# 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:** 10\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2017, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-suggest-atmospheric-40s-english-films/596731/41 "2017-02-10T00:33:16Z")
If you like _Laura_ and _The Ghost and Mrs. Muir_, can I recommend another Gene Tierney film, _[Dragonwyck](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038492/)_? An historical _Jane Eyre/Rebecca_ wannabe, with whip-thin Vincent Price in one of his earliest villain roles. ---
**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:** [February 10, 2017, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-suggest-atmospheric-40s-english-films/596731/42 "2017-02-10T00:38:20Z")
> [@Heather\_S](#): > > crime, or will she be brought to justice?" I do hope that [Ida](https://oldhollywoodincolor.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/ida_edited-1.jpg) got away with it. ---
**Author:** ![Heather\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/d78d45/32.png) [@Heather\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heather_S)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2017, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-suggest-atmospheric-40s-english-films/596731/43 "2017-02-10T04:58:46Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I do hope that [Ida](https://oldhollywoodincolor.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/ida_edited-1.jpg) got away with it. lol I’m not going to give that away. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Heather\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/d78d45/32.png) [@Heather\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heather_S)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2017, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-suggest-atmospheric-40s-english-films/596731/44 "2017-02-10T05:15:44Z")
> [@Miss\_Mapp](#): > > If you like _Laura_ and _The Ghost and Mrs. Muir_, can I recommend another Gene Tierney film, _[Dragonwyck](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038492/)_? An historical _Jane Eyre/Rebecca_ wannabe, with whip-thin Vincent Price in one of his earliest villain roles. Oh yes I saw Dragonwyck too! It was pretty good! I saw a few different versions of Jane Eyre too and liked them all. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2017, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-suggest-atmospheric-40s-english-films/596731/45 "2017-02-10T22:28:28Z")
How about [Odd Man Out](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039677/) (1947) starring James Mason (and a cameo appearance by William Hartnell). It’s a moody, noir-ish film about the “Irish troubles”. I love the film, but a lot of folks I have talked to don’t know it. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2017, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-suggest-atmospheric-40s-english-films/596731/46 "2017-02-11T12:16:22Z")
My favorite English film from the 40’s, though it may not be “atmospheric,” is the 1957 American film, _Witness for the Prosecution_, which combines courtroom drama, noir and humor. I like the last line (spoiler alert) “Sir Wilfrid, you’ve forgotten your brandy!” ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2017, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-suggest-atmospheric-40s-english-films/596731/47 "2017-02-11T16:02:24Z")
I miss Eve. That is all. StG ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2017, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-suggest-atmospheric-40s-english-films/596731/48 "2017-02-11T21:49:38Z")
Spellbound. [Spellbound (1945 film) - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spellbound_(1945_film)) ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2017, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-suggest-atmospheric-40s-english-films/596731/49 "2017-02-12T03:06:10Z")
Pretty much any Powell/Pressburger film will snap your stix. 49TH PARALLEL; LIFE AND TIME OF COLONEL BLIMP; SHE KNEW WHAT SHE WANTED; that David Niven/Kim Hunter movie about the afterlife; THE RED SHOES; BLACK NARCISSUS. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2017, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-suggest-atmospheric-40s-english-films/596731/50 "2017-02-12T03:20:56Z")
A genuine UK film from 1951, which is a little unusual, and unfairly obscure, is _The Franchise Affair_, based on a novel by Josephine Tey. Tey also wrote _The Daughter of Time_. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-suggest-atmospheric-40s-english-films/596731.md?page=2)