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Top B&W British movies

Possibly Cheesy means his little bowler-hatted tramp type character was more 'British' than American?
I think of him like that.
It's certainly a music hall-derived act.

But I was wondering more generally if there was a "Britishness" that film makers might take with them when they go to the states. Were Hitchcock's Hollywood films still "British" in character or just Hitchcockian? And so on.
 
No mention yet of the great sons of the desert aka Laurel & Hardy with the likes of Way out West and appropriate for this time of year, Laughing Gravy.

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Always had a soft spot for Norman Wisdom films










Love Norman Wisdom...brilliant comedy actor....actually he was just a brilliant actor period. His eyes could register every single changing emotion and yet he'd smile and laugh in a self depracatory "I'm alright" sort of way... Brilliant.

Note to self...add to my list of Christmas films to watch.
 
Interesting notion. I was going for "made in the UK".

What would you say are the attributes that make a film British? What is this essence that Chaplin carried to Hollywood?

Yep, actually after reading this thread I rewatched The Kid last night. It is the sensitivity of his storytelling and exposure of poverty in the slums VS the glamour of society which kind of reflects his own Victorian upbringing that he never forgot. This is definitely personified by the tramp, who is poor but the consummate, polite, charming English gentleman tipping his hat in greeting or apology. He never forgets his manners - and so many of his US characters who play alongside him are villainous cretins. There is always a busybody policeman teetering about too, who never gets the better of him.
 
maybe check out underground classic "the Leather Boys" - maybe not as expertly shot and scripetd as some, but interesting storyline set in the post war years and people coming to terms with what their lives are about.
 
My favourite b&w movie by Powell & Pressburger is I Know Where I'm Going in which a woman on her way to marry a rich industrialist, gets held up by a storm and instead falls in love with a Scottish island and a man who embodies the spirit of that island in an almost supernatural way.
Thanks for this tip - I watched it on Friday. A really impressive film, pitch-perfect in many ways, including its slightly discomfiting ending (it isn't happy for everybody). Highly recommended.
 

I had a look on Imdb and there's a credit for Paul Hollywood as 'the kid'. Hollywood was born in 1966 so it might fit.

I wonder if it is Mr Pastry King as a teenager?

I shall have to watch the film now......:rolleyes::)
 
I had a look on Imdb and there's a credit for Paul Hollywood as 'the kid'. Hollywood was born in 1966 so it might fit.

I wonder if it is Mr Pastry King as a teenager?

I shall have to watch the film now......:rolleyes::)
It's a different Paul Hollywood.
 
I know Where I'm Going.
Powell and Pressburger and staring Wendy Hiller and Roger Livesey. It's got Petula Clark in too :)
It also has deerhounds in it so I'm bound to love it but it's a great film anyway.

Bugger, Just noticed that Reno rates it too and got here before me.
 
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