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Poll: Classic?
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  #11  
Old 15th March 2011, 10:44 AM
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Default SPOILERS! (For A Canterbury Tale)

Given how astonishingly odd some of Powell & Pressburger's films were, the fact that this film ended Powell's career in the UK is confusing.

Of course, with modern sensibilities it's quite shocking, but much less so than a lot of what came after. However, when compared to , for instance, P&P's A Canterbury Tale, it shouldn't have been so controversial. A Canterbury Tale is actually more disturbing in some ways. OK, it isn't about voyeuristic serial killing, but it is about an upper-class oddity who frequently pours glue over young girls' hair in order for him to manufacture the possibility for him to spend large amounts of time in a room with exclusively men where he is the centre of attention expounding on his love of English history. He needs the unadulterated attention of these men in order to be able to function and even after he's unmasked as The Glue Man, he's allowed redemption as he's the catalyst which brings the 'pilgrims' together and ultimately allows them to reach their destiny / destination. His misogyny is overt and never even vaguely hidden. Absolution is granted even though his actions were very, very questionable. Yes, I understand that he killed no-one, but there's such a questionable air to his actions that comparisons can be made to both Mark Lewis and Norman Bates. Psycho has a fair amount to thank ACT for, what with the mummy issues (Glue Man is a bachelor who seems to be an only child and lives with his mother) and the want to be liked by women whilst simultaneously being repulsed by them.

And let's not forget the strangeness of The Red Shoes, Black Narcissus, I Know Where I'm Going and...well, just about all of P&P's output. Absolute classics of British cinema, but a lot was forgiven and/or overlooked due to the fact many were released during WWII and audiences needed and welcomed any kind of escapism. Outwith P&P, there's also the Gainsborough oeuvre: films like The Wicked Lady and The Man in Grey are overtly misogynistic and titillating in equal measure.

Peeping Tom just came along at the wrong time. Britain was entering a new age of permissiveness and acceptance of the other, but just hadn't quite got there at the time of its release.
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  #12  
Old 15th March 2011, 08:26 PM
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Isn't the first line the prostitutes saying "It'll be a quid"? Can't get much more seedier than that!
I used to be a drugs worker for sex workers, one of the girls told me she'd had full sex for a packet of cigarettes!!!!
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  #13  
Old 17th March 2011, 09:32 PM
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Jesus!
Must've been a heavy smoker!

One amusing scene in Peeping Tom is when the posh bloke goes in to buy some papers and comes away with some fresh porno pics!
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  #14  
Old 7th October 2011, 06:13 PM
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A great film. KarlHeinz Boehm was an unconventional choice for the role of Mark (and his accent was never explained) but was great in the role. The fact that he managed to make the psychopathic killer sympathetic goes a long way to explaining the howls of outrage that greeted the film at the time: strong stuff indeed for 1960.
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  #15  
Old 7th October 2011, 06:42 PM
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Jesus!
Must've been a heavy smoker!

One amusing scene in Peeping Tom is when the posh bloke goes in to buy some papers and comes away with some fresh porno pics!
Miles Matheson is such a great screen presence and one of the reasons critics loathed the film is because he had spent his career playing policemen, judges and other establishment figures, so to have him play a 'dirty old man' wasn't seen as a joke, but a slight against the British film industry.

Even so, great scene!
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  #16  
Old 7th October 2011, 09:39 PM
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Originally Posted by TyneBridges View Post
A great film. KarlHeinz Boehm was an unconventional choice for the role of Mark (and his accent was never explained) but was great in the role. The fact that he managed to make the psychopathic killer sympathetic goes a long way to explaining the howls of outrage that greeted the film at the time: strong stuff indeed for 1960.
He doesn't sound that bad for a German actor!

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Miles Matheson is such a great screen presence and one of the reasons critics loathed the film is because he had spent his career playing policemen, judges and other establishment figures, so to have him play a 'dirty old man' wasn't seen as a joke, but a slight against the British film industry.

Even so, great scene!
His name's Miles Malleson, but otherwise you're perfectly right!

Greetings!
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  #17  
Old 8th October 2011, 10:38 AM
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His name's Miles Malleson, but otherwise you're perfectly right!
Yet again, the perils of voice recognition software and clicking 'submit post' without proofreading! Miles Malleson it is!
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  #18  
Old 8th October 2011, 10:45 AM
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Yet again, the perils of voice recognition software and clicking 'submit post' without proofreading! Miles Malleson it is!
I simply love him. Playing mostly small parts in classic films, he's always a pleasure to watch. Must-see small roles of his can be found in: Kind Hearts and Coronets, The Naked Truth, Dracula, The Hound of the Baskervilles, and The Brides of Dracula.

Greetings!
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  #19  
Old 8th October 2011, 12:44 PM
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was slightly confused by poll choices, YES it is a bona fide classic, but it is also sleazy as flip!! way ahead of its time, i love showing it to minors
and nice that ACT was mentioned, its a deranged film for its time....big Archers fan, only missing Tales of Hoffman sadly, but its out there (bfi?) so will be mine before too long....
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  #20  
Old 2nd January 2012, 07:24 AM
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Kudos to Kevin Williamson for mentioning this classic in Scream 4.

Another annoying teen with a wrong answer.....
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