Mein Got Im Himmel, Old Chap
 

i cant remember if this has ever been discussed here before - but i got thinking about old films and how they always used to use guys with british accents to portray germans.

i wish i could think of some examples off the top of my head but i cant ... i just remember seeing it several times.

also - in many many american films (non war) the villian is often the refined british guy.

i think the device was to make the bad guy the one you'd least suspect (proper british gentleman - or butler) but i'm pretty sure there was more to it than that.

anyone acting too posh and uppity must be taken down .. he's a bad guy !

but mostly it was the war films i found funny - either they couldnt find german actors - or they figured - any foreign accent will do - and the british are all evil anyway :)

You mean like in(see sig).

I'd like to know why all Roman emperors have a British accent.

The guy who played the SS Officer in Where Eagles Dare. Don't remember his name exactly. He played his character to a perfect 10.

And some of those actors in the Indiana Jones films, Raiders & Last Crusade.

There are plenty more. I am sure I am missing quite a few. I do remember a bunch of British actors playing German officers in The Longest Day though.

for sure ... but i imagine that was on purpose ? an even more faithful recreation of those old war related cliffhangers from the past ?

Yeah, but this dates way back.

40s and 50s war movies started the whole trend I assume.

Re. Romans:


Ever notice how in ANY movie set in a old time period, if they dont know what the accent was, it becomes a pseudo-english accent. In gladiator, why not have everyone with a fake italian accent? They were in Italy after all...


300 did it right to some degree, Gerard Butler just sounds like a Scot. However, the rest of the non-english cast sounded english (although in their defense, I probably couldnt peg a greek accent if I heard it)



Troy is another example, apparently all ancient greeks were English

James Mason kind of started the tradition with his acclaimed portrayal of Rommel in The Desert Fox.

There just aren't that many famous english speaking German actors who have crossed over into international films. Oskar Werner, Maximillian Schell, Carl Schell, Klaus Maria Brandauer and Peter Lorre were all Austrian. Klaus Kinski was the most notable German I can think of, and was a monumental pain in the ass on most film sets. Karl Michael Vogler and Anton Diffring were Germans.

We always play villains simply because we are seen as well educated and therefore, have a substantially larger vocabulary and mind capacity which helps us contemplate things philosophically. We then see things aren't how they should be and alter the world around us in a way that we can have total control.
Also, we can be so extraordinarily phececious and calm which adds a strange menace to us.

whatever you say :)

http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w...operrr/Ron.jpg

I take offense to that stereotype! :p

Jurgen Prochnow

http://neptunetechnical.com/jp/graphics/newlogo1.jpg

surprised urge didn't mention him

Back "in the day" they had trouble casting orientals as well.

Charlie Chan

http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/da...160313V4_b.jpg

i was talking about british playing germans, not germans playing germans :)

gotcha....I was kinda responding to festered's statement

"There just aren't that many famous english speaking German actors who have crossed over into international films. Oskar Werner, Maximillian Schell, Carl Schell, Klaus Maria Brandauer and Peter Lorre were all Austrian. Klaus Kinski was the most notable German I can think of, and was a monumental pain in the ass on most film sets. Karl Michael Vogler and Anton Diffring were Germans."

and mickey rooney plaing Mr. Yunioshi in Breakfast at Tiffanys

Robert Downey Jr. does a great job [ as usual...I'm glad he straightened out his act ] in Tropic Thunder as an Australian playing a black guy......funniest bit in the movie.

http://z.about.com/d/movies/1/0/o/E/...derposter4.jpg

Don't forget Mr. Moto!

http://daily.greencine.com/archives/moto.jpg

wow....you're right.....he gets NO respect on here.

I'm actually surprised I didn't think of him first.

I love the non-Asians playing Asians. I just watched Nightingale, a story in which Mick Jagger played the emperor of Cathay.

you must have loved Kung-Fu then :)

Hell yes I loved Kung-Fu.

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/i...er_Sellers.jpg

another englishman who played a german (or a bavarian)

(pink panther strikes again)

the scene where he shows up at the castle and they both inhale the laughing gas ... probably my favorite Pink Panther moment..

The pink panther movies fell into the same pattern as a lot of 60s movies, the first couple were funny, the rest turned into retarded mastabatory "romps" for gaggles of "it" actors fo the time... They went from funny to stupid.



And dont get me started on Woody Allen's Casino Royale... puke...

Sometimes, just being yourself can be in bad taste.

http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/k...e/Project1.jpg

i can barely remember the others ..

but A Shot in the Dark,

and The Pink Panther Strikes Again

were both very funny films ..

I thought all the ones with Peter Sellers were great......cept the last one that was basically snippets of footage they found after he died.


And dont get me started on Steve Martin's Panther... puke...

I think this is the one you are looking for, Urge. The one who started the trend:

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpag...260&sec=&spon=

Get this: "He appeared in so many World War II movies that he claimed to have played every rank in the German Army from private to field marshal."

Must be quite a range of ranks, and roles.

and he just passed away today ? thats a weird coincidence.

weirder still that his name is Goring !

Don't forget the MAsk of Fu Manchu - Boris Karloff as an Asian criminal genius.

And then there's the martial arts master in Remo Williams.

joel grey supposed to be a korean i think

Hah! Remo Williams.. I forgot about that one. I miss the 80s with their "Screw reality!" method of making action movies. Nothing that innocently stupid comes out any more...

You only live twice...

Christopher Lee played Fu Manchu too.

its just cause british actors work for cheap

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/c...les_dare04.jpg

Yes, I totally agree. He's on the far lest in the black SS uniform. The actors name was Darren Nesbitt and he was twisted in this movie.

Of course, Ingrid Pitt as "Heidi" stole the show in my humble opinion!!! :D


http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...IngridPitt.jpg