My nominations:
- Withnail and I
- The Long Good Friday
- Monty Python and the Holy Grail
- The Italian Job
- Goldfinger
What, in your opinions, makes a good British film, and what would you nominate?
IIRC there was poll of the 100 best British movies and the no. 1 film was the Carol Reed classic: Third Man.
I agree 100%. In fact if I had to name my all-time top film from any country Third Man would probably be on top of the list.
Of course you could argue that Third Man isn’t really a British film: it’s set in Vienna and has two Americans and an Italian among the main cast.
For a quintessentially Brit film, maybe Kind Hearts and Coronets or one of Lean’s Dickens adaptations: Oliver Twistb and Great Expectations.
All three of these British classics were U.S. co-productions:
The Third Man
Lawrence of Arabia
2001: A Space Odyssey
The 1944 version of Henry V, or Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels are both very, very English.
My Top 12 (in chronological order):
The Thief of Bagdad
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
Henry V
Black Narcissus
The Red Shoes
Kind Hearts and Coronets
Lawrence of Arabia
Kes
The Man Who Would Be King
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
The Wrong Trousers
Topsy-Turvy
Billy Eliott or
The Full Monty
Passport to Pimlico
The Knack (and How to Get It)
Bedazzled (original version)
A Hard Day’s Night
Absolute Beginners
The Ladykillers
Quadrophenia
To Sir With Love
Wallace and Gromit - any
The Italian Job
Goodbye Mr Chips (if that counts)
I have a fondness for Ealing comedies starring Alec Guinness.
Definitely the original Bedazzled .
In no particular order…
The Knack (and How to Get It)
If…
O Lucky Man!
Hope and Glory
Smiley’s People
A Hard Day’s Night
Monty Python’s Life of Brian
You guys left off “It’s All Right, Jack.”
A Fish Called Wanda would top my list.
The original Great Expectations would be up there too.
I second The Ladykillers.
I loved Snatch…
And I love British movies in general.
But my all time favorite was Billy Elliott.
I’ll second Col. Blimp. Shame it’s so little seen in the States.
I’m gobsmacked that no one has mentioned Get Carter.
Might as well throw in Zulu as well.
And A Clockwork Orange.
I’ll second A Fish Called Wanda.
Not one vote for Brief Encounter (1946)? Possibly the greatest tearjerker ever made.
I also have a fondness for Genevieve (1953) . . .
Good films, but all English, surely? How’s about a few guid Scots fillums?
The Brothers (1947)
Tunes of Glory (1960)
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969)
Local Hero (1982) (Yes, I know it has Peter Riegert. But I love it anyway, if only for the priceless exchange between the two old fishermen:
“Are there no two 'l’s in ‘dollar,’ Sandy?”
“And are there no two 'g’s in ‘bugger off!’”
Surely you’ll include That Sinking Feeling in that list.