. But I digress. Actually, the film is probably a US production, but I can't separate it from England, so its on my list.

I'm very fond of Gregory's Girl because I saw it on British Airways on my very first flight to England. Forget that I was not sober and couldn't understand a word they were saying, I'll never forget it. I have seen it since though, a couple of times. But it still could use subtitles!

I watched the documentary on the history of Ealing Studios last night, and Kind Hearts and Coronets, both very enjoyable.

Another great British movie was TOM JONES, a triumphant adaptation of the classic novel written by the great playwright John Osborne and directed by the late great Tony Richardson. One of the funniest britcoms ever.

Even though England has not produced a large number of films overall, they have made some the the most memorable and witty films ever released.

Fortunately I have been able to see most of the films produced by this country and two films at the top of my list are:
"Hobson's Choice" and "Lawrence of Arabia" both directed by David Lean.

For those of you who enjoy British films, I would like to recommend the following films (incl. some lesser known) that may be available on VHS:

In no particular order:

"Cottage To Let" (Anthony Asquith) 1941
"The Deadly Affair" (Sidney Lumet) 1967
"Dead of Night" (Cavalcanti) 1945
"Girl on Approval" (Chas. Frend) 1961
"Importance of Being Earnest" (Asquith) 1952 Version
"This Man Is News" (David McDonald) 1938
"Turn of the Tide" (Norman Walker) 1935
"The Overlanders" (Henry Watt) 1946
"The Third Secret" (Chas. Crichton) 1964
"Madeleine" (David Lean) 1950

Thanks larry r for Tom Jones, and thanks couzz for all those titles, none of which I've ever seen.

I watched The Ladykillers last night though, and Alec Guiness was very funny. Great movie. Whoever played the little old lady was perfect.

Larry

The sitcom set in a book shop was probably 'Black Books'.

http://www.channel4.com/entertainment/tv/microsites/B/blackbooks/index.html

You may be pleased to know that the surreal exploits of Bernard and Manny are to continue into a third series.

I'm surprised.....but in a good way, that my Yank cousins are watching shows like 'Black Books'. Although, if you guys get the VERY British humour (humor) of shows like Monty Python....then I suppose anything is possible.

If you haven't already seen it, try to watch the BBC comedy, 'Blackadder'. Especially the second series (Season), which was probably the best of the four. Rowan Atkinson is the star....long before he became Mr Bean - Forgive us for unleashing Mr Bean on your nation. Not exactly Rowan Atkinson's best character....IMHO

The above named films are all great. 'The Third Man' is a cinematic masterpiece, and I'm a proud owner of the DVD. It's one of the best British films ever made.

Although, it's hard to know these days, what exactly a 'British' movie is. Does it depend on where the money comes from? For sake of arguement, I'll stick to what 'appears' to be British.

Although most of the Pink Panther movies haven't aged well, there was one gem that is always worth watching. It's an early one, entitled 'A Shot In The Dark'. Sellars was on top form.

Although in reality he was apparently a 'troubled' individual, and not always the nicest of people to be around, some of his work touches on genius -'Doctor Strangelove' being one shining example. Does that count at least as a part-British movie. The director, Stanley Kubrick, made England his home...Sellars was a Brit.....Ok, I'm pushing my luck here!

If you're a John Cleese / Monty Python fan, how about 'A Fish Called Wanda'. It also has Michael Palin...who I seem to remember has a stutter....which has unfortunate repercussions for a small dog, standing below a falling object.

Oh...I nearly forgot about an early Ridley Scott film.

'The Duellists' - Staring Keith Carradine, Harvey Keitel & Albert Finney. It's based on a Joseph Conrad novel. Basically, it's about a long running feud between two officers in the Napoleonic army.

It's also interesting just to watch the early (1977) work of Ridley Scott.

I thought these links may be of interest to some of you.

http://www.bbcamerica.com/genre/movies_specials/movies_specials.jsp

http://www.britishfilm.org.uk/

http://www.britmovie.co.uk/

Thanks stinger for those links and for your comments. Unfortunately few of your Yank cousins enjoy British humor, but I love British sitcoms and wish I could find Black Books again. I racked my brain trying to remember that name. League of Gentleman might have been my favorite though, among more recent shows - so unlike anything you'd see on american tv. I've seen Blackadder somewhere, I believe it is on one of the channels, but it may have disappeared like Black Books and League. Rowan Atkinson killed me in Four Weddings and a Funeral, and I did like him as Mr. B., at least in the TV series.

It was Sellers night here on a movie channel - Pink Panther Strikes Again and Dr. Strangelove - I almost included that on my list of British films - but kept that and other more famous films off it, like Lawrence of Arabia. I'll always have great fondness for the Pink Panther films, which I eagerly looked forward to as each new sequel was released. Enjoyed Sellers the other night in one of his earlier performances in The Ladykillers - funny to see him young and a bit chubby.

Loved A Fish Called Wanda, but not its sequel - someone really screwed that one up.

I've heard of The Duellists, but haven't seen it - I'll keep an eye out for it.

Great links stinger - especially BritMovie. I'd trade 50 of the channels my cable company now carries for one BBC America.

LarryBS

You mentioned British TV earlier in this thread. We have had so many re-runs of Fawlty Towers in Oz, I've lost count. But the amazing thing is you get sucked in every single time! John Cleese is just hilarious!
I love the episode where he tries to hide the corpse in the kitchen while the food inspector inspects .... the corpse lying dead on the bench top while Basil busily fries sausages for a guest's breakfast. Wonderful stuff!

Its on every Saturday night here.

Endless repeats? Now I could cope with that!
I just remembered the episode where he's convinced 2 of his guests are sharing a room (sin! ) & his deranged efforts to catch them red handed! Wonderful!