BFI.org.uk’s Best 100 British Movies

1. The Third Man
2. Brief Encounter
3. Lawrence of Arabia
4. The 39 Steps
5. Great Expectations
   

Timeout.com’s 100 Best British Movies

1. Don’t Look Now
2. The Third Man
3. Distant Voices, Still Lives
4. Kes
5. The Red Shoes

Independent.co.uk’s 7 Best British Movies

• Withnail & ICostume
• Henry VSocial
• Billy Liar
• The Wicker Man
• Brief Encounter
• Goldfinger
• The Dam Busters

NME.com’s Best British Movies

1. A Matter Of Life And Death
2. The Red Shoes
3. Lawrence of Arabia
4. Shallow Grave
5. Dead Man’s Shoes
6. The Third Man

Slashfilm.com’s Best 25 British Movies

1. Trainspotting
2. Withnail & I
3. Secrets and Lies
4. Distant Voices, Still Lives
5. My Beautiful Laundrette

British Movies

The United Kingdom has had a major influence on modern cinema. The first moving pictures developed on celluloid film were made in Hyde Park, London in 1889 (see 1889 in film) by William Friese Greene, a British inventor, who patented the process in 1890 (see 1890 in film). It is generally regarded that the British film industry enjoyed a ‘golden age’ in the 1940s, led by the studios of J. Arthur Rank and Alexander Korda.

The British directors Alfred Hitchcock and David Lean are among the most critically acclaimed of all-time,with other important directors including Charlie Chaplin, Michael Powell, Carol Reed andRidley Scott. Many British actors have achieved international fame and critical success, including Julie Andrews, Richard Burton, Michael Caine, Charlie Chaplin, Sean Connery, Vivien Leigh,David Niven, Laurence Olivier, Peter Sellers and Kate Winslet. Some of the most commercially successful films of all time have been produced in the United Kingdom, including the two highest-grossing film franchises (Harry Potter and James Bond). Ealing Studios has a claim to being the oldest continuously working film studio in the world.

Despite a history of important and successful productions, the industry has often been characterised by a debate about its identity and the level of American and European influence. Many British films are co-productions with American producers, often using both British and American actors, and British actors feature regularly in Hollywood films. Many successful Hollywood films have been based on British people, stories or events, including Titanic, The Lord of the Rings, Pirates of the Caribbean and the ’English Cycle’ of Disney animated films.

In 2009 British films grossed around $2 billion worldwide and achieved a market share of around 7% globally and 17% in the United Kingdom. UK box-office takings totalled £944 million in 2009, with around 173 million admissions. The British Film Institute has produced a poll ranking what they consider to be the 100 greatest British films of all time, the BFI Top 100 British films. The annualBritish Academy Film Awards hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts are the British equivalent of the Oscars.

The Third Man

The Third Man is a 1949 British film noir directed by Carol Reed and starring Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Orson Welles, and Trevor Howard. The screenplay was written by novelist Graham Greene, later becoming his novella of the same name. Anton Karas wrote the score, which used only thezither; its title cut topped the international music charts in 1950.