Surprise or no Surprise

Well, it is a very good film; regardless of its subject. A good story is universally popular. Americans and Britons both like "Star Wars", but none of us are from Tantooine.

I was a bit surprised that Lawrence of Arabia didn't make it into the top ten.

And, following Equus's remarks, I would also assume that most Brits are not Austrians, yet that doesn't prevent them from enjoying "The Sound of Music." Good stories are good stories, regardless of the locale.

I'm surprised the Wizard of Oz did not make it given that a number of thems and lines (such as "we're not in Kansas anymore") from that movie have morphed into the language.

Lest we forget one of the Brit's all time favorite actors aside from Leigh is in GWTW.

The American Civil War could be a caveat emptor for the British. We bought into slavery when we declared independence from them, they came back to give us another go in 1812, burning the White House (today they're symbolically burning it). The Civil War could be perceived by the Brits as our comeupance and notice that the French came to our rescue once again with weaponry (it's very possible we would have lost the War of Independence without them).

BTW, the new restoration of GWTW is incredible. It's presented in a wide screen format (there is a small loss of the top and bottom of the image but it was originally filmed like Copolla's "Dracula" to be presented in both formats). The detail and color are back in their full glory and since the spectacle is an inherent part of the greatness of the film, it's a welcome addition to DVD libraries. Not my absolute favorite film, however, as everyone knows by now that's "Vertigo," also restored to its VistaVision clarity (VistaVision) as a process where the film, like IMAX and hi-def, run through the camera with the image perpendicular to the sprokets instead of anamorphic, giving birth to the 16.9 ratio of today's TV hi-def wide screen).

As to the other films on the list I'm surprised at the version of "The Jungle Book" they elected to the list.

The French contributed more than weaponry. There were a number of French officer who were officially "observers" who took active commands during battles, particularly during the Peninsular Campaign in 1862.

Here's a link, incidentally, to the entire BFI list:

http://www.bfi.org.uk/features/ultimatefilm/chart/index.php

Joe, Cav, Equus, Acquiunk. I was mostly amazed that Gone With the Wind was at the top of the list in England, although I'm certain the many American actresses vieing for that Scarlett role were a bit dismayed that Leigh got it.

I love British films and have watched many of them, especially in my youth, because they seem so much more realistic.

Boris Karloff's biography totally shocked me when I searched it out on the web.

Confession:

I did NOT read the book Gone with the Wind, and probably won't.

I did NOT like The Sound of Music except for the one song.


Edelweiss, Edelweiss
Every morning you greet me
Small and white, clean and bright
You look happy to meet me

Blossom of snow may you bloom and grow
Bloom and grow forever

Edelweiss, Edelweiss
Bless my homeland forever

The reason that I created this thread, is because nimh and Don1 once observed that A2K was an American site.

Sorry, but I also enjoyed Audrey Hepburn doing Liza in My Fair Lady, too.

If this response is a bit disjointed, it's because I think divergently, sometimes.

Wow! Missed Wizard's response. Thanks for responding oh he of the light.

You're probably right. Our just desserts. Not that we cornered the market on slavery, you understand.

I still remember my Mom telling me about her first response to a test whose question read:

Tell all you know about George Washington and Lafayette.

One kid answered:

George Washington, he fit the Indians. Lafayette, he fit 'em, too.

I meant to add that. Thank Acquiunk -- I know if my memory of college history (or, for that matter, my extensive reading over the years of history) fails me, you'll come to my rescue.

Yes, the French may have also been very instrumental in the North winning the Civil War, perhaps crucial. We'd never know how history would have been rewritten but we presently know what the snubbing of nearly all of our past allies and our new found bedfellow, Tony, will lead us. It's coming to know good, now isn't it? Can't rationalize it away, now can they? Pakistanis pulling out -- does that mean the Bushites never had sex?

George Washingon, like John Kerry, also married into wealth. That's what paid for those expensive wooden teeth (except they weren't wooden). All this chattering about our so pure forefathers. Yeah, sure -- a bunch of alcoholics who could barely raise their pens to sign the Constitution. There was a superficial rationalization for accepting the subjecation of women and the proliferation of slavery. If Washington had stood up in that boat on the Delaware, he would have been wearing the Delaware.

Being one nation in a short list of those who accepted slavery doesn't make us any better than the cretins around the world who were also accepting it.

I have issues with the sociological aspects of "Gone With the Wind" -- it was a stinky wind indeed. However what the Northern conservatives (actually then, the Democrats) did to the South during the Reformation may have been almost as bad as slavery and really turned them even more into bigots. How many intelligent men created this country and how many stupid men have been running it since then? I haven't stopped counting --one of the Civil War generals presided over possibly the most corrupt administrations in our history. Today, apparantly they just resign to bail out on the coming debacle.

I can see also why the Brits would like "Titanic" for its meticulous recreation of the disaster and the sly homage to Dickens in the story even though it was a pop culture plot and resolution -- throw the priceless gem into the ocean, sure, but only in the movies! Sorry, no love is that timeless and plausibility was thrown out the window as there was little chemistry between the two leads.

Wow! LW is on a roll. Just gonna sit back and watch.

I like American history from the viewpoint of Stan the man:

http://theages.superman.ws/users/mas/usa/liner/lyrics.html

Funniest songs that I ever heard, and now volume III is about to be released.

Letty....youv've dragged me into strange territory!

Many Brits are "soap" addicts and I suspect that has something to do with the result. Soaps aside, most "thinking Brits" hate the "Hollywoodization" in films like "Titanic" and I have to smile a little at Lightwizard's references to Dickens above which would not be out of place in "Pseud's Corner".

I'm now running back to hide in Philosophy !

. Well Fresco, I just found that out from McTag.

Once an Englishman, always an Englishman, right?

Toodle-oo Old Fruit !

I like Gone With the Wind very much. It is based entirely on M Mitchell's conception of the Old South. I used to know a lot of people who thought of those times the same way. In their minds such was true history. So long as we remember to keep it in perspective, there's nothing wrong there.

I could not sit through that version of The Jungle Book.

What strikes me is the quantity of films made in the 40s.
They make 5 of the top 10, and 20 of the top 100.
So many of them are now forgotten.
The biggest surprise for me was "The Seventh Veil", directed by Compton Bennet, if my memory doesn't fail. I saw that on TV about 20 years ago. Nothing remarkable. Yet, it was massive taste for inmediate post-war Brits.

And this all reminds me of a song by The Incredible String Band:
"I was a young man back in the nineteen sixties.
Well you made your own amusements then,
by going to the pictures"