Immigrants in British movies

[tali122]

Not films about immigrants or their issues but rather films which show immigrants conspicuously in the background

The only two i can think of are Death Line and The Squeeze- both show West Indians.Are there any others?

Also i'm trying to figure out any metaphor or symbolism because it seems very rare for Brit movies of the time to show immigrants conspicuously but indirectly

Yes the film locations had high immigrant populations - but it seems more than simply location alone?

[Steve Crook]

Pool of London (1951)

There is Another Sun (1951)

Both with Earl Cameron. But was he (or the characters he was playing in each film) an immigrant or was he born here?



A Kid for Two Farthings (1955). David Kossoff's character is an immigrant



Steve

[batman]

Emergency Call - another one with Earl Cameron

[Rick C]

Tali-you can do no better in your theme than check out the black peoples' wedding in the Hayley Mills drama "Tiger Bay". Plenty of historical meat to dive into there. I'm an English guy working for my area Afro-Caribbean community as an archivist to do with films,TV,radio local history etc. Like in a cultural reversal I'm often spotted in my local press as an immigrant acting conspicuously at black peoples' weddings and funerals. I can see myself having a brainstorm on this thread certainly!

[Mark O]

'Flame in the streets' has several non-speaking WI extras, such as when it's Bonfire night and things start to turn nasty........

[batman]

Sapphire

[dylan]

Racial conflict was a key theme in the TV serial Quatermass and the Pit (1958), but the only black character is a workman in the opening episode. Nigel Kneale’s TV script specified a “colored workman” who was played straight by Lionel Ngakane but in Hammer’s 1967 version the role becomes a stereotypical, superstitious Negro (Elroy Josephs) of the eyeball-rolling variety.



D.

[Lord Lionheart]

The one that comes to mind is the West Indians that movie into Christie's house at the end of 10 Rillington Place. I always remember one was played by Rudolph Walker who's face I immediately recognized as a kid from the TV show Love thy Neighbour, which was also span off into a movie. Not sure if you want to open up that can of worms

[penfold]

name='tali122']Not films about immigrants or their issues but rather films which show immigrants conspicuously in the background

The only two i can think of are Death Line and The Squeeze- both show West Indians.Are there any others?

Also i'm trying to figure out any metaphor or symbolism because it seems very rare for Brit movies of the time to show immigrants conspicuously but indirectly

Yes the film locations had high immigrant populations - but it seems more than simply location alone?

The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp is largely about the friendship between Brit and eventual immigrant......but may not be exactly what you're thinking of; if you're thinking along racial minority lines, then The Proud Valley is an early example....but earlier still are the films from the late silent era set in the East End of London, the most famous and most available(From the BFI DVD) being Piccadilly....starring Anna May Wong, the racial minority in focus here is the chinese community, but African faces also feature......

[CaptainWaggett]

Lots of immigrants in Miracle in Soho

[dpgmel]

...and in the excellent Scandal

[doojeen]

There's a group of turban-wearing musicians with Peter Sellers Indian accents in The Sandwich Man - they're called (wait for it!) The Sikhers (cringe!).

name='Lord Lionheart']The one that comes to mind is the West Indians that movie into Christie's house at the end of 10 Rillington Place.

http://static.guim.co.uk/Guardian/ar...38_10-5252.jpg

[billy bentley]

There must have been at least dozens of portrayals of immigrant cafe and/or restaurant owners/workers/waiters in numerous British flicks especially from the 50's - 70's - mostly playing Italians, Greeks and Spaniards. Scenes come to mind, but no hard information I'm afraid.

[penfold]

name='CaptainWaggett']Lots of immigrants in Miracle in Soho

And there's the Italian restarateur family in The Citadel that Donat's character befriends....

[Steve Crook]

And there's the Spanish waiter in Fawlty Towers



Steve

[HUGHJAMPTON]

Hitchcock's The Ring has a West Indian as one of the seconds, and in the opening scenes of Blackmail there is a WI kid playing in the courtyard.

[penfold]

Amongst the first British films (that survive) that show ethnic minority immigrants are those of the Mitchell and Kenyon collection, filmed mostly in the North of England 1902-1908; I remember film of a group of young girls outside a factory (Sheffield??) that includes a black lass; and films they took of Edwardian Fairgrounds quite often feature the black fairground workers, primarily around the boxing booths....

And I wish I could remember the name of a British silent drama I saw about five years ago where one of the bewigged barristers or solicitors in an English court case was black....something that went entirely unremarked in the film, he was just a figure in the court scene, not a big deal.

[Henrietta]

name='tali122']Not films about immigrants or their issues but rather films which show immigrants conspicuously in the background

The only two i can think of are Death Line and The Squeeze- both show West Indians.Are there any others?

Also i'm trying to figure out any metaphor or symbolism because it seems very rare for Brit movies of the time to show immigrants conspicuously but indirectly

Yes the film locations had high immigrant populations - but it seems more than simply location alone?

There was the film starring Paul Robson set in a Welsh coal mining village and the name of which my my brayne has completely lost. D-urr!



Remember seeing on television about 40 years ago.



Robeson wasn't exactly an immigrant being American but had long connections with Welsh mining communities through the 1930s.

[Henrietta]

Of course - it was "The Proud Valley". Brain slowly disintegrating due to use less rubbish cluttering it up

[CaptainWaggett]

I'm currently watching David Lean's Oliver Twist - there are some black guys in the 'Three Cripples' listening to Hattie Jacques singing. Of course they, like quite a few characters mentioned so far, might not actually be immigrants. How would you know with background characters?