David Brent

Living so far away i'm a little short of details but i believe today's British "Sunday Times" has published a list of Britain's greatest film's as voted by British actors themselves.

Voted Number One- "Lawrence of Arabia"
Voted Most Influencial Person- Alfred Hitchcock
Voted Worst Film - "Carry On Columbus".

I await the full details from other members.

Dave.

Marky B

No problem with Lean's masterpiece thumbs_u .
Hitchcock? Not sure!
Carry On Columbus - I love the Carry On...films,but their appeal waned after the death of Sid James and indeed their style was modelled on a group of actors,most of whom are sadly no longer with us .
Ta Ta
Marky B

I am special. The heavens always open for me.

David Brent

Anybody out there buy the Sunday Times?

Be nice to see the complete listings.

Dave.

Jim

Dave, we don't have Sunday papers at home - so is the list you mentioned a 'one-off' list or a weekly item?

Good morning boys.

DB7

There's this from the Sunday Telegraph - not Times.

Stars vote Lawrence of Arabia the best British film of all time
By Chris Hastings and Fiona Govan
(Filed: 15/08/2004)


David Lean's Oscar-winning epic Lawrence of Arabia has been named the best British film of all time in a poll of the country's most acclaimed film-makers.

The 1962 film, which starred Peter O'Toole as the enigmatic T E Lawrence, was one of four Lean classics to make it into the top 10 in the poll conducted by The Sunday Telegraph.

Brief Encounter, the director's bitter-sweet tale of a doomed romance that starred Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard, was named runner-up ahead of his adaptation of Great Expectations, which came fourth, and his war-time epic, The Bridge On The River Kwai, which tied in seventh place.

Lady Lean, the director's widow, last night welcomed the results describing her late husband as "a dreamer who knew how to put his dreams on screen".

She added: "In private David would describe himself as a near miss. He didn't think he was great so he set himself enormously high standards. I think the films endure because people understand that they are about the stuff of life. They are about flawed characters, complex relationships and they all deal with those very fears we have to deal with in our own lives.

Dame Judi Dench: favourite British actress
"He worked best when he could relate to the characters on the screen, when they were a mirror image of him. David was Peter O'Toole in Lawrence of Arabia. He was Alec Guinness in Bridge On The River Kwai and he certainly was Trevor Howard in Brief Encounter."

The final list of top 10 films reflects British cinema's long fixation with such genres as kitchen-sink realism, irreverent social satire and classic literary adaptation.

Carol Reed's 1949 thriller, The Third Man, made it to third place ahead of The Ladykillers, Kind Hearts and Coronets, Kes, Alfred Hitchcock's The Thirty-Nine Steps, A Matter of Life and Death and Four Weddings and A Funeral.

Just over 230 actors, technicians, writers and directors took part in the poll, which was organised by The Sunday Telegraph to celebrate British film and British film talent. Each voted for their 10 favourite British films and their five top actors and actress in several categories.

Contemporary film-makers, including Julian Fellowes, the Oscar-winning writer of Gosford Park, Sir David Hare, and Ismail Merchant, the producer of Howards End and Remains of the Day, cast their votes alongside veterans including Ken Russell, Michael Winner and Jack Cardiff, the double Oscar-winning cinematographer.

The results seem to confirm the view that the heyday of British cinema is over. Four Weddings and A Funeral, which celebrates its 10th birthday this year, and Trainspotting, released in 1996, were the only two relatively recent releases to make it into the top 20.

By contrast, the list of the 10 films voted the worst British films of all time is dominated by a string of new releases, including Sex Lives of the Potato Men and Love Actually, both of which came out last year, and Spiceworld, The Movie from 1997.

The prize for the ultimate stinker eventually went to the lamentable Carry On Columbus, released in 1992, a doomed attempt to relaunch the once-popular Carry On series.

The impression of decline is confirmed by results in other categories. Dr No, Sean Connery's first outing as 007, easily took the prize of best Bond film, while Brief Encounter was the overwhelming favourite for the most romantic British film.

The irreverent Monty Python film, Life of Brian, which will celebrate its 25th birthday this year, was voted Best British Comedy - ahead of the original Ealing version of The Ladykillers.

The most surprising results came in the categories for individual talent. While Lean comfortably won the category for Best Director, he had to settle for third place in the race for the most influential Briton in world cinema. Alfred Hitchock, who began his career in Britain before moving to Hollywood in the 1940s, took the top prize ahead of Charlie Chaplin - another Briton who made his name on the other side of the Atlantic.

Some of the acting categories also threw up surprises. Dame Judi Dench, a relative newcomer to international cinema and perhaps best known for her role as M in the Bond films, was named favourite actress ahead of veterans such as Maggie Smith, Margaret Rutherford, Vanessa Redgrave and Vivien Leigh, although she was named the actress who made the most impact on world cinema.

Sir Alec Guinness narrowly beat Lord Olivier and the Bristol-born Cary Grant to be named the most influential British actor in world cinema.

DB7

Lawrence of Arabia tops poll for best British film

LONDON, AUGUST 15: David Lean’s Oscar-winning epic Lawrence of Arabia has emerged as the best British film of all time and Sir Anthony Hopkins the favourite British actor, according to a poll.

The 1962-film, which starred Peter O’Toole as the enigmatic T.E. Lawrence, was one of four Lean classics to make it into the top ten in the poll conducted by The Sunday Telegraph.



Brief Encounter, the director’s bitter-sweet tale of a doomed romance that starred Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard, was named runner-up ahead of his adaptation of Great Expectations, which came fourth, and his war-time epic, Bridge on the River Kwai, which tied in seventh place.

Lady Lean, the director’s widow, said that her late husband as ‘‘a dreamer who knew how to put his dreams on screen’’. ‘‘He worked best when he could relate to the characters on the screen, when they were a mirror image of him. David was Peter O’Toole in Lawrence of Arabia. He was Alec Guinness in Bridge on the River Kwai and he certainly was Trevor Howard in Brief Encounter,’’ she said.

The final list of top 10 films reflects British cinema’s long fixation with such genres as kitchen-sink realism, irreverent social satire and classic literary adaptation.

Carol Reed’s 1949 thriller The Third Man, made it to third place ahead of The Lady Killers, Kind Hearts and Coronets, Kes, Alfred Hitchcock’s The Thirty-Nine Steps, A Matter of Life and Death and Four Weddings and a Funeral.

Contemporary film-makers, including Julian Fellowes, the Oscar-winning writer of Gosford Park, Sir David Hare, and Ismail Merchant, the producer of Howards End and Remains of the Day, cast their votes alongside veterans including Ken Russell, Michael Winner and Jack Cardiff, the double Oscar-winning cinematographer.

The results, according to the newspaper, seems to confirm the view that the heyday of British cinema is over. Four Weddings and a Funeral, which celebrates its 10th birthdqy this year, and Trainspotting, released in 1996, were the only two relatively recent releases to make it into the top 20.

By contrast, the list of the 10 films voted the worst British films of all time is dominated by a string of new releases including Sex Lives of the Potato Men and Love Actually, both of which came out last year, and Spiceworld, the movie from 1997.

The prize for the ultimate stinker went to the lamentable Carry On Columbus, released in 1992, a doomed attempt to relaunch the once-popular Carry On series. Dr No, Sean Connery’s first outing as 007, easily took the prize of best Bond film.

While Lean won the category for best director, he had to settle for third place in the race for the most influential Briton in world cinema. Alfred Hitchcock, who began his career in Britain before moving to Hollywood, took the top prize ahead of Charlie Chaplin — another Briton who made his name on the other side of the Atlantic.

Dame Judi Dench, a relative newcomer to international cinema and perhaps best known for her role as M in the Bond films, was named favourite actress ahead of veterans such as Maggie Smith, Margaret Rutherford, Vanessa Redgrave and Vivien Leigh, although she was named the actress who made the most impact on world cinema.

Sir Alec Guinness narrowly beat Lord Olivier and the Bristol-born Cary Grant to be named the most influential British actor.

Brief Encounter of 1945 was declared the most romantic British film.

David Brent

Thanks DB7 & Jim,

As i say,living so far away i wasn't sure of the details.Sorry i got the paper wrong blush

I do not think there are many arguments regarding the best films list.

Were the voters maybe a little biased towards older films & are the recent Brit films really that bad?If so what do you think is the reason for the downfall? After all the talent is still there - BBC Drama is still highly rated around the world.Why is it that it doesn't seem to transpond to movies?

Dave.

Steve Crook

It's nice to see a poll where people actually even considered anything more than 5 years old. I dismiss most film polls as the memory of most people polled doesn't seem to go back before the most recent over-hyped blockbuster.

The newspapers here love to swing from one extreme to another. When a good film comes out they claim we can "beat Hollywood at their own game". In between those times they mourn "the death of the British film industry". T'was ever thus.

The only thing you should believe in most newspapers is the date - and you should double check that with another source.

Steve

Steve Crook

PaPAS

Jim

Thanks DB7 for all that info for my Antipodean friend on the other side of the world! I would have sent you a copy of itDave, if I could have got a copy. thumbs_u

Good morning boys.

David Brent

Cheers Jim,

I knew it was only a matter of time before someone on this great site came through with the information.

Antipodean?
Cant you get arrested for that!?!

Dave.

Jim

Nargh! You can do anything these days Dave! scarf

Good morning boys.

David Challinor

not that I'm bothered, but Lawrence of Arabia doesn't have any significant/speaking part for actresses ...that's got to be unique for a 3-hour epic!>

Steve Crook

But what was the full list of films and people in this poll? The Telegraph doesn't seem to have published the full results anywhere. They just said who came first and who else was in the running.

Steve

Steve Crook

PaPAS

Gibbie

Most online papers don't publish all their information, except to subscribers and even then, some information is only in the paper.

Steve, did you chat them up or is that just what was listed on the site?

Gibbie

Steve Crook

The Telegraph (& Sunday Telegraph) let you see all of their web pages if you register with them (no charge). The web page showed all of the article quoted above plus a few pictures - but no sign of the actual results.

Steve

Steve Crook

PaPAS