lordtednfs

There are many movie books out there telling you what movies to see before you die. So if it's possible lets start a thread, if it's not already been done about the "Best 1001 British Movies To See Before You Die". If it has lets update that list.

wearysloth

My List of 476 titles
I couldn't make it anywhere near 1001

but I'm sure I'm missing a bunch o' stuff...(I hope)

...and a few of these are iffy as to their Britishness...

NappieB

Wearysloth - Superb list!

"The future is yet to come" - George W. Bush

David Brent

Just as long as we can all come over to your place one weekend and view the "Best 1001 British Movies" back to back.

Dave.

Aaryk Noctivagus

Yes, you missed 'Night of the Eagle' which surely would be there. You also used the American name for 'Night of the Demon' rather than the correct British one

Really nice to see 'Battle Beneath the Earth' remembered.

christoph404

Wearysloth's location is in Florida USA so Im guessing he would have seen "Curse of The Demon" which is the correct title for the USA . And "Night of the Demon" is the correct title for the UK, I would have thought niether is more correct or incorrect than the other, "alternative title" or "US title" "UK title" is perhaps a more accurate description, many films had different titles in the USA and the UK and if you start taking non English speaking Europe into consideration, well there are even more varaitions on titles. Another example came from a question on a different thread earlier this month regarding the UK title of "Flame over India" which is of course "North West Frontier" , viewers in the USA would be quite correct in referring to this film as Flame over India and here in the UK we would be correct in refering to it as North west Passage but I don't think correct or incorrect comes into it, UK title, USA title, European title yes.

DB7

They are of course different edits so the title will indicate which version you are viewing.

Aaryk Noctivagus

'Night of the Demon' is the correct title for two reasons, in my opinion.

'Curse of the Demon' is a censor edited version for American audiences and NOT the complete and superior version.

'Night of the Demon' is the British title for a British movie. The title used in the country of origin is preferable to the replacement title. My only exception would be titles made of non English words... because Anglicised titles are easier to understand and remember for me as an English speaker - my weakness. My hypocrisy shows in the titles of two of my screenplays... 'Asilus' and 'Incubae Vampyris' which are not exactly English language - lol

Santonix

I would also suggest 2 London Film Productions "The Man Who Could Work Miracles" starring Roland Young and "The Ghost Goes West" starring Robert Donat.

Santonix

Just noticed "Whistle Down The Wind" and " A Kind Of Loving" have been missed off.

Fareham_Bee

Up The Junction. One of my top films, leave alone top British films. Great soundtrack too.

christoph404

Wasn't "Night of The Demon "an American produced film with a Hollywood director and an American star?.........Im being provocative here!! Actually I have watched both versions on DVD and I can't imagine why the US censor would have cut some of the scenes because the scenes that are missing are not particularly controversial , diidn't the filmakers themselves produce a shorter version so that it would fit on a double bill at the US drive in cinemas? In true patronising fashion the American producer renanmed it "Curse of....." supposedly because he thought audiences might get confused with "Night of The Iguana".....duh..?

Aaryk Noctivagus

Oh you provocative thing you...

A French-born Director who's father took him over to America when he was still a child is a French-born Director as much as Hitchcock was British-born. Jacques Tourneur even died in France. He did make several non-American movies such as 'Pour être aimé'.

'Night of the Demon' is as American produced as the classic 'School for Scoundrels' and the Production company 'Sabre Film Production' was British.

I accept that Dana Andrews was an American... but many British Productions have had American leads to aid sales in the USA.

...And it was not the Producer who renamed the movie (neither of them), but the American Studio that distributed it over in the USA.

See... now you've gone and provoked me, you provocative thing you...

christoph404

Ouch!!...... okay okay, so its a British made horror film in the B&W style of a 1940's RKO/ Universal horror with (funnily enough) a genuine hollywood director of that genre at the helm, while proper british horror directors of the time were forging ahead with Chris Lee and Cushing in Frankenstein and Dracula!..... being even more provocotive, you may need to bash some more sense into my thick obstinate head!!

Aaryk Noctivagus

It may be Black and White like many other British movies (Horror and otherwise)... but I dispute it is made in the same style as RKO/Universal Horror. One thing about Jacques Tourneur was that his Horror movies were NOT typical Hollywood fare... consider 'Cat People' (very different for Hollywood and subtle... which, with all due respect, is not a trend in American productions). Jacques Tourneur was much more psychological in his approach to Horror.

Hammer and Amicus were not the ONLY providers of British Horror. 'Night of the Eagle' was also British, Black and White and largely subtle... much more similar to 'Night of the Demon' than usual Hollywood Fare.

Yes, Hammer and Amicus were the big players, and their fare was often in-your-face rather than subtle... but even they were quite subtle occasionally. 'The Abomnible Snowman' or 'I, Monster' perhaps?

I'm not saying 'Night of the Demon' is typical of general British Horror output... I'm saying it wasn't typical of Hollywood output either.