Greatest British Film |
peterw
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Great film, possibly pushing the boundaries of "British" despite Ridley Scott's direction and the presence of Ian Holm. Cracking list though. I'll have a think as well. Peter |
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Sheldon Hall
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ALIEN is no less "British" than ZULU or LAWRENCE OF ARABIA - mostly British cast and crew, made in a British studio with American money. These things are very fluid!
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peterw
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I was thinking more of the setting but I take your point.
And I've just remembered John Hurt (how could I forget that?). Peter |
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Sheldon Hall
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Why is outer space any less appropriate to a British film than Africa or Arabia?!
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Sheldon Hall
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Okay, here are mine (in date order):
LISTEN TO BRITAIN BRIEF ENCOUNTER A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH BLACK NARCISSUS KIND HEARTS AND CORONETS MANDY A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS WHERE EAGLES DARE THE PRIVATE LIFE OF SHERLOCK HOLMES STRAW DOGS plus ZULU, of course. But you knew that already. P.S. These are my personal favourites, NOT the "best" British films of all time - though some of them are that as well (in fact, all of them except WHERE EAGLES DARE). |
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John Young
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PeterW,
To bring it back round to the Zulu War, do you know why John Hurt was in Alien? Henry V - the Branagh version! Watched it in HD yesterday what a cast! John Y. |
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Mel
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Sheldon
I'm wondering what your favourite scene is from Straw Dogs? |
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_________________ Mel |
Sheldon Hall
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John,
I do, I do! He was supposed to be in ZD but was refused entry to South Africa because he had made too convincing a job of playing the homosexual Quentin Crisp in THE NAKED CIVIL SERVANT. I forget which role he was supposed to play. Mel, I'm not sure that i have a favourite scene in SD - the whole movie is so powerful. |
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John Young
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Sheldon,
Close, but not close enough, the SA authorities thought it was the American actor John Heard, who had been arrested for his anti-apartheid beliefs, and refused Hurt's visa at the airport. He was replaced by Ronald Lacey in the role of 'Noggs' Norris-Newman. I heard first-hand at Pinewood. John Y. |
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Sheldon Hall
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Aha! This makes much more sense. Thanks for putting to rest an urban myth!
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Peter Ewart
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For what it's worth, a quick list of my favourites off the top of my head, but I've probably missed or forgotten some - and as I've hardly been to the flicks for 40 years they're probably a bit dated! No particular order:
Lawrence of Arabia Dr Zhivago - presume this was British? Cast packed with top British actors. NW Frontier - how can one possibly exclude More, Lom, Hyde-White & the Eton Boat Song! Bridge on the River Kwai - never seen a cinema queue as long, either before or since. Battle of Britain - they used my pub in the film! Reach for the Sky - I once met Bader. (But I liked the film anyway!) Dunkirk - getting a bit predictable, isn't it? But I witnessed the film being made & my brother was an extra! GOAL! (Colour film of the 1966 World Cup). Released only a few weeks or months afterwards - absolutely amazing to see it all in colour. Never seen it since. Who else remembers it? A Night to Remember - Kenneth More again! Chariots of Fire - missed it when released but caught up in the days of DVD. (My uncle met Abrahams before his triumph). A Canterbury Tale - as discussed with Rich here earlier this year. London Can Take It - 1940 WW2 propaganda film at the beginning of the Blitz for exporting to the US. Quentin Reynolds' timely antidote to Ambassador Joseph Kennedy's "Britain has had it." I have the accompanying booklet with full script and stills. This short film is on Youtube, I see. Oops - listed too many! And still no James Robertson Justice or Norman Wisdom, neither of whom can really be excluded. OK, Dr in the House & Trouble in Store. I'd be no good on Desert Island Discs, would I? Too many WW2 films here but that was the staple diet of my boyhood. In at least six of these, the musical theme almost selects it on its own. (Did I mention 633 Squadron or The Dam Busters? I'm not sure they'd have been so well remembered without their music). The last three in the list only seen on the small screen. Peter |
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peterw
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I think most of the great/good ones have already gone. Sadly, the appeal of a number of these has not transferred to more recent generations. I tried to interest my boys in North West Frontier but it didn't grab them.
One (non-war) candidate - The Railway Children. There has to be room for the original Four Feathers. Master and Commander The Long Good Friday The Man Who Would be King - majestic (and duplicating Simon's nomination) And a fringe candidate - No Blade of Grass - but I haven't seen that in years. Peter |
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Sheldon Hall
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Peters (if I may),
I think that technically both DOCTOR ZHIVAGO nor THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING are American, not British, despite the director of the first and the subject of the second (no British studios were involved). Re. music, one of the first LP records I ever owned (and still have) was "Great War Movie Themes", by the Geoff ove Orchestra on MFP Records. Anyone else got it? I knew the themes before seeing many of the films - and Peter E is right, some were better. Peter W, you've picked a film I've never seen - NO BLADE OF GRASS, which I missed on TV in 1978 and have never caught up with. As for NORTH WEST FRONTIER (which I also love - kids have to see it at the right early age!), you've allowed me to name-drop Herbert Lom, who came to my talk at the opening of the ZULU exhibition at the London Film Museum in July... |
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Paul Bryant-Quinn
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Sheldon
Does The African Queen count, technically, as a British film? The other films people have mentioned are all great ones. I'm going to sneak in Genevieve and The Titfield Thunderbolt. Nostalgia ain't what it used to be. <sigh> Either that, or I'm turning into Peter Ewart in my old age ... (Only joking, Peter - and yes, I remember Goal! very clearly: like everyone else, we only had a black-and-white steam powered TV in 1966, and I can remember everyone flocking to the Astoria to watch it.) |
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Greatest British Film |
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