Etruscello

I'm new to Britmovie, yet only yesterday received 5 replies to my request for a title. I thank everyone who responded and gave me good information about Brief Encounter.
If I may be so bold, I have a more elaborate request today. My wife and I would like to see as many good old British movies as possible. We think it would become a good habit, as BBC productions have for us (from our NY library system). We don't know how to start with movies.
We'd love to compile a list of, say, 10 old British movies that are representative of British cinema (i.e., they don't all have to be romances like Brief Encounter ). We do have some preferences: drama, romance, Victorian settings, classics; but we would be open to all types for a representaive list.
Would you each care to respond with your representative list of 10? I'd be curious to see how much overlap I get. I'd be glad to determine the ten most overlapping items and post the consensus list of 10.
Thank you in advance for any attention given this request. Tom

DB7

You could go to the front page and look through the top 100 voted films. Many, many classics of all ages and genres amongst them.

Wetherby Pond

There's also the British Film Institute's BFI 100 list of what they reckon are the top 100 British films as chosen by experts in the field. There's a huge overlap with the Britmovie list (inevitably), but it does include a few more suggestions.

Fellwanderer

I'd go with Wetherby's suggestion but if you do want a list - here's mine:

2 conditions - all pre-1955, all b/w

The 39 Steps (1935)
Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939)
Went the Day Well? (1942)
A Canterbury Tale (1944)
A Matter of Life and Death (1946)
Great Expectations (1946)
The Third Man (1949)
Passport to Pimlico (1949)
Whisky Galore (1949)
The Lavender Hill Mob (1951)

All the best
FELL

A signature is no substitute for a life

Steve Crook

All B&W ... except for a large part of A Matter of Life and Death (1946)

Steve

JamesM

Some older titles missing off the BFI list (I think) that I like

"I Know Where I'm Going" (1945)
"Whistle Down the Wind" (1961)
"Night of the Demon" (1957)
"Dead of Night" (1945)
"The Captive Heart" (1946)
"Oh Mr Porter" (1937)
"Chance of a Lifetime" (1950)
"Pool of London" (1951)
"Scrooge" (1951)
"Give Us This Day (Our Daily Bread) aka Christ in Concrete" (1949)

DB7

Some of the exceptions are:

And...

Fellwanderer

Oops!

At least B&W played a major role in AMOLAD - that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

All the best
FELL

A signature is no substitute for a life

Steve Crook

Anything that starts off with an arrow hitting the target like the one on the left

Steve

Leanne

I'm new too, and far from being an expert on Britmovies, but here are some of my personal faves. Mainly seem to be in the mystery/adventure category plus the odd comedy or sci fi. I think they are all pretty broadly enjoyable.

The Lady Vanishes (1938)
Foreign Corrrespondent (1940)
Cottage to Let (1941)
Green For Danger (1946)
The Girl in the News (1940)
I Know Where I'm Going (1945)
The Life of Brian (1979)
Withnail and I (1986)
The Day the Earth Caught Fire (1961)
Quatermass and the Pit (1967)
Enigma (2001)
Night of the Demon (1957)
Pygmalion (1938)
The Third Man (1949)
The Ladykillers (1955)


Leanne

Clinton Morgan

Don't forget the following short British movies...

'The Running Jumping And Standing Still Film'
'The Case of The Mukinnese Battlehorn'

Plus the following cartoons by Bob Godfrey (whose company told Terry Gilliam to "bugger off" because he was too good)....

'The Do It Yourself Cartoon Kit'
'Karma Sutra Rides Again'
'Great'
'Henry 9 Til 5'

Watch 'The Red Shoes' and then follow that by 'The Mutations' starring Tom Baker, Donald Pleasance and directed by 'Shoes' cinematographer Jack Cardiff.

Try some portmanteau films like...
'Dead Of Night'
'The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins'

Also take a trip to the 1960s with films like...
'The Rebel'
'Darling'
'The Knack And How To Get It'
'How I Won The War'
'Saturday Night And Sunday Morning'
'if' (try and couple that one with Jean Vigo's 'Zero De Conduite')

And visit Britain in the latter bit of the twentieth century with
'Scum'
'Rita, Sue and Bob Too'
'Letter To Brezhnev'
and
'The Cook, The Thief, His Wife And Her Lover'.


Remember bad taste is just as important as good taste. My collection spans from Carl Dreyer's 'Michael' to Russ Meyer's 'Faster Pussycat! Kill, Kill!'

jazzylady

Tom, I have two that I don't think anyone else has recommended:

The Browning Version (1951)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0043362/

and

The Queen of Spades (1949)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041776/

~~Ruth

Izkovitch

A list of 11, each representing a certain type of Britishness and popular British cinema of its time:

"This Happy Breed" (David Lean, 1944) - propaganda for the ordinary Brit.
"Gaslight" (Thorold Dickinson, 1940) - Victorian repression.
"Rome Express" (Walter Forde, 1932) - comedy of a particularly British type.
"Odd Man Out" (Carol Reed, 1947) - finest acting, compelling story and a crazed artist!
"Oliver Twist" (David Lean, 1948) - Dickens - never bettered.
"The Man in the White Suit" (Sidney Cole, 1951) - Satire - very biting.
"Scott of the Antartic" (Sidney Coole, 1948) - Stiff upper lip.
"Pimpernel Smith" (Leslie Howard, 1941) - Charismatic propaganda.
"The Wandering Jew" (Julius Hagen, 1933) - very silly.
"Vessel of Wrath" (Erich Pommer, 1938) - ensemble acting.
"I Was A Spy" (Victor Saville, 1933) - British female fantasy (from my sister - aka Lady Lois!)

Obviously limited to 1930s-1950s, but they sum up the best of British Cinema from its Golden Age.