Best British Films Review

Back in the early 50's, when we first welcomed television into our homes, we were excited about watching anything, especially the movies.  A lot of films broadcast on television in those days were British imports.  There we would sit, hunkered down with snacks, staring raptly at our new t.v. sets and inundated by waves of English accents, flawless diction, and wonderful plots.  I have had a weakness for British films ever since. 

Some great old-timers are now lost.  I may be the only one who recalls being scared to death by creepy thrillers like "The Spotted Yellow" and "The Tall Dark Man."  Still, we must accept that which we cannot change and shoulder on (as the Brits would say).  Here then is a baker's dozen of some of my favorite "flicks" from the other side of the Pond. 

First a disclaimer -- by this time, most people know about the several excellent filmed productions of "Pride and Prejudice".  Because space is limited, I have decided for the purposes of this list to omit "P&P" plus any other movies based on Jane Austen's works, likewise Bronte or Dickens novels.  With one exception, I have also shelved the great Masterpiece Theatre productions and we are going to temporarily forget all about the house of Tudor.  We're going to take as an article of faith that any movie based on a Shakespearian play is probably good and so my list will focus on more offbeat efforts which you might have missed or would enjoy seeing again.  Some of them are old-timers but they are all still available for viewing.

The 39 Steps (1935)

Alfred Hitchcock improved this great story by introducing women into what had been an all-male plot and amping up the heat via the device of romantic protagonists (Robert Donat and Madeleine Carroll) being handcuffed to each other for a while.  Robert Hannay (Donat), a handsome and successful Canadian, has rented a flat in London.  While attending a show at a music hall he is approached by a beautiful woman named Annabella who confides that she is in danger and asks him to shelter her for the night.  (No romance here, handcuffs come later!)  Nice guy Hannay takes her in, makes her supper and only then discovers she is a spy who is trying to keep England's valuable technical secrets from falling into enemy hands.  Bad guys are closing in and she is running out of time. 

During the night someone breaks in and murders her.  She staggers over to Hannay with a knife in her back and a bloody map of Scotland in her hand.  "Be careful, Hannay!", she warns him, "They'll get you next!" but as far as our intrepid hero is concerned, it is too late.  When dawn rolls in, he has a body to explain and Annabella's mission to finish.  Within 24 hours, Hannay is reduced to a fugitive on the Scottish moors, trying to escape both the bad guys and the police who think he's a murderer, and determined to learn the secret of the 39 Steps.

Adam and Evelyn (1949)

It is a tribute to the innate courage of the British that, within five years of being nearly blitzed into oblivion during WW II, they were pumping out movies again.  Rarely viewed but still existing is this charming romance directed and produced by Harold French and starring young Stewart Granger and a dazzling 17-year-old Jean Simmons in the title roles.  Evelyn is a beautiful girl who doesn't realize that she is an orphan and has come to believe that her father's best friend is her father who she has never seen!  Her only contact with the mysterious Adam has been through inspiring correspondence.  When he finally shows up at her school for a visit, she is ecstatic and assumes that he has come to take her home. Flustered and temporarily caught off guard, this is what Adam does.  It takes a while before he or anyone else has the heart to tell Evelyn the truth whereupon he adopts her and ships her off to another boarding school.  As she grows in grace and sophistication, romance blooms between her benefactor and her.  It all sounds a bit twisted and perverse but this is a special situation which made for an entertaining romantic film.

The Bridge over the River Kwai (1957)

This "sweeping epic" directed by David Lean is about a Japanese WW II prison camp deep in the Burmese jungle where British POWS are forced by their captors to build a railway bridge.  It goes without saying that at first their hearts are not in it but as time goes by, under the leadership of their officers spearheaded by Colonel Nicholson (Alec Guinness), the men began to catch the spirit of the project and end up being proud of the bridge they have built.  During the course of the construction, an American P.O.W. (William Holden) somehow escapes alone and makes it to safety.  Hardly has he recovered when the British military direct him to lead a commando group back into the jungle for the purpose of blowing the bridge over the River Kwai into oblivion.  Their careful planning has anticipated every detail except that Colonel Nicholson would be willing to give up his own life to protect the very Japanese asset which he and his men were forced to build.  "Madness!" exclaims an actor at the end of the film but it is also a great movie.

The L-Shaped Room (1963)

This movie, directed by Bryan Forbes and starring Leslie Caron, requires a journey back through time in order to fully appreciate the plot.  It sounds strange now but not so long ago one of the worse things that could befall a young unmarried woman was to discover that she was pregnant.  Desperate young girls with nowhere to turn in such a situation sometimes committed suicide rather than see the situation through in a society which was sometimes very unsympathetic.  That "it" couldn't happen after "only one time" was belied by the experience of Janet Fosset (Caron) who strayed once and developed morning sickness shortly thereafter.  This is the story of what happened to her during those months when she "went away for a while" and lived out the rest of her pregnancy in a seedy area where she was unknown and sheltered only by the home she created for herself in an odd little room shaped like an "L". 

Zulu (1964)

Directed by Cy Endfield and based on a true story, this film depicts the situation of British soldiers commanded by a young officer (Michael Caine in his first starring role) faced with the prospect of defending their tiny outpost from thousands of intrepid Zulu warriers determined to kick their butts.  More than just a fine battle epic, this film explores how an emergency situation brings out the best or worst (and sometimes both) in people and the way stress can impact the relationships between those who are forced to bond with each other due to circumstance or job description. 

Darling (1965)

"Lowliness is young ambition's ladder..." said Shakespeare and beautiful aspiring fashion model Diane Scott (Julie Christie) climbs over whomever it takes to reach the top.  Among those she uses in her sometimes cold-blooded pursuit of success are a married television interviewer (Dirk Bogarde) and Miles (Laurence Harvey) whose crucial social contacts help pave what Darling thinks is the road to happiness.  Julie Christie took a stellar turn as a calculating but also touching young woman who learns too late that a celebrity's life isn't all it is cracked up to be.

Alfie (1966)

Too soon old and too late smart also describes the title character of this film (played by Michael Caine), a charming but shallow "bounder" who consumes other people, especially women, without compunction or barely a flicker of appreciation or sympathy.  In the end, he reaps what he has sowed and is left to wonder what it's all about.  This movie also starred a great supporting ensemble including Jane Asher, Vivien Merchant, and Shelley Winters.

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969)

A novella by Muriel Spark inspired this film directed by Ronald Neame and starring (among others) Dame Maggie Smith in the title role and Pamela Franklin (as one of her students).  The place is 1930's era Scotland and Miss Brodie is a brilliant teacher who loves her "gels" (girls) and is determined to fire their souls with her own sometimes controversial enthusiasm for life.  Smith earned an Oscar in 1969 for her portrayal of a glowing lamp determined to brighten up a place where free spirits weren't always appreciated.

The Nine Tailors (1974)

The one Masterpiece Theatre production on my list is really special.  This two-part movie is the best film ever made of Dorothy Sayers' famous book.  Back in the '20s, Sayers created a detective in the form of a good-natured, down to earth aristocrat named Lord Peter Whimsey.  Along with "his man" Bunter, Whimsey relentlessly pursued sinister types through a series of adventures but "The Nine Tailors" is the best.

The story begins with an adverse moment -- car trouble for Whimsey and Bunter afflicts them on a snowy New Year's Eve near a town called Fenchurch St. Paul's.  Forced to take shelter in the village and enjoying the hospitality of their hosts, Lord Peter realizes that he's been here before -- more than 20 years ago as a young man on the very night a precious clutch of emeralds was stolen and never recovered.  No one cares about that  tonight though thanks to another perverse twist of fate -- plans which had been made to literally "ring in the New Year" via the church's bells have hit a snag because one of the change-ringers has been stricken with the flu.  Lord Peter is sympathetic and knows a bit about ringing bells, so he is recruited to take the sick man's place and helps the others change-ring for nine hours. 

Months later a body is discovered buried in somebody else's grave -- a body whose face is bashed in and whose hands have been cut off.  As the story develops, it turns out that this is the body of a man who had been tied up in the bell tower on New Year's Eve and abandoned there for the night.

I won't spoil the plot for you except to say that this story has everything -- a buffet of secretive types, forensic detail, those missing emeralds, a beautiful young girl who is a damsel in distress, and of course that dead body whose frozen expression of helpless horror and impending doom is enough to satisfy any ardent mystery buff.  Still waters literally run deep as a flash flood later in the Spring forces the village's population to take shelter in the church.  Eventually, everything is explained including the identities of what turns out to be a murderous gang who killed the guy in the bell tower.  If you have never had a chance to enjoy this story yourself, I think you will probably be surprised to find out whodunit.

Evil Under the Sun (1982)

The great fun of an Agatha Christie mystery is to guess in the first reel who's going to be murdered.  In this case, it is easy -- everyone has reason to hate the beautiful arrogant Arlena Marshall (Diana Rigg) who must share her honeymoon not only with her husband but also his step-daughter and a richly varied group of other characters including the famous detective, Hercule Poirot (Peter Ustinov).  The action takes place at a beautiful Greek island hotel run by a hostess (Maggie Smith) who is one of Arlena's enemies from way back.  Things really begin to rotate when Arlena's strangled body is discovered on a deserted beach and it is left to Detective Poirot to track down the guilty party.  (Soundtrack Alert:  this movie directed by Guy Hamilton wouldn't have been the same without those great Cole Porter tunes helping to move the action along.)

Howard's End (1992)

When Ruth Wilcox (Vanessa Redgrave) dies, it is discovered that she has bequeathed her summer cottage (Howard's End) to a favorite neighbor, Margaret Schlegel (Emma Thompson) who is unaware of this good fortune.  In this case, ignorance is bliss because when the rest of the Wilcox family realizes what's up, Mr. Wilcox (Anthony Hopkins) summarily burns the coda which had amended the original will and the unwitting Miss Schlegel is cheated out of her inheritance.  Ironically, she ends up falling in love with the very man who cheated her and becomes the new Mrs. Wilcox who is given Howard's End after all.  Of course, we wouldn't have much of a movie if it was really as simple as that but this story delivers a lot of excitement and entertainment along the way.  Howard's End (directed by James Ivory) is a great film and worthy of a look.

Peter's Friends (1992)

Carrying on the tradition begun by "The Big Chill", this movie deals with the reunion of old classmates who haven't seen each other in ten years.  Peter Morton (Stephen Fry) has invited his college pals to a festive holiday weekend to usher in the New Year as guests at the massive English country house which he has inherited.  He has something to tell them but not before a lot of other things happen.  To interject a personal note here, I have to say that I just loved this movie which was directed by (and also starred) Kenneth Branagh.  The stellar cast does a wonderful job with the delightful script written by American comedienne Rita Rudner who also acts in the movie.  Should you ever feel like spending a quiet New Year's Eve in your own manor, this may be the perfect movie to rent for you and your guests.

The Queen (2006)

This movie directed by Stephen Frears and starring Helen Mirren in her acclaimed role as England's current reigning monarch is the story of the trauma created for the Royal family by the untimely and tragic death of  Princess Diana.  Mirren's sensitive interpretation of Queen Elizabeth is well done and complicated but the message is simple and forthright ... it's not always good to be the Queen and never as easy as it looks.