My fav Classic British films
In rough order of goodness.
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- DirectorMichael PowellEmeric PressburgerStarsRoger LiveseyDeborah KerrAnton WalbrookFrom the Boer War through World War II, a soldier rises through the ranks in the British military.
- DirectorJames IvoryStarsAnthony HopkinsEmma ThompsonJohn HaycraftA butler who sacrificed body and soul to service in the years leading up to World War II realizes too late how misguided his loyalty was to his lordly employer.
- DirectorDavid LeanStarsWilliam HoldenAlec GuinnessJack HawkinsBritish POWs are forced to build a railway bridge across the river Kwai for their Japanese captors in occupied Burma, not knowing that the allied forces are planning a daring commando raid through the jungle to destroy it.
- DirectorCharles FrendStarsJack HawkinsDonald SindenJohn StrattonThe World War II adventures of a British convoy escort ship and its officers.
- DirectorDavid LeanStarsRobert NewtonCelia JohnsonJohn MillsJust after World War I, the Gibbons family moves to a nice house in the suburbs. They live an ordinary life throughout the years, but everything changes when World War II breaks out.
- DirectorNoël CowardStarsNoël CowardJohn MillsBernard MilesThis "story of a ship", the British destroyer H.M.S. Torrin, is told in flashbacks by survivors as they cling to a life raft.
- DirectorCarol ReedStarsJames MasonRobert NewtonCyril CusackA wounded Irish nationalist leader attempts to evade police following a failed robbery in Belfast.
- DirectorDavid LeanStarsCelia JohnsonTrevor HowardStanley HollowayMeeting a stranger in a railway station, a woman is tempted to cheat on her husband.
- DirectorDavid LeanStarsCharles LaughtonJohn MillsBrenda de BanzieWidower Henry Hobson refuses to let his three daughters get married because he doesn't want to pay settlements, so they'll just have to outsmart him.
- DirectorRobert HamerStarsDennis PriceAlec GuinnessValerie HobsonA distant poor relative of the Duke D'Ascoyne plots to inherit the title by murdering the eight other heirs who stand ahead of him in the line of succession.
- DirectorClive DonnerStarsAlan BatesDonald PleasenceRobert ShawWhile renovating his house in London, Aston, out of pity, lodges a homeless man, but Aston's brother taunts and harasses the cranky old bum.
- DirectorPeter UstinovStarsRobert RyanPeter UstinovMelvyn DouglasWhen a kind-hearted sailor is made to join an English vessel at war in 1797, he finds himself caught between devotion to his crewmates and obedience to their hated, cruel master-at-arms.
- DirectorJack ClaytonStarsDeborah KerrPeter WyngardeMegs JenkinsA young governess for two children becomes convinced that the house and grounds are haunted.
- DirectorAlberto CavalcantiCharles CrichtonBasil DeardenStarsMervyn JohnsMichael RedgraveRoland CulverGuests invited to a weekend in the country share their supernatural stories, beginning with Walter Craig, who senses impending doom as his half-remembered recurring dream turns into reality.
- DirectorBryan ForbesStarsEdith EvansNanette NewmanHarry BairdElderly Mrs. Ross lives alone in her meager flat, scraping by on government assistance even as she claims to have great wealth. After finding stolen money she is victimized, making it necessary to find her support in her declining years.
- DirectorCy EndfieldStarsStanley BakerJack HawkinsUlla JacobssonOutnumbered British soldiers do battle with Zulu warriors at Rorke's Drift.
- DirectorSidney LumetStarsSean ConneryHarry AndrewsIan BannenIn a North African military prison during World War II, five new prisoners struggle to survive in the face of brutal punishment and sadistic guards.
- DirectorSam WoodSidney FranklinStarsRobert DonatGreer GarsonTerry KilburnAn aged teacher and former headmaster of a boarding school recalls his career and his personal life over the decades.
- DirectorStanley KubrickStarsRyan O'NealMarisa BerensonPatrick MageeAn Irish rogue wins the heart of a rich widow and assumes her dead husband's aristocratic position in 18th-century England.
- DirectorJ. Lee ThompsonStarsJohn MillsAnthony QuayleSylvia SymsDuring World War II in North Africa, a medical field unit must cross the desert in their ambulance in order to reach the British lines in Alexandria.
- DirectorTony RichardsonStarsLaurence OlivierBrenda de BanzieRoger LiveseyArchie Rice, an old-time British music hall performer sinking into final defeat, schemes to stay in show business.
- DirectorJoseph LoseyStarsDirk BogardeSarah MilesWendy CraigUpper-class Tony hires servant Hugo Barrett, who turns out to have a hidden agenda.
- 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.
- DirectorRonald NeameStarsAlec GuinnessJohn MillsSusannah YorkAfter World War II, a Highland Regiment's acting Commanding Officer, who rose from the ranks, is replaced by a peace-time Oxford-educated Commanding Officer, leading to a dramatic conflict between the two.
- DirectorBasil DeardenStarsJack WarnerDirk BogardeJimmy HanleyThe daily routine of two London Policemen is interrupted by a killer.
- 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.
- DirectorKen LoachStarsDavid BradleyBrian GloverFreddie FletcherA working-class English boy spends his free time caring for and training his pet kestrel.
- DirectorFranc RoddamStarsPhil DanielsLeslie AshPhil DavisJimmy Cooper loathes his dead-end job and his working-class parents. He seeks solace with his mod clique, scooter riding, and drugs, only to be disappointed.
- DirectorJohn SchlesingerStarsAlan BatesJune RitchieThora HirdAfter his girlfriend's pregnancy forces him to marry her, a young man must adjust to his new life and contend with his domineering mother-in-law.
- DirectorMartin RittStarsRichard BurtonOskar WernerClaire BloomInstead of coming in from the Cold War, British agent Alec Leamas chooses to face another mission.
- DirectorGuy HamiltonStarsAlastair SimArthur YoungOlga LindoA wealthy family is visited by a police inspector, who questions the family about the suicide of a young working-class woman.
- DirectorThorold DickinsonStarsAnton WalbrookDiana WynyardFrank PettingellTwenty years after the murder of Alice Barlow, her house is finally occupied again. However, the husband from the couple who have moved in has a secret which he will do anything to keep hidden.
- DirectorLothar MendesAlexander KordaStarsRoland YoungRalph RichardsonEdward ChapmanAn ordinary man suddenly finds that anything he says comes true. Or at least, almost anything.
- DirectorMichael PowellEmeric PressburgerStarsEric PortmanSheila SimDennis PriceThree modern-day pilgrims investigate a bizarre crime in a small town while on their way to Canterbury.
- DirectorPeter YatesStarsAlbert FinneyTom CourtenayEdward FoxPersonal assistant Norman struggles to get deteriorating veteran actor Sir through a difficult performance of King Lear.
- DirectorAlexander MackendrickStarsBasil RadfordJoan GreenwoodCatherine LaceyScottish islanders try to plunder 50,000 cases of whisky from a stranded ship.
- DirectorJack ClaytonStarsLaurence HarveySimone SignoretHeather SearsAn ambitious young accountant plots to wed a wealthy factory owner's daughter despite falling in love with a married older woman.
- 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.
- DirectorCarol ReedStarsMargaret LockwoodRex HarrisonPaul HenreidAfter Germany invades Czechoslovakia, the German and the British intelligence services try to capture Czech scientist Dr. Axel Bomasch (James Harcourt), inventor of a new type of armor-plating.
- DirectorAnthony AsquithStarsRobert DonatCedric HardwickeBasil RadfordIn pre-WWI England, a youngster is expelled from a naval academy over a petty theft, and his parents raise a political furor by demanding a trial.
- DirectorFred ZinnemannStarsPaul ScofieldWendy HillerRobert ShawThe story of Sir Thomas More, who stood up to King Henry VIII when the King rejected the Roman Catholic Church to obtain a divorce and remarry.
- DirectorCarol ReedStarsMichael RedgraveMargaret LockwoodEdward RigbyIn a small coal-mining village, Bob Fenwick leads a strike over safety standards at the local colliery. Meanwhile, his son David goes off to university with the hope one day to return to help the miners with their working conditions.
- 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.
- DirectorBasil DeardenStarsDirk BogardeSylvia SymsDennis PriceA closeted lawyer risks his career to bring a blackmailer to justice.
- 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.
- DirectorLawrence HuntingtonStarsJames MasonRosamund JohnPamela MasonA British brain surgeon punishes the murderess of his lover.
- DirectorLewis GilbertStarsMichael CaineShelley WintersMillicent MartinAn unrepentant ladies' man gradually begins to understand the consequences of his lifestyle.
- DirectorGeorge More O'FerrallStarsRalph RichardsonCelia JohnsonMargaret LeightonA heartwarming tale of an English minister and his family reunited at Christmas time. Their story includes a remembrance of their World War II trials.
- 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.
- DirectorTony RichardsonStarsRita TushinghamDora BryanRobert StephensA pregnant teenage girl must fend for herself when her mother remarries, leaving the girl with only a new male friend for support.
- DirectorBryan ForbesStarsLeslie CaronAnthony BoothAvis BunnageA single, pregnant woman moves into a London boarding house where she meets a group of fellow misfits.
- DirectorRoy Ward BakerStarsKenneth MoreRonald AllenRobert AyresOn her maiden voyage in April 1912, the supposedly unsinkable RMS Titanic strikes an iceberg in the Atlantic Ocean.
- DirectorRoy BoultingStarsMichael RedgraveJames MasonBarbara MullenCynical, embittered newspaperman David Charleston (Michael Redgrave) is tormented, then inspired, by visions he keeps having of people who have drowned.
- DirectorEdward DmytrykStarsRobert NewtonSally GrayPhil BrownClive Riordan plans a devilish revenge against his wife's lover.
- DirectorSilvio NarizzanoStarsJames MasonAlan BatesLynn RedgraveA traditional girl resists the advances of a swinger, who wants her as his mistress in 1960s London.
- DirectorBerthold ViertelStarsConrad VeidtRene RayFrank CellierThe tenants of an old boarding house are terrorized by an evil slumlord. One day a strange man arrives at the house and begins to help them with their problems.
- DirectorRoman PolanskiStarsDonald PleasenceFrançoise DorléacLionel StanderIn search of help, two wounded gangsters on the run find refuge in the secluded castle of a feeble man and his wife; however, under the point of a gun, nothing is what it seems.
- DirectorArthur B. WoodsStarsEmlyn WilliamsAnna KonstamAllan JeayesA convict, just out of prison, is implicated in a murder and goes on the run, hitching a ride with a truck driver.
- 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.
- DirectorCharles CrichtonStarsDirk BogardeJon WhiteleyElizabeth SellarsA violent fugitive and a mistreated small boy team up to flee from authority.
- DirectorAnthony AsquithStarsMichael RedgraveJohn MillsRosamund JohnThe wartime daily routine on a British bomber base in southeastern England is revealed through the eyes of newly arrived Flying Officer Peter Penrose (Sir John Mills).
- DirectorMichael PowellEmeric PressburgerRouben MamoulianStarsJennifer JonesDavid FarrarCyril CusackA beautiful, superstitious, animal-loving Gypsy is hotly desired by a fox-hunting squire even after she marries a clergyman.
- DirectorClive BrookStarsClive BrookBeatrice LillieGoogie WithersTwo wealthy Victorian widows are courted tentatively by two impoverished British aristocrats. When one of the dowagers suggests that her beau go away with her for a month to see if they are compatible, the fireworks begin.
- DirectorJack ClaytonStarsAnne BancroftPeter FinchJames MasonBeautiful Mother of five Jo leaves the banality of her marriage to second husband Giles to wed her passionate screenwriter lover, Jake Armitage. As suspicions of Husband Jake's philandering grows, Jo's sanity spirals.
- DirectorSidney LumetStarsSean ConneryTrevor HowardVivien MerchantA burnt-out British police detective finally snaps whilst interrogating a suspected child molester.
- DirectorKen AnnakinStarsRod SteigerDavid KnightBernard LeeA wealthy businessman attempts to run to Mexico to escape capture for embezzlement. On the way, he switches identities for a visa but that only complicates matters.
- DirectorKen LoachStarsSandy RatcliffBill DeanGrace CaveA family is shattered over the daughter's forced abortion. As she rebels against her family and their traditional, authoritarian, typical-of-the-time norms, she is hospitalized and otherwise mistreated.
- DirectorAnthony AsquithStarsMichael RedgraveRichard WattisMichael DenisonWhen Algernon discovers that his friend, Ernest, has created a fictional brother for whenever he needs a reason to escape dull country life, Algernon poses as the brother, resulting in ever increasing confusion.
- DirectorJack LeeStarsVirginia McKennaPeter FinchKenji TakakiA newly wealthy English woman returns to Malaya to build a well for the villagers who helped her during war. Thinking back, she recalls the Australian man who made a great sacrifice to aid her and her fellow prisoners of war.
- DirectorJoseph LoseyStarsDirk BogardeTom CourtenayLeo McKernDuring World War I, Army Private Arthur James Hamp is accused of desertion during battle. The officer assigned to defend him at his court-martial, Captain Hargreaves, finds out there is more to the case than meets the eye.
- DirectorJack ClaytonStarsDirk BogardeMargaret LeclerePamela FranklinBritish children hide Mother's death. Then, Father returns.
- DirectorTim WhelanStarsCharles LaughtonVivien LeighRex HarrisonPickpocket Libby gets support from street performer Charles, and her dancing leads to her invitation to theater patron Harley's party which in turn launches Libby's stage career while Charles keeps on struggling in the streets.
- DirectorBasil DeardenStarsDavid FarrarGlynis JohnsMai ZetterlingA Royal Air Force pilot who was shot down during World War II returns home to his English village with his new bride. The trouble is that she is the German lady who helped him escape. Then her brother arrives.
- DirectorSidney J. FurieStarsRita TushinghamColin CampbellDudley SuttonAn immature teenager marries a young biker but becomes disenchanted with the realities of working-class marriage--and her husband's relationship with his best friend.
- DirectorLewis GilbertStarsVirginia McKennaPaul ScofieldJack WarnerDuring World War II, a recently widowed young woman is recruited to work as a spy in France.
- DirectorAnthony AsquithStarsEddie AlbertPaul MassieLillian GishAmerican agent faces an engrossing moral dilemma when he is parachuted into France to eliminate a suspected traitor in the French Resistance.
- DirectorKen LoachStarsTerence StampCarol WhiteJohn BindonA young woman lives a life full of bad choices. At a young age she has a baby by an abusive thief who quickly lands in prison. When her son goes missing, she gets to grips with what is most important to her.
- DirectorJohn BaxterStarsDeborah KerrClifford EvansGeorge CarneyDuring the Depression in England, a young lady from Lancashire decides to be a rich bookmaker's mistress, just to help the rest of her unemployed family.
- DirectorAlexander MackendrickStarsAlec GuinnessPeter SellersCecil ParkerFive oddball criminals planning a bank robbery rent rooms on a cul-de-sac from an octogenarian widow under the pretext that they are classical musicians.
- DirectorJ. Lee ThompsonStarsHayley MillsHorst BuchholzJohn MillsA twelve-year-old tomboy witnesses the murder of a woman by her Polish merchant marine boyfriend, but bonds with him and thwarts the police in their investigation.
- DirectorKing VidorStarsRobert DonatRosalind RussellRalph RichardsonAn enthusiastic young doctor happily embarks on his career, but it isn't long before he finds out what being a doctor really entails.
- DirectorMichael PowellStarsConrad VeidtValerie HobsonHay PetrieEarly in World War II, Danish sea captain Andersen, delayed in a British port, tangles with German spies.
- DirectorHenry CorneliusStarsDinah SheridanJohn GregsonKay KendallTwo British couples pit their vintage automobiles against each other in an exciting cross-country race.
- DirectorBrian Desmond HurstStarsAlastair SimJack WarnerKathleen HarrisonEbenezer Scrooge, a curmudgeonly, miserly businessman, has no time for sentimentality and largely views Christmas as a waste of time. However, this Christmas Eve, he will be visited by three spirits who will show him the error of his ways.
- DirectorAlberto CavalcantiStarsStephen MurrayRichard ToddPatricia PlunkettChristy Drew, an aspiring young writer trying to broaden his experience, gets involved with Frankie Ketchen and her two suitors, Herb Logan and Jim Heal. One night, Jim finds Frankie has been with Christy and kills her. Herb is accused of the murder and sentenced to prison. After he gets out, he blames Christy but finally proves Jim to be the real killer, based on a clue provided to him by Christy, now a famous writer.
- DirectorLance ComfortStarsSally GrayStephen MurrayDerek FarrA wealthy blind man is determined to build a cricket pavilion as a memorial to his dead son, who was killed in battle in World War II. Not long before the dedication ceremony is to be held, the son shows up; it turns out that he wasn't killed in battle but deserted, and has become a blackmailer and a killer. He wants to get some money to "start a new life", but his blind father senses that something is wrong and sets out to find out what's going on.
- DirectorDavid LeanStarsRobert NewtonAlec GuinnessKay WalshIn Charles Dickens' classic tale, an orphan wends his way from cruel apprenticeship to den of thieves in search of a true home.
- DirectorMichael AndersonStarsRichard ToddMichael RedgraveUrsula JeansDrama based on the attempt by the RAF to destroy six dams in Germany during World War II.
- 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.
- DirectorPeter HammondStarsJames MasonDiana CouplandHannah GordonA stern father and lenient mother try to deal with the ups and downs of their four children's lives in working-class Bolton.
- DirectorRobin HardyStarsEdward WoodwardChristopher LeeDiane CilentoA puritan police sergeant arrives in a Scottish island village in search of a missing girl, who the pagan locals claim never existed.
- DirectorJohn BoultingRoy BoultingStarsBarry JonesAndré MorellOlive SloaneWhen a scientist threatens to detonate a powerful bomb in the heart of London, Scotland Yard has just seven days to find him before it is too late.
- DirectorJohn MackenzieStarsBob HoskinsHelen MirrenPaul FreemanAn up-and-coming gangster is tested by the insurgence of an unknown, very powerful threat.
- DirectorJoseph LoseyStarsJulie ChristieAlan BatesDominic GuardA tale of torrid and forbidden love between a couple in the English countryside.
- DirectorJohn SchlesingerStarsTom CourtenayJulie ChristieWilfred PicklesA lazy, irresponsible young clerk (Sir Tom Courtenay) in provincial Northern England lives in his own fantasy world and makes emotionally immature decisions as he alienates friends and family.
- DirectorKevin BrownlowAndrew MolloStarsPauline MurraySebastian ShawBart AllisonIn 1940, Germany invades Britain and transforms it into a Fascist state where some Britons collaborate and others resist. In 1944, Pauline, an apolitical Irish nurse becomes a reluctant player in the fight between the two sides.
- DirectorJohn BoultingStarsIan CarmichaelTerry-ThomasPeter SellersA naive aristocrat in search of a career becomes caught up in the struggles between his profit-minded uncle and an aggressive labor union.
- DirectorTony RichardsonStarsMichael RedgraveTom CourtenayAvis BunnageA young thief takes up long-distance running when he is sent to a borstal.
- DirectorJohn SchlesingerStarsJulie ChristiePeter FinchAlan BatesBathsheba Everdene, a willful, flirtatious young woman, unexpectedly inherits a large farm and is romantically pursued by three very different men.
- DirectorLewis GilbertStarsPauline CollinsTom ContiJulia McKenzieShirley is a 42-year-old bored Liverpudlian housewife who takes a holiday trip to Greece and meets a local man who bolsters her self-confidence. She evolves and transforms to the point that her husband doesn't even recognize her.