3 The history of the British film industry

The British film industry was subject to international influences right from the beginning. In the very early days when films were silent there was no language barrier and films from the European continent were able to screen in Britain without problems. When talkies began the links between Britain and other English language film making countries such as the USA became more important. The alliance between Britain and the USA in WW2 reinforced the cultural links.

For a while, British films had, to some extent, an easy audience in many Commonwealth countries. However attempts to keep British cinema British were counter-productive and the inherently international nature of cinema proved increasingly to be the way to succeed. In America, Hollywood studios were having great success by hiring talent from Britain, Germany, France, Ireland, Canada, Italy, Japan or anywhere. Hollywood consequently were able to assemble a line-up of great acting, directing and technical talent to beat any country's insular nationalistic cinema.

While British actors and directors were achieving great things in Hollywood, American financial investment in British cinema was dominating production and distribution.

In the 1960s British studios began to claw back some success by making striking genre films such as Hammer Horror, James Bond and Carry On comedies.

In the 1970s and 1980s British studios established a reputation for great special effects in films such as Superman and Star Wars. This reputation has continued through the 1990s and into the 21st century with films such as the James Bond series, Gladiator and Harry Potter.

In September 2003 a British film, "This is Not a Love Song", was the first to be streamed live on the internet simultaneously with its cinema premiere. The film, directed by Bille Eltringham , was "live" from the 5th-19th September 2003 at http://www.thisisnotalovesong.com and stars Michael Colgan , Kenneth Glenaan , David Bradley and John Henshaw.

4 Black and Asian actors in British cinema

The shame of British cinema is that it has been impossible, until very recently, to produce a list of black actors who are successful in British films. There isn't any shortage of good black actors in Britain, and they're getting reasonably good parts on television, but not so many in movies.

There has, for instance, been serious criticism of the romantic comedy " Notting Hill" (1999) because the Notting Hill area of London has a very large black population who are invisible in the movie. There was criticism of Richard Attenborough's film Gandhi (1982) because the title role wasn't played by an Indian but, instead, went to Ben Kingsley (who is actually of Indian descent, so the criticism might be viewed as questionable).

In 1967 a British movie To Sir, with Love starred Afro-American actor Sidney Poitier and The 51st State (2001) starred Samuel L. Jackson, which perhaps suggests that the apparent racism isn't a straightforward colour bar but instead perhaps the result of ignorance among those in charge of casting.

This situation seems to be changing at last but there is still a long way to go before the British movie industry catches up with the multi-ethnic and multi-cultural society which Britain has become. We can only hope that a new trend is about to begin. In the 21st century we've seen black British actors Robbie Gee and Naomi Harris take leading roles in Underworld and 28 Days Later respectively. Red Dwarf: The Movie ( 2004) [1] is in pre-production and due to begin filming in May 2004. This will be the movie of the BBC TV series with Craig Charles as David Lister and Danny John-Jules as Cat.

On television some of Britain's important black actors include: Paul Barber, Suzanne Packer , Kwame Kwei-Armah, Martina Laird , Angela Bruce , Adrian Lester , David Oyelowo, Lenny Henry, Richard Blackwood , Steven Cole , Louis Emerick , Trevor Laird , David Harewood , Lennie James, Diane Parish , Craig Charles and Danny John-Jules. There are lots more, and Asian actors too (who have had a few more leading roles in British movies).

Some of the Asian British actors in movies include:

• Kim Vithana [2]
• Meera Syal [3]
• Sanjeev Bhaskar [4]
• Omid Djalili [5]
• Parminder K. Nagra [6]
• Pooja Shah [7]
• Ameet Chana [8]
• Paven Virk [9]
• Preeya Kalidas [10]
• Saraj Chaudhry [11]

5 Noted directors

A few important British directors: (for more directors of all nationalities, visit film directors.)

• Michael Powell [12]
• Sir David Lean [13]
• Lindsay Anderson [14]
• Richard Attenborough [15]
• Danny Boyle [16]
• Kenneth Branagh [17]
• Sir Charlie Chaplin [18]
• John Boorman [19]
• Sir Alfred Hitchcock [20]
• John Schlesinger [21]
• James Whale [22]
• Peter Greenaway [23]
• Peter Howitt [24]
• Derek Jarman [25]
• Sidney Gilliat [26]

6 Noted actors

Some of the most famous British movie actors:

• Charlie Chaplin [27]
• Julie Christie
• Stan Laurel [28]
• David Niven [29]
• Sidney Greenstreet [30]
• Julie Andrews [31]
• Michael Caine [32]
• Joan Collins [33]
• Phyllis Calvert [34]
• Peter Sellers [35]
• Burt Kwouk [36]
• Jack Hawkins [37]
• Graham Stark [38]
• Paul Barber [39]
• Boris Karloff [40]
• Dudley Moore [41]
• Anthony Hopkins [42]
• Elizabeth Hurley [43]
• Hugh Grant [44]
• Hayley Mills [45]
• John Mills [46]
• Juliet Mills [47]
• Lionel Jeffries [48]
• Wilfred Hyde-White [49]
• Irene Handl [50]
• Vivien Leigh [51]
• Robert Morley [52]
• Richard Attenborough [53]
• Rowan Atkinson [54]
• Deborah Kerr [55]
• Ann Todd [56]
• Terry Thomas [57]
• Jenny Agutter [58]
• Sean Connery [59]
• Roger Moore [60]
• Michael York [61]
• Joyce Grenfell [62]
• Leslie Phillips [63]
• Sid James [64]
• Joan Sims [65]
• Hattie Jacques [66]
• Peter Cushing [67]
• Christopher Lee [68]
• Kate Beckinsale [69]
• Julie Walters [70]
• James Mason [71]
• Cary Grant [72]
• Alec Guinness [73]
• Ewan McGregor [74]
• Parminder K. Nagra [75]
• Albert Finney [76]
• Jude Law [77]
• Bill Nighy [78]
• Ian McKellen [79]
• Basil Rathbone [80]
• Ben Kingsley [81]
• Laurence Olivier [82]
• Ralph Richardson [83]
• Miranda Richardson
• Kristin Scott Thomas
• John Gielgud [84]
• Judi Dench [85]
• Maggie Smith [86]
• Thora Hird [87]
• Elizabeth Taylor [88]
• Helen Mirren [89]
• Sybil Thorndike [90]
• Edith Evans [91]
• Peter Finch [92]
• Glenda Jackson [93]

7 Studios

• Ealing [94]
• MGM British studios [95]
• Denham studios [96]
• Pinewood Studios [97]
• Elstree studios [98]
• Twickenham studios [99]
• Gainsborough Pictures [100]

8 See also

• Cinema
• BAFTA ( British Academy of Film and Television Arts) [101]
• British Independent Film Awards
• British Film Institute
• List of British films
• UK topics

9 External links

• http://www.screenonline.org.uk/ (marvellous source of information and place to watch online films and clips)
• British Film Commission
• First black 'Baftas' are used to show discrimination in awards business/Operation Black Vote
• Black Filmmaker Magazine online
• British Film Institute
• Google sitesearch of British Film Institute with keyword "clips" (the BFI site has lots of clips of British films)
• Internet Movie Database: UK
• http://website.lineone.net/~luke.mckernan/Color.htm (Information on Charles Urban and use of Kinemacolor)

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