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