litlover12: (ATOTC2)
litlover12 ([personal profile] litlover12) wrote2012-11-03 08:16 pm

The British are coming!

I've decided I want to start watching more classic British films. A lot more. Every time I catch one on TCM or wherever (Kind Hearts and Coronets, So Long at the Fair, The Third Man, Stage Fright, Night Train to Munich, etc., etc.), seems like I end up being absolutely crazy about it. And their actors are splendid -- Alastair Sim (a.k.a. Awesome Dude), Alec Guinness, Joan Greenwood, Dirk Bogarde, Dorothy Tutin, Trevor Howard, Stanley Holloway . . . I don't think I've seen one yet that I didn't like. Obviously we had some pretty magnificent stars on this side of the pond in the good old days, but it's kind of cool that there's this whole other pool of talent that I've only just begun to explore.

Plus, Audrey Hepburn had bit parts in a few British films before she hit it big over here, so it's always fun to be on the lookout for her!

I've found the BFI's list of the top 100 British films, which I plan to use as a guide of sorts. I say "of sorts" because I have no intention of following it slavishly. I won't watch animal movies, and I won't watch anything overly violent or sexual (here's looking at you, James Bond) or anything that would scare the daylights out of me (forget it, Don't Look Now), or anything that looks too boring. (I haven't made up my mind yet whether Lawrence of Arabia will make the cut. Every scene I've ever seen from it so far has bored me silly.) Plus there are films that aren't on the list that I want to see. But it looks like a pretty good place to start.

I shall keep you all posted on any particularly interesting viewing experiences -- assuming you want to be kept posted, that is! :-) And I'd be grateful for recommendations from anyone who has some!

[identity profile] litlover12.livejournal.com 2012-11-04 04:10 am (UTC)(link)
Oh, you should see "The Third Man"! It is just marvelous. With quite possibly the weirdest soundtrack of all time . . . but it's just weird enough to work. :-)

"Don't Look Now" isn't Hitchcock, although that brings up an interesting thought -- what would it have been like if Hitch HAD made it? Far different from the version that actually did get made, I imagine. (From all the descriptions I've heard, the film is so freaky and horrific that it'd scar me for life!)

[identity profile] digne.livejournal.com 2012-11-05 06:24 am (UTC)(link)
Thanks! I get all of du Maurier's short stories mixed up.