A List_British movies
Some favourite British movies, pre-'65 era. Perhaps old-fashioned and of their time (so not to everyone's taste), yet in some ways quite modern and worth watching now more than ever. Not for nostalgia but as an enquiry into national identity. Though mostly 'fantastic', not realist, I find these films richer than the kitchen sink type (59-) and as entertaining as the Bond-style actioners (62-). If you can recommend similar movies I'd be most grateful.
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- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsRobert DonatMadeleine CarrollLucie MannheimA man in London tries to help a counter-espionage agent, but when the agent is killed and the man stands accused, he must go on the run to save himself and stop a spy ring that is trying to steal top-secret information.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsMargaret LockwoodMichael RedgravePaul LukasWhile travelling in continental Europe, a rich young playgirl realizes that an elderly lady seems to have disappeared from the train.
- DirectorAlberto CavalcantiStarsLeslie BanksC.V. FranceValerie TaylorAn English village is occupied by disguised German paratroopers as an advance post for a planned invasion.
- DirectorMichael PowellEmeric PressburgerStarsEric PortmanSheila SimDennis PriceThree modern-day pilgrims investigate a bizarre crime in a small town while on their way to Canterbury.
- DirectorMichael PowellEmeric PressburgerStarsWendy HillerRoger LiveseyPamela BrownA young Englishwoman goes to the Hebrides to marry her older, wealthier fiancé. When the weather keeps them separated on different islands, she begins to have second thoughts.
- DirectorMichael PowellEmeric PressburgerStarsDavid NivenKim HunterRobert CooteA British wartime aviator who cheats death must argue for his life before a celestial court, hoping to prolong his fledgling romance with an American girl.
- DirectorMichael PowellEmeric PressburgerStarsDeborah KerrDavid FarrarFlora RobsonA group of nuns struggle to establish a convent in the Himalayas, while isolation, extreme weather, altitude, and culture clashes all conspire to drive the well-intentioned missionaries mad.
- DirectorCarol ReedStarsRalph RichardsonMichèle MorganSonia DresdelA butler working in a foreign embassy in London falls under suspicion when his wife accidentally falls to her death, the only witness being an impressionable young boy.
- DirectorMichael PowellEmeric PressburgerStarsDavid FarrarJack HawkinsMichael GoughAs the Germans drop explosive booby-traps on Britain in 1943, the embittered expert who'll have to disarm them fights a private battle with alcohol.
- DirectorJules DassinStarsRichard WidmarkGene TierneyGoogie WithersA small-time grifter and nightclub tout takes advantage of some fortuitous circumstances and tries to become a big-time player as a wrestling promoter.
- DirectorAnthony AsquithStarsMichael RedgraveJean KentNigel PatrickAndrew Crocker-Harris (Michael Redgrave), a classics teacher at an English school, is afflicted with a heart ailment and an unfaithful wife (Jean Kent). His interest in his pupils wanes as he looks towards his final days in employment.
- DirectorAlexander MackendrickStarsPhyllis CalvertJack HawkinsTerence MorganMandy Garland was born deaf and has been mute for all of her life. Her parents believe she is able to speak if she can only be taught, and they enroll her with a special teacher.
- DirectorAlexander MackendrickStarsEdward G. RobinsonFergus McClellandConstance CummingsTen year old Sammy travels 4500 miles on his own from the Suez Canal to Durban, South Africa.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsJune TrippIvor NovelloMarie AultA landlady suspects that her new lodger is the madman killing women in London.
- DirectorMichael PowellStarsNiall MacGinnisBelle ChrystallJohn LaurieA way of life is dying on an Outer Hebridean island fishing port, but some of the inhabitants resist evacuating to the mainland.
- DirectorMichael PowellStarsConrad VeidtValerie HobsonSebastian ShawA German submarine is sent to the Orkney Isles in 1917 to sink the British fleet.
- DirectorRobert HamerStarsGoogie WithersJack WarnerJohn McCallumAn escaped convict tries to hide out at his former lover's house, but she has since married and is reluctant to help him.
- DirectorAlexander MackendrickStarsBasil RadfordJoan GreenwoodCatherine LaceyScottish islanders try to plunder 50,000 cases of whisky from a stranded ship.
- DirectorEdward DmytrykStarsRobert NewtonSally GrayNaunton WayneClive Riordan plans a devilish revenge against his wife's lover.
- DirectorAlexander MackendrickStarsPaul DouglasAlex MackenzieJames CopelandAn American businessman in Scotland is conned into shipping a valuable load of cargo to a Scottish island via a coal powered boat.
- DirectorCy EndfieldStarsStanley BakerHerbert LomPeggy CumminsA rookie trucker tries to expose his boss' rackets.
- DirectorVal GuestStarsStanley BakerGuy RolfeLeo McKernIn World War II, during the Japanese invasion of Burma, the lost remnant of a British Army Brigade HQ, led by the ruthless Captain Alan Langford, escapes through the jungle toward the British lines.
- DirectorJack ClaytonStarsDeborah KerrPeter WyngardeMegs JenkinsA young governess for two children becomes convinced that the house and grounds are haunted.
- DirectorJohn GuillerminStarsRichard AttenboroughJack HawkinsFlora RobsonAnachronistic strict Regimental Sergeant Major Lauderdale (Sir Richard Attenborough), on a remote colonial African army caught in a local coup d'etat, must use his experience to defend those in his care.
- DirectorMichael PowellStarsKarlheinz BöhmAnna MasseyMoira ShearerA young man murders women, using a movie camera to film their dying expressions of terror.