h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Archetypal British comedy cinema started here in the 1940s. Relying less on slapstick and more on sharp dialogue and tight, almost believable plot-lines, the Ealing Comedies always made the audience cheer for the underdog, whether it was a lovable rogue pitched against the establishment as in "I'm All Right, Jack", or a novice making good as in "Brothers-In-Law", or perhaps a weak and insignificant establishment pulling off a substantial and unlikely coup, for example "The Great St. Trinian's Train Robbery" or "The Mouse That Roared". All excellent.

While the comedy was often slightly dark, the overriding attitude was one of optimism, regularly portraying plucky individual opportunity succeeding over class and privilege in post-war Britain, reinforcing the fact that it was a rag-bag flotilla and Dunkirk Spirit that saved the British from the advancing German military machine.

Famous Names In Ealing Comedy: Alistair Sim, Alec Guinness, George Cole, Wilfred Hyde-Whyte, Terry Thomas, Ian Carmichael, Peter Sellers, Joyce Grenfell, Kenneth Moore

(PS Hope I got the names of the films and actors right)

DMT

In retrospect, I'm not sure that Peter Sellers really was a rogue in "I'm All Right Jack" ... might need to dabble with that.

Still, my marker's down.