By Ray Bennett
HMV’s Jubilee poll to find the nation’s favourite British film and album of the last 60 years threw up some interesting results, not least what failed to make the Top 60 list.
Danny Boyle’s 1996 film “Trainspotting” (pictured) was voted the best British movie of the last 60 years and Iron Maiden’s 1982 heavy metal release “The Number Of The Beast” best album in HMV’s Diamond Jubilee Best of British poll.
The Beatles claimed four spots in the Top 10 albums but their films failed to register at all in the four-week national survey to find the most popular films and records released during the reign of Queen Elizabeth II. The Top 10 movies featured two Harry Potter titles, two Monty Python films and two by Stanley Kubrick (“A Clockwork Orange” and “2001: A Space Odyssey”).
Michael Caine is the clear winner as Britain’s favourite movie star with five titles in the overall list: “The Italian Job” (8th), “Zulu” (34th), “Get Carter” (43rd), “Battle Of Britain” (47th) and “Alfie” (52nd). Colin Firth has four titles named in the poll: “The King’s Speech” (10th), “Love Actually” (11th), “Bridget Jones’s Diary” (19th), and “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” (37th).
Thousands vote
HMV said that 30,000 fans voted in the music section and 24,000 voted for their favourite movies. The voting was widespread — 60 titles in each section registered multiple votes — and “Trainspotting” won with almost 1,500 votes, 6% of the total, while “The Number Of the Beast” claimed 2,754 votes or 9.2%.
Warner Home Video has four of the Top 10 titles on DVD, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has two, and the rest are spread among other distributors.
Winner Danny Boyle’s 2008 Academy Award-winner “Slumdog Millionaire” placed 15th in the HMV poll and his 2002 horror picture, “28 Days Later”, came in at 21. Iron Maiden’s winner was the band’s only release named.
The Oscar-winning “King’s Speech” resounded with voters (10th) but several other films with royal connections were overlooked including “The Queen”, for which Helen Mirren won the Oscar in the title role and “Shakespeare In Love”, for which Judi Dench won an Oscar as Queen Elizabeth I. Other well-regarded regal pictures missing from the Top 60 included “Becket”, “The Madness Of King George”, “The Lion In Winter”, and “A Man For All Seasons”.
Comedies are well represented including “Love Actually” (11th) “Hot Fuzz” (12th), “Bridget Jones’ Diary” (19th), “Four Weddings And A Funeral” (22nd), Kubrick’s “Dr. Strangelove Or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb” (25th), “The Full Monty” (26th), “Notting Hill” (27th), “Withnail And I” (27th), “A Fish Called Wanda” (33rd) and “The Ladykillers” (45th).
War pictures continue to have major support with several on the list including “The Great Escape” (16th), “Lawrence Of Arabia” (24th), “The Bridge On The River Kwai” (29th), “Zulu” (34th), “The Dam Busters” (46th), and “Battle Of Britain” (47th).
Crime and gangster films garnered plenty of spots including “Snatch” (17th), “Get Carter” (43rd), “Dead Man’s Shoes” (54th), “Layer Cake” (56th), and “The Long Good Friday” (57th).
Films with a big music connection are fairly sparse amongst the most popular films with dancing tale “Billy Elliot” top ranked at 14 followed by mods versus rockers film “Quadrophenia” (19th) followed by the Oscar-winning musical “Oliver!” (38th), Joy Division tale “Control” (40th) and oompah picture “Brassed Off” (50th). Richard Lester’s Beatles films was nowhere to be seen and nor were Ken Russell’s “Tommy” (1975) and Alan Parker’s influential “The Commitments” (1991).
In the albums list, absentees include heralded performers such as the Animals, the Kinks, Tom Jones and Cliff Richard. Releases from the 1990s dominated with 18 tiles named in the Top 60, 15 from the 1970s, 13 from the 2000s and just four from the 1980s including the winner.
Albums from the formative decade of the 1960s earned 13 spots but fans’ memories for films from the 1950s and 1960s have faded with no place in the Top 60 for iconic titles from the BFI’s Top 100 British films such as “Room At The Top” (1958), “I’m All Right, Jack” (1959), “Saturday Night and Sunday Morning” (1960), “The Loneliness Of The Long Distance Runner” (1962), “Tom Jones” (1963), “This Sporting Life” (1963), “Darling” (1965), “Doctor Zhivago” (1965), “Blow Up” (1966), “Far From The Madding Crowd” (1967), “Women In Love” (1969) on “Carry On Up The Khyber” (1968).
James Bond claimed two spots but only in the form of Sean Connery – “Goldfinger” (13th) and “Dr. No” – and Michael Caine, despite his popularity, did not get a look-in for his anti-hero Harry Palmer, including “The Ipcress File” (1965).
Period classics from the BFI list that were overlooked in the HMV poll include “The English Patient” (1996), “The Go-Between” (1971), “Sense And Sensibility” (1995), “Remains Of The Day” (1993), and “Hope And Glory” (1987). Cult films on the BFI list that failed to register included “The Draughtsman’s Contract” (1982), “Local Hero” (1983), “Brazil” (1985), and “Distant Voices, Still Lives” (1988).
HMV said that the Iron Maiden record had broad-based national support rather than a regional focus and “Trainspotting” also scored well across the whole country but especially in London, the North East and Scotland
Depeche Mode’s “Violator” was the top album in London and the South East ahead of “Adele 21” and “Withnail And I” placed third in the capital although it did not make the national Top 20. Iron Maiden and Oasis did well in the South West with “Hot Fuzz” the top movie. Adele was top in the Midlands with “The Life Of Brian” the favourite movie there followed closely by “Shaun Of The Dead”.
The top album in the east of England was Muse’s “Origin Of Symmetry” while “The Italian Job” and “Shaun Of The Dead” were the top films. “Adele 21” was No. 1 in Yorkshire where “Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows, Part 2” was the winner and Sheffield-set “The Full Monty” landed in the Top 10.
Voters in the North East picked Oasis’ “(What’s the Story) Morning Glory?” as the top album while Manchester opted for Elbow’s “Seldom Seen Kid” with “Trainspotting” atop the film lists in the region and the city. The North West went for Elbow and Radiohead (“OK Computer”) and “Withnail and I” at third although Liverpool and Merseyside chose the five Beatles albums along with the two Harry Potter films in the Top 10.
Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here” and “Led Zeppelin II” scored well in Wales with “Love Actually” and “Notting Hill” in the Top 5. Primal Scream’s “Screamadelica” and Teenage Fanclub’s “Bandwagonesque” did well in Scotland but Iron Maiden came first, as did “Trainspotting” despite strong support for the Monty Python.
HMV conducted its poll via a dedicated Facebook page that resulted in a total of 54,545 votes made up of 63% males with 53% of voters aged below 35 years-old and just 8% over 55 years-old.
This story appeared in Cue Entertainment; full lists follow:
Full list of Top 60 British Films – 1952-2012
1. Trainspotting (6.00%)
2. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (5.48%)
3. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part Two (4.79%)
4. Monty Python’s Life Of Brian (4.78%)
5. A Clockwork Orange (4.37%)
6. 2001: A Space Odyssey (4.29%)
7. Harry Potter And The Prisoner of Azkaban (3.69%)
8. The Italian Job (3.11%)
9. Shaun Of The Dead (2.95%)
10. The Kings Speech (2.66%)
11. Love Actually
12. Hot Fuzz
13. Goldfinger
14. Billy Elliot
15. Slumdog Millionaire
16. The Great Escape
17. Snatch
18. Quadrophenia
19. Bridget Jones’ Diary
20. Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
21. 28 Days Later
22. Four Weddings and a Funeral
23. This is England
24. Lawrence Of Arabia
25. Dr. Strangelove, or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love the Bomb
26. The Full Monty
27. Notting Hill
28. Withnail and I
29. The Bridge On The River Kwai
30. The Wicker Man
31. Gandhi
32. Dr. No
33. A Fish Called Wanda
34. Zulu
35. The Inbetweeners Movie
36. Chariots Of Fire
37. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
38. Oliver
39. Sexy Beast
40. Control
41. Four Lions
42. Moon
43. Get Carter
44. Kes
45. The Ladykillers
46. The Dambusters
47. Battle Of Britain
48. Atonement
49. A Room With A View
50. Brassed Off
51. Gregory’s Girl
52. Alfie
53. East is East
54. Dead Man’s Shoes
55. If
56. Layer Cake
57. The Long Good Friday
58. The Railway Children
59. Human Traffic
60. Don’t Look Now
Full list of Top 60 British albums – 1952-2012
1. Iron Maiden / The Number of the Beast (9.18%)
2. Depeche Mode / Violator (6.30%)
3. The Beatles / Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (5.69)
4. The Beatles / Abbey Road (5.67%)
5. Pink Floyd / The Dark Side of the Moon (5.23%)
6. The Beatles / Revolver (4.01%)
7. Queen / A Night at the Opera (3.98%)
8. Oasis / (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? (3.91%)
9. Adele / 21 (3.07%)
10. The Beatles / White Album (2.60%)
11. Led Zeppelin / IV
12. The Beatles / Rubber Soul
13. The Clash / London Calling
14. David Bowie / The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust & the Spiders from Mars
15. The Smiths / The Queen is Dead
16. Black Sabbath / Black Sabbath
17. Radiohead / OK Computer
18. Pink Floyd / Wish You Were Here
19. Elton John / Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
20. Oasis / Definitely Maybe
21. Take That / Beautiful World
22. Led Zeppelin / II
23. Elbow / Seldom Seen Kid
24. The Who / Who’s Next
25. Coldplay / Parachutes
26. Sex Pistols / Never Mind the Bollocks
27. Muse / Origin of Symmetry
28. Amy Winehouse / Back to Black
29. Joy Division / Unknown Pleasures
30. The Stone Roses / The Stone Roses
31. David Bowie / Hunky Dory
32. The Cure / Disintegration
33. My Bloody Valentine / Loveless
34. Arctic Monkeys / Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not
35. Pulp / Different Class
36. Mumford & Sons / Sigh No More
37. Blur / Parklife
38. Florence & The Machine / Lungs
39. The Prodigy / Fat of the Land
40. Rolling Stones / Exile on Main Street
41. Kate Bush / Hounds of Love
42. Radiohead / Kid A
43. The Rolling Stones / Sticky Fingers
44. Portishead / Dummy
45. The Rolling Stones / Let it Bleed
46. The Specials / The Specials
47. Kasabian / Kasabian
48. Manic Street Preachers / The Holy Bible
49. Tinie Tempah / Disc-overy
50. Stereophonics / Word Gets Around
51. Massive Attack / Blue Lines
52. Primal Scream / Screamadelica
53. Dusty Springfield / Dusty in Memphis
54. Aphex Twin / Selected Ambient Works
55. Blur / Modern Life is Rubbish
56. The Streets / Original Pirate Material
57. PJ Harvey / Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea
58. Dizzee Rascal / Boy in da Corner
59. Teenage Fanclub / Bandwagonesque
60. Roots Manuva / Run Come Save Me