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

Two more comments:

KerrAvon: The film was called 'Tim', not 'Timmy'. Maybe Mel was called "Timmy" in the film (I haven't seen it), but IMDb gives the title as 'Tim'.

Master of Complete Tosh: The king who was murdered with a red-hot poker was Edward II not Henry II, and his wife was Isabelle not Eleanor of Aquitaine. There's about 200 years difference between their birth / regnal dates (Henry II came first), and Henry II doesn't feature in 'Braveheart'. I know the film is riddled with historical inaccuracies, but that ain't one of them.

Mind you, Patrick MacGoohan is another 'baddie with a British accent'.

And there was me thinking it was Richard II, done in by his uncle, Henry Bolingbroke, later Henry IV. As immortalised in Shakespeare.

It shows what a fine actor Patrick M was. He's American.

There's a character in Tango and Cash who has the most appalingly feigned 'English' accent I've ever heard. It's so bad that the only way I could tell that it's meant to be an English accent is that he kept saying "Bollix mate" all the time, lie cockneys are supposed to

Worst ever? Shome mishtake shorley!

Dick Van Dyke

Cruella Deville in the original Walt Disney cartoon version of 101 Dalmations spoke with a British accent I think. Also the wicked step mother in Snow White ? In my head they certainly sounds less evil with an American accent which is strange when you think of it!

and that does include the Welsh,Irish,Scottish and English.What accent would you choose for a down right evil villian?Lets leave the Germans,Russians and Japanese out of it as they have been done to death and it doesn't apply anymore.Which is maybe why the Brits are getting such a bashing in films as it's turn and turn about.

Incog.

Cheerful Dragon's right - it was (allegedly) Edward II.

They are often confused because:
There are at least some parallels between the two stories
Edward II is a play by Christopher Marlow
Richard II is a play by William Shakespeare.
Shakespeare ripped off Marlow's play wholesale.

Otto

Hmm, obviously I need to briush up on my English late medieval history. On second thoughts, I don't think I'll be bothering.

I can tell the difference between Kit and Will, though.

Salieri in "Amadeus" had a Brit accent, didn't he?

As much as American's villify the accent, a lot of times it's just the "white and black cowboy hats" for some slower witted veiwers. Also, as an American I can attest that a posh British accent implies cunning and smarts (Sherlock Holms was British, after all).

Sometimes I wonder if the villain is British because the best actor they could get for that role was British, so they worked the accent in.

Y.S.

Didn't 101 Dalmatians take place in London?

Thanks for all your help, everyone.

yes

bollywood films

"It shows what a fine actor Patrick M was. He's American."

I thought he was Irish.

101 Dalmations did take place in London and the surrounding countryside (I don't know what the range of the long bark was).

Alan Rickman in Dogma
Any actor playing James Bond

Who is that blond guy with the bad cockney accent with a ponytail that keeps showing up as a thug?

In a lethal weapon movie he had a grenade shoved down his pants.

I'm going to assume you're taking the piss there Two-Bit

Sorry about the Tim/Timmy thing- it's been a while since the film surfaced on British TV


Don't bother about history for Braveheart Blues Shark- the film screws with history so much it's unreal! For instance, Isabelle first visited England long after William Wallace was dead . So just enjoy it as a film, nothing more. Having said that, I got chucked out the cinema when I went to see Enigma, because the film offended me so much I stood up and shouted "that's a f**king lie" at the top of my (not inconsiderable voice) about a third of the way through. The only redeeming feature of Reign of Fire was the American's *didn't* save the day. Still a fundamental problem with UK geography though- Northumbria to London does not take the half an hour or so the director of the film seemed to think it does...

Kelli- given that Spike smokes and is English, I guess the answer is yes

"Any actor playing James Bond" James bond, a baddie?

>I'm going to assume you're taking the piss there Two-Bit

I don't know that means.

A couple more points:

Two-Bit: "You'reaking the piss" is British slang for "You're joking / fooling around."

Patrick M's nationality / accent: He was born in New York, but his parents moved to Ireland when he was young. His accent can be American, Irish or English as the need arises, not because of acting ability (although voice-coaching helps *some* actors), but because of where he was raised.