Keeping the British End Up
Nov 27th, 2007 by james oliver
A month or so back, appalled by the profoundly conservative ‘Summer of British Film’, I wrote a piece championing the films that had slipped through the cracks: British masterpieces that were just as good as (and in some cases better than) the establishment history. You’ll find it here.
It climaxed with a rousing exhortation to readers to respond with their own favourites. It seems only fair that I respond to those of you who took me at my word. As you’d expect from the MovieMail customer, the responses are intelligent, informed and well argued. Although I was disappointed that there weren’t any outraged Dam Busters fans braying for my scalp or calling my patriotism into question.
Anyway, to the results. There obviously was a little confusion: I quite agree with those writers who said that The Lady Vanishes, Peeping Tom and Listen To Britain are deeply wonderful films. And we’re in good company, since the people who compiled the various lists I was reacting against included all three. That’s why I didn’t feature them.
For the most part, however, the responses were just what I wanted. I’ve never seen It Always Rains on Sunday but it was a popular recommendation and, after a brief consultation with my elderly copy of Halliwell’s Film Guide, I realise it’s imperative I catch up with it as soon as possible, not least because it’s directed by Robert Hamer – a great director in anyone’s language.
I’ll also keep an eye out for three films with animal related titles: The Goose Steps Out (with Will Hay), Bronco Bullfrog and Tawny Pipit. I’ve not heard of any of them, so I don’t know what to expect but – hey – I trust your judgement.
A couple of people nominated films by the great Cavalcanti: Dead of Night and They Made Me a Fugitive (probably the film I most want to see). Does this mean a Cavalcanti revival is on the cards? Shall we get a petition up to demand a Cavalcanti season at the NFT? I was also pleased to see Val Guest getting a lot of love, with Jigsaw copping a couple of mentions. He’s one of those directors who deserves to be better known. Not an auteur, perhaps, but a craftsman who made some solid films: even The Boys in Blue is better than any film featuring Cannon and Ball has any right to be.
There were a couple of films I desperately wanted to include on the original list but couldn’t because they weren’t available, so I’ll mention them here. Chiefly, Deep End, which was one of the many excellent suggestions by Frank Flood. Man, that’s some kind of masterpiece and its absence from DVD is both baffling and annoying. I also wanted to included Death Line (which turns out to be on DVD after all). If you haven’t seen it and have a strong-ish stomach, get it now. Both of these are great movies that show how cosmetic ‘swinging London’ really was, revelling in the filth and the decay. Significantly, both were directed by foreign-born directors.
A thank you to all who joined in, especially to Lawrence Freiesleben, who instantly gets into my good books by mentioning Fritz Lang’s Moonfleet (yeah, I know it’s not British but I think we’ve already established I have a fairly elastic interpretation of ‘rules’), which is one of my faves. So is Night of the Demon, come to that. Oh, and A Canterbury Tale, which I love. I hope you enjoy House of Whipcord.
As I mentioned in the original article, I love British film and I’m upset to see it served so badly by its official guardians. I want to keep this debate alive in future posts, so keep those neglected gems coming and let’s show what British cinema is really made of…
The Tawny Pipit is an interesting, if minor, film. It’s basically a piece of wartime propaganda from 1944. Niall MacGinnis is the airman convalescing in a Cotswolds village, whose nearby meadow which has received ‘a pair of distinguished visitors from abroad’, ie a rare breeding pair of Tawny Pipits. Therefafter the airman, a land girl (Rosamund John) and the village boys do their best to protect the eggs until they hatch. They haven’t counted on the egg thieves…
It’s all thoroughly English and very symbolic of course - of welcoming and protecting foreigners in Britain, of protecting the innocent, of being on the lookout for fifth columnists etc. Bernard Miles plays the local squire, Colonel Barton-Barrington, who gets carried away at the local fete where the special guest is Russian soldier Lieutenant Bokalova. ‘I myself have shot over a hundred Hitlerites’ she says, ‘and I’m looking forward to shooting many more!’. ‘What a woman, eh vicar?’ says colonel Barton-Barrington. As if the alliance between the Red Army and an English squire weren’t enough, the village’s school choir then sing ‘The Internationale’.
It’s never been available on dvd. It was available for a while on vhs inthe 1990s, in VCI’s British Classics series, along with Robert Hamer’s The Spider and the Fly, which has also never seen the light of day since, more’s the pity.
Nice to see that you are a fan of British films.
So many of our films appear not to be available any longer in the UK although ironically they may be available in USA.
The one that comes immediately to mind is “The Seventh Survivor”, an earlier but similar story, and in my view equal if not better than, Hitchcock’s “Lifeboat”.
Unfortunately “The Seventh Survivor” is not available on DVD and copies of the VHS NTSC version are no longer advertised.
Do you know if this film is still available from any source in the UK?
I would be very interested.
Chris Cooper
[b]”The Seventh Survivor”[/b]
Sounds interesting - thanks for the heads up.
bronco
Thanks for the nice read, keep up the interesting posts