BFI Honors Great British Films from the 1940s

The Red Shoes, Kind Hearts and Coronets, Great Expectations, & More

Aug 11, 2008

These 1940 films from the UK all are in the top ten of the 2000 BFI's list of the Top 100 British Movies.

The period immediately following World War II saw many excellent films come out of the British cinema. Included in this period were the following movies which are worth watching today. They cover many genres -- comedy, crime thrillers, musical drama, romance, and literary classics -- and are arranged by reverse BFI ranking.

Based on the Hans Christian Andersen story of the same name, The Red Shoes is the tale of a young ballerina (Shearer) who is caught between two possessive men -- one a Svengali-like impresario (Walbrook), the other, a young composer (Goring). Ultimately, she must choose between love or art.

The movie is noted for its fine direction and excellent performances by the three leads. Noteworthy, too, is a 15 minute ballet (also called The Red Shoes) that is a blend of color, visual imagery, special effects, and outstanding choreography.

Slow to gain recognition in the UK, the movie was an immediate hit worldwide and was one of the first non-American films to be nominated for an Oscar as best picture. It lost to another British film, Hamlet.

A young, penniless man (Price) discovers that he is the potential heir to a dukedom, but in front of him are eight heirs waiting in line. What to do? Simple! Just murder those ahead of him! Unfortunately, for the young man, events become more complicated, thanks, in part, to his jealous girlfriend (Greenwood).

This classic of black humor came from Ealing Studios, a company that specialized in light, dark, and satirical comedy films during the 1940s and 1950s. In a brilliant casting move, all eight victims, male and female, young and old, were played by the versatile actor, Alec Guinness.

Director Lean, best remembered today for his spectacular epics such as The Bridge on the River Kwai and Lawrence of Arabia, turned to Charles Dickens for what could be considered his first “big budget” film. The result is the classic telling of a young boy, Pip, (Mills) growing to manhood while been aided by a mysterious benefactor.

This film has been arguably called the greatest of the Dickens movies because of its faithful adaptation, pictorial images and atmospheric settings. Martita Hunt is excellent as the bitter, eccentric Miss Havisham, as are Jean Simmons and Alec Guiness in their first featured roles.

An upper middle class housewife (Johnson) and a married doctor (Howard) meet and gradually fall in love. Their affair is complicated by each one’s social standing and the moral codes by which they have always lived.

The two leads are excellent, as are Holloway and Carey in comic relief roles. This was one of Director David Lean’s early “small” pictures and was based on a play by Noel Coward. This poignant and thoughtful movie may not appeal to everybody due to its slow pace and lack of action.

An American pulp fiction writer, Holly Martins (Cotton), arrives in Austria to meet his old friend Harry Lime (Welles), only to discover that Harry had recently died in an accident. Or was it an accident? As Martin searches for the truth, he is pulled into the dark and corrupt world of post-war Vienna.

Director Reed, screenwriter Graham Greene, and a perfect cast combined to create a movie that is strong on atmosphere and suspense. Robert Krasker’s stark Oscar winning black and white photography and Anton Karas’ music, played entirely on the zither, add further to the film’s uniqueness.

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