David Brent

For what it's worth the September issue of Empire magazine has listed what it believes to be the '100 Best Actors Of All Time'.

Most of the list is predictable & i'm not sure what criterior they used in making the list but out of the 100 listed there were only 21 British born actors.
The great Laurence Olivier could only manage no.76.
The highest rated Brit was Anthony Hopkins.
The number one actor listed was Robert De Niro.

Dave.

dylan

I don't believe Olivier was a *great* screen actor. Competent and reliable, yes, but not great. Most of his reputation comes from his theatre work and even regard for his stage performances has fallen in recent years.

Gibbie

Most likely based upon the values of theatre today. De Niro appears to open up the character and is very fluid this way. Although, his characters usually take on a disturbed hue.

Olivier et all from the early and mid 20th century were of a different style. A strong characteristic that I disliked from that era was the opaque nature of much of the stage and literary folk. Although, remember that Olivier et al started on stage and those dynamics are quite different than film. On the other hand, the distateful aspects of today's acting, stage or film, are the cynical deconstructive sensibilites and many director's abilities to get into the minds of the audience and start fires.

Expect this type of list to change with time and tastes.

Gibbie

Hackett

Best British film actors for me are the likes of Bernard Lee, Trevor Howard and Denholm Elliot. These people are very good even in crap films.