Frequently
asked Questions
(just
hit the back button on the browser to get back to the top of the page)
I
can't nagivate with the buttons/there are blank bits, what can i do?
I can't
play your clips on the site, what can I do?
What
was the inspiration for the site?
So
what is a British movie by your definition?
Who
is a British actor by your definition?
Why
isn’t Bob Hoskins or Oliver Reed etc on your list?
There
are some actors here I haven't even heard of, how are they famous?
What
about Ewan McGregor, Kate Winslet or Emma Thompson; surely you can’t say they’re
not great?
Desmond
Llewelyn, Edward Fox, Denholm Elliot, what kind of contribution have they made?
What
are Sid James and Kenneth Williams doing on your list, surely they really just
did ‘Carry on’ movies?
Sid
James and Basil Rathbone aren’t even British they’re South African!
Your
choice of films seems strange; there are many classic British movies not there.
What about ‘Brief Encounter’, ‘The Elephant Man’ and
‘The 39 Steps’?
Where
did you get the graphics?
Where
did you text come from?
This
site is awful and no one likes you, why did you bother?
- See
the history of the site. The short answer is I have a love for british film
and cinema - also for things British I guess.
- So
that’s a good question. I have defined British movies either as:
- Made
in Britain with a British budget
- Directed
and strongly influenced by British directors and / or producers
- Dealing
with an important part of British culture or history
- I’m
not saying they’re not great actors, they’re just
not comparable FOR ME with some of the actors I have listed. Remember cinema
is art and art is subjective. I have focused on the actors I really enjoy
watching.
I should also say here that there are some 'good' british actors who I strongly
dislike and they will never appear.
- I
felt it was important to create a resource that would provide information
on some of our less famous actors. In some of these cases I have pulled together
research from the internet and obviously conducted my own secondary research.
- They
are excellent actors but I took a deliberate decision to limit the actors
to people mainly born before 1950, the two exceptions were Ralph Fiennes and
Kenneth Branagh who were simply too important to leave out. Also Kenneth was
born in Northern Ireland!
- So
they have made some excellent films and many of the actors included here are
not simply in for the amount of US or British Academy Awards. Many of these
actors are heroes in their own right and fought in one / other or both of
the world wars. Their generation were certainly more honourable than much
of the current trash we see today. Some actors also made significant contributions
to theatre such as Anthony Quayle.
- Well
they didn’t just do those movies…but lets assume
they did. Those movies ran for 20 years with massive success and became iconic
in terms of British culture. I would loved to have
included more of these ‘Carry On’ actors but time constraints would just not
allow it. In their own right Sid and Kenneth made massive contributions to
both British cinema revenue and cultural development in their own right.
- That’s
right but they became British citizen. South Africa was still
a colony then and, as something that was once said of the Rhodesians, can
equaled be applied to South Africans at that time - ‘They’re more British
than the British’
- Ok
so I couldn’t do them all. Unfortunately I have a demanding and busy life
and so the site will be developed to include a wider range of classic British
films. So my list currently reflects the important ones to me, even if they
don’t (and some don’t) match the technical and subjective criteria that could
be applied to the films above.
- DVD
screen captures (sue me)
-
Scans
-
Ebay sales
- I
deliberately took a decision not to steal from other sites. If you find a
graphic taken from your site (firstly I’ll be VERY surprised) then I’ll take
it off and you will have my abject apologies.
- I
conducted fairly extensive research. I have many of the biographies and autobiographies.
I decide not to include awards and a comprehensive list of the films that
these actors were in. IMDB is good at this and I wanted to add something new
to the internet rather than re-create a wheel.
- Follow
this link to a good online psychiatrist

- You
need FLASH and it can be found HERE...only
takes a minute
British
actors by my definition are those born inside Great Britain and Northern Ireland
(The United Kingdom). I have made a few exceptions (notably Peter O'Toole) because
I like him and he's too important to leave out.
I
felt it necessary to disclude some actors because (although born here) moved
to somewhere else and really took no interest in British film or theatre from
that point. For example Cary Grant.
You
may need Divx codecs - these help Windows Media play some clips...they can be
found by following this link
just download and install them - the clips should then play...
british
cinema , film, films, movies, actor, actress, actors, actresses link