# Please suggest "atmospheric" 40's English films **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 18, 2011, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-suggest-atmospheric-40s-english-films/596731 "2011-09-18T18:53:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2011, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-suggest-atmospheric-40s-english-films/596731/1 "2011-09-18T18:53:58Z")
I’ve just been re-watching _The Uninvited_ with Ray Milland and Ruth Hussey today (for the umpty-umpth time)… one of my all-time favorite films. Not so much because of the ghost story (which is one of the best ever put on film IMHO), but for that 40’s English village atmosphere-- black and white, big houses, a few servants scattered around, drinking tea, dressing for dinner, fog, of course, and if not a ghost, then at least a nice murder… My other favorite film is _Rebecca_, which has a lot of that going on, too. There are some other films that sort of capture this spirit… _Laura_ is one. Also a modern one, _Dead Again_. There used to be a web site where you could find films by mood, but I’ve lost it. Can anyone suggest other films of this type? Possibly sleepers, unknowns, obscure, forgotten. Preferably made in the 30’s or 40’s. With fall/winter coming on, I’m feeling in the mood for big fireplaces, and breakfast side tables laden with chafing dishes, tweedy walks with the dogs along the moors (and no apparent need to work)… you get the idea. Thx. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2011, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-suggest-atmospheric-40s-english-films/596731/2 "2011-09-18T19:14:46Z")
_I Know Where I’m Going_ is the first one that came to mind. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2011, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-suggest-atmospheric-40s-english-films/596731/3 "2011-09-18T20:30:50Z")
Thanks ever so! Just added it to my Netflix queue. > [@](#): > > Joan Webster (Wendy Hiller) is a headstrong young woman who travels to the bleak and moody Scottish Hebrides to marry a rich lord. Stranded by stormy weather along the way, Joan meets a handsome and penniless naval officer (Roger Livesey) who threatens to spoil her carefully laid-out life plans in this mythical romance by directors Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2011, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-suggest-atmospheric-40s-english-films/596731/4 "2011-09-18T21:11:23Z")
I’m assuming you’ve seen _The Third Man_. If not, you should add it to the queue. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2011, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-suggest-atmospheric-40s-english-films/596731/5 "2011-09-18T21:15:50Z")
I like the film [A Brief Encounter.](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037558/) ---
**Author:** ![AnalogSignal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/analogsignal/32/1085_2.png) [@AnalogSignal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnalogSignal)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2011, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-suggest-atmospheric-40s-english-films/596731/6 "2011-09-18T21:16:04Z")
For atmospheric English ghost stories, I recommend [The Innocents (1961)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055018/). ---
**Author:** ![Teacake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Teacake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teacake)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2011, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-suggest-atmospheric-40s-english-films/596731/7 "2011-09-18T21:37:55Z")
[_Blithe Spirit_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038363/). Margaret Rutherford is marvellous. [_A Matter of Life and Death._](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038733/) ---
**Author:** ![Boulter\_s\_Canary](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Boulter\_s\_Canary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boulter_s_Canary)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2011, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-suggest-atmospheric-40s-english-films/596731/8 "2011-09-18T22:34:08Z")
> [@AnalogSignal](#): > > For atmospheric English ghost stories, I recommend [The Innocents (1961)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055018/). Another is [Dead of Night (1945)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037635/) ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2011, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-suggest-atmospheric-40s-english-films/596731/9 "2011-09-18T22:43:31Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I like the film [A Brief Encounter.](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037558/) Oh, I will warn you–I weep copiously at that one no matter how often I have seen it. The first whiff of Rachmaninoff at the opening credits, and I’m gone. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2011, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-suggest-atmospheric-40s-english-films/596731/10 "2011-09-18T22:55:02Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > _I Know Where I’m Going_ is the first one that came to mind. Seconded. It’s the first one I thought of too. Beautifully shot, like other Powell/Pressburger films. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2011, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-suggest-atmospheric-40s-english-films/596731/11 "2011-09-19T00:29:14Z")
Good suggestions, all! ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2011, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-suggest-atmospheric-40s-english-films/596731/12 "2011-09-19T00:38:52Z")
[_Green for Danger_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038577/) is another little gem of a film. It’s a murder mystery with a good dose of black comedy, set in a village hospital. It’s got Alastair Sim in it, need I say more? ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2011, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-suggest-atmospheric-40s-english-films/596731/13 "2011-09-19T01:15:53Z")
I cannot recommend _Passport to Pimlico_ (1949) highly enough. A small London neighborhood discovers some old land grant from the King a couple of centuries back, and declares itself an independent sovereign nation. I’m not sure it has the particular atmospherics you’re looking for, as it is distinctly urban and features most working class Londoners. But it’s a wonderful film nonetheless. Also, _The Man in the White Suit_ (1951), an early Alec Guinness film, somewhat of a comic class warfare film. These are my two favorite British films from that general era. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2011, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-suggest-atmospheric-40s-english-films/596731/14 "2011-09-19T01:29:04Z")
[Ministry of Fear](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037075/) is pretty good. ---
**Author:** ![Ian\_D.Bergkamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Ian\_D.Bergkamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ian_D.Bergkamp)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2011, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-suggest-atmospheric-40s-english-films/596731/15 "2011-09-19T02:42:51Z")
[Gaslight](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036855/). Released in 1944, it stars Ingrid Bergman, Charles Boyer, and Joseph Cotten. MGM produced it, but it’s set in London, so that might qualify it as an English film. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2011, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-suggest-atmospheric-40s-english-films/596731/16 "2011-09-19T02:55:11Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > Oh, I will warn you–I weep copiously at that one no matter how often I have seen it. The first whiff of Rachmaninoff at the opening credits, and I’m gone. Dammit, and I’m already engaged again! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2011, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-suggest-atmospheric-40s-english-films/596731/17 "2011-09-19T02:57:55Z")
Aren’t most Agatha Christie films basically this? ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2011, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-suggest-atmospheric-40s-english-films/596731/18 "2011-09-19T03:27:40Z")
> [@Ximenean](#): > > [_Green for Danger_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038577/) is another little gem of a film. It’s a murder mystery with a good dose of black comedy, set in a village hospital. It’s got Alastair Sim in it, need I say more? That’s the one I came in to recommend - as I recall, it has all the elements the OP is looking for. “The Third Man”, mentioned above, is a wonderful film and should be seen anyways, but note that it is NOT the kind of movie the OP is looking for, as it’s set in post-war vienna, not a little English town! ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2011, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-suggest-atmospheric-40s-english-films/596731/19 "2011-09-19T03:33:44Z")
I just watched “Suspicion”, doubly good because it had Cary Grant. ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2011, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-suggest-atmospheric-40s-english-films/596731/20 "2011-09-19T04:28:36Z")
If you like _Rebecca_ (and I adore it too) you might enjoy _Jane Eyre_, with Joan Fontaine, Orson Welles, and painfully young Elizabeth Taylor / Peggy Ann Garner. Then there’s the other Bronte adaptation starring the other _Rebecca_ star: _Wuthering Heights_, with Olivier and Merle Oberon as the IMHO hateful lead romantic duo that for some reason everyone wants to see together. (I always root for poor David Niven.) Not in the right time period, but an oddly creepy film, is _The Chalk Garden_ with Deborah Kerr (whose stiff coolness actually works here) and adorable Hayley Mills who’s determined to uncover her governess’s dark secrets, assuming she has any… (Spoiler alert: yes, she does. :D) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-suggest-atmospheric-40s-english-films/596731.md?page=2)