TopBilled Posted November 21, 2012 Share Posted November 21, 2012 I've been wanting to ask: what do people think are the best British movies of the 1940s? I have been watching a few of these titles at Netflix streaming recently. Some of them are really good! And I was unfamiliar with a lot of these performers and directors before, so it is causing me to research it a bit more to see what other treasures I can find. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated... The one I really loved today was BLANCHE FURY, with Valerie Hobson and Stewart Granger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fxreyman Posted November 21, 2012 Share Posted November 21, 2012 A Matter of Life and Death (1946) by the writing-directing-producing team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. David Niven, Roger Livesey, Kim Hunter, Marius Goring and Raymond Massey. Probably my all-time favorite 1940s era British film. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clore Posted November 21, 2012 Share Posted November 21, 2012 I'll go with ODD MAN OUT, a film that may not have the reputation of Reed's THE THIRD MAN but which I find much more engrossing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FredCDobbs Posted November 21, 2012 Share Posted November 21, 2012 The Third Man Great Expectations Black Narcissus The Red Shoes Vacation from Marriage I See a Dark Stranger Oliver Twist Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SansFin Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 I have always had a particular fondness for: *Passport to Pimlico* (1949). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TopBilled Posted November 22, 2012 Author Share Posted November 22, 2012 Thanks everyone for the responses. These are some of the ones offered at Netflix streaming that I haven't had time to look at (if any are particularly noteworthy, let me know, and I will put it at the top of queue): _The 1940s_ A PLACE OF ONE'S OWN...Margaret Lockwood & James Mason THE MAGIC BOW...Phyllis Calvert, Stewart Granger, Jean Kent ENGLISH WITHOUT TEARS...Michael Wilding & Lilli Palmer CAPTAIN BOYCOTT...Stewart Granger & Kathleen Ryan COTTAGE TO LET...Leslie Banks & Alastair Sim DEAR MURDERER...Eric Portman, Greta Gynt, Dennis Price THE OCTOBER MAN...John Mills & Joan Greenwood ADAM AND EVELYNE...Stewart Granger & Jean Simmons TWO THOUSAND WOMEN...Flora Robson & Patricia Roc GOOD-TIME GIRL...Jean Kent & Dennis Price BEWARE OF PITY...Lilli Palmer & Cedric Hardwicke ALL OVER THE TOWN...Sarah Churchill & Ronald Adam LONDON BELONGS TO ME...Richard Attenborough & Alastair Sim THE ROCKING HORSE WINNER...John Mills & Valerie Hobson HUNGRY HILL...Dennis Price & Margaret Lockwood MILLIONS LIKE US...Patricia Roc & Gordon Jackson BLITHE SPIRIT...Rex Harrison & Constance Cummings MIRANDA...Glynis Johns & Googie Withers EASY MONEY...Jack Warner & Marjorie Fielding THIS HAPPY BREED...Robert Newton, Celia Johnson, John Mills MY BROTHER'S KEEPER...Jack Warner & David Tomlinson APPOINTMENT WITH CRIME...William Hartnell & Raymond Lovell ONCE A JOLLY SWAGMAN...Dirk Bogarde & Bonar Colleano THE LADY FROM LISBON...Francis L. Sullivan & Jane Carr _The 1950s_ THREE SUNDAYS TO LIVE...Kieron Moore & Jane Griffiths THE ASSASSIN...Richard Todd & Eva Bartok ALWAYS A BRIDE...Peggy Cummins & Terence Morgan THE LARGE ROPE...Donald Houston & Susan Shaw THE BLUE LAMP...Jack Warner & Dirk Bogarde HIGHLY DANGEROUS...Margaret Lockwood & Dane Clark A WOMAN POSSESSED...Kay Callard & Francis Matthews THE DEPRAVED...Anne Heywood & Robert Arden FATHER'S DOING FINE...Richard Attenborough & Heather Thatcher TROUBLE IN THE GLEN...Margaret Lockwood & Orson Welles MOMENT OF INDISCRETION...Ronald Howard & Lana Morris BLACK ORCHID...Ronald Howard & Olga Edwardes THE CARD...Alec Guinness, Glynis Johns, Valerie Hobson MAD ABOUT MEN...Glynis Johns & Donald Sinden THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST...Michael Redgrave MEET ME TONIGHT...Valerie Hobson, Nigel Patrick, Jack Warner THE ASTONISHED HEART...Celia Johnson, Noel Coward Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
filmlover Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 Hi, TopBilled, You might like to look through this history of British cinema thread I created about a year ago. I am sure you will find a number of titles you will want to watch. http://forums.tcm.com/thread.jspa?threadID=161496&tstart=90&messageID=8556143#8556143 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TopBilled Posted November 22, 2012 Author Share Posted November 22, 2012 Thanks. I will! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrinceSaliano Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 THIS HAPPY BREED (1944) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trix_of_the_Flix Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 "Kind Hearts And Coronets" (1949) is a fave dark-comedy by Ealing Studios. If I may suggest a couple of "lesser-lights"------ 2 George Formby faves: "Let George Do it" & "Turned Out Nice Again" (1940 & 1941) Will Hay: "Convict 99" and "The Goose Steps Out" (1937 & 1943) "Convict 99" is a great comedy & I think Roddy McDowell plays a youngster early in it... The other three were filmed during the war & are about the war... in one life aspect or another... Very Interesting...In "Turned Out Nice Again", if you look real closely you will find Formby's suit is soiled... some scenes it is more noticable but nothing in the film indicates he is wearing a soild suit.... it was probably his own, and just was ..... The leading lady has teeth a bit like Formby's.... and we take so much for granted these days...blackouts & bombings at night but, business as usual in these films...they are quite fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpompper Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 "I Know Where I'm Going" (1945) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TopBilled Posted November 23, 2012 Author Share Posted November 23, 2012 Sounds wonderful. I can't wait to find some of these flix. And incidentally, I love your screenname. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smitty1931 Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 I always thought that Odd Man Out was a small masterpiece. It would make a good opera. James Mason said it was his favorite film. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SansFin Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 The ones of your list which I know and like very much are: COTTAGE TO LET...Leslie Banks & Alastair Sim DEAR MURDERER...Eric Portman, Greta Gynt, Dennis Price THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST...Michael Redgrave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TopBilled Posted November 23, 2012 Author Share Posted November 23, 2012 >The ones of your list which I know and like very much are: >COTTAGE TO LET...Leslie Banks & Alastair Sim >DEAR MURDERER...Eric Portman, Greta Gynt, Dennis Price >THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST...Michael Redgrave Great. I will make sure to put them at the top of my Netflix queue. DEAR MURDERER did seem very interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swithin Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 The iconic film of The Importance of Being Earnest is not a 40s film but 1952. I guess my favorite 1940s British films range from Olivier's Henry V to the low-brow but utterly British Old Mother Riley films. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SansFin Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 I feel that *Old Mother Riley, Headmistress* (1950) is one of my guilty pleasures because I liked it far more than can be justified by reason or logic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willbefree25 Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 AKA Stairway To Heaven??? Beautiful film. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dargo2 Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 Yep. "There's a lady who knows, David Niven in shows, And she talking 'bout "Stairway to Heaven" (...well, the American title for that film, anyway...sorry, JUST couldn't resist) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpompper Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 Then there's "Brief Encounter" (1945) for those who like their syrup extra sweet. I like the scene in "The Mirror Has Two Faces" (1996) when Streisand has "Brief Encounter" playing on the TV in the background when Bridges complains about how swelling music in romance films drives him crazy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misswonderly3 Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 Really? You think *Brief Encounter* is sickly sweet? Imagine how over-done it would have been in American hands. In fact, I like *Brief Encounter* partly because it has a certain restraint, given its subject matter. Maybe it's the Brahms or Rachmaninov or whatever that dirge-like classical piano soundtrack is that makes it seem over-the-top. Come to think of it, I'm pretty sure it's the same Rachmaninov piece in *The Seven Year Itch*, used to very different effect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LonesomePolecat Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 > {quote:title=Trix_of_the_Flix wrote:}{quote} > "Kind Hearts And Coronets" (1949) is a fave dark-comedy by Ealing Studios. > THis is absolutely one of my favorites of all time. I highly recommend this to anyone who gets British humor (which I love). It is so brilliant. Not only is it hilarious, but one of my favorite actors of all time (Alec Guinness) gets to show off his genius by playing 8 different characters. Here's one of my favorite quotes from the lead character played by Dennis Price (and this is from memory so sorry if it's not 100% word perfect): "It is so difficult to make a neat job of killing people with whom one is not on friendly terms." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
filmlover Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 TopBilled, besides the thread I pointed you to, here is a list of ten films that should be required viewing from the 1940s. There are many other excellent films, but these are essentials. Some have been mentioned by others already, but you can't go wrong with these: In Which We Serve The Man in Grey Brief Encounter Great Expectations Odd Man Out Black Narcissus Hamlet Oliver Twist The Red Shoes The Third Man Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpompper Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 I don't disagree with you, missw. I own BE on DVD and have watched it many times. So, I like it very much. I know SOME consider it too sweet, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DownGoesFrazier Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 VACATION FROM MARRIAGE (Kerr and Donat) is another good one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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