Learn To Speak English With An English Accent Easily from The Ladykillers:1955 version

I was asked by an Italian in Singapore how he could improve his English Accent. I told him. Watch The Ladykillers. You can see the traileron YouTube.

The stars include Alec Guinness, Peter Sellers, Herbert Lom. The little old lady was here at her heyday and never appeared anywhere else.

A masterpiece scene. Alec Guiness as the mastermind of the crooks. The other felons are forced to make up heart-rending stories to support his excuses.  When the appeals to sympathy fail to convince the old lady. Then the subtle threats.

They speak so slowly. (Unlike modern films where conversations are muffled and muttered.) Why? Because that was the fashion. Because they are speaking to an old lady who is hard of hearing and cannot comprehend. Because they have to pause to make up, improvise, their lies.

All of this means that the film is perfect for learning English.

Another trailer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MD5r1CG0HmY
Where the old lady knows of the robbery and the crooks try to convince her that she cannot return the money.

A discussion of the movie
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rMn7ZHEwBc

Alec Guinness Interviewed On Becoming 'Sir'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSsHA8ctxtE
The best line is about his wife becoming 'a lady - at last'.

About the Author
Angela Lasnbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Speech trainer. Member of Toastmasters International - five clubs in the UK and Singapore.

The Ladykillers (1955) ORIGINAL TRAILER - learn correct English accents from this wonderful old film

Learn correct English from this wonderful film. If you are short of time, just enjoy the trailer.
1955, the good old days when you could hear every word in a film. Before we in Britain knew that the Americans called films movies.

The stars of this film include
Alec Guinness
Peter Sellers
Frankie Howerd
Jack Warner
Herbert Lom

This film has it all. Humour. suspense.

A stellar cast. Humorous. Wonderful performance from the old lady. She didn't do anything else. But she was perfectly cast and immortalised in this film.

See my other post.
You can watch the whole film for free.

About the Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, teacher of English and other languages.

Coronavirus Crisis Update To Start The Week - but end the day with Comedy

Regarding the Coronavirus crisis, first the bad news. then the good news. Some of the news is bad for some but good for others.

USA
You can still see cherry blossoms in Washington DC.
Too many sightseers go, so roads are shut.

Armchair travellers can admire online photos of cherry blossoms. Cherry blosssoms planted years ago are still bringing delight.

Given by the Japanese, to the Americans. A hundred years ago.

The bad news? Increasing lockdowns.

UK
Tree blossoms bloom quietly in London, England. Daffodils are out in March. Weather could be worse. It snowed on March 23rd in 1979. I was in hospital in Watford, North West London, about to give birth.

I try to always end on a high note. End my day by breathing deeply. End with a beautiful picure of nature. End with a cartoon or comedy film (movie).

My favourite comedy film?
The Ladykillers, the first version in 1955 starring Alec Guinness, Peter Sellers, Frankie Howerd, Herbert Lom, Jack Warner and others.

Useful Websites

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8140517/We-no-longer-respirators-aged-SIXTY.html

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8140449/Hundreds-flock-Washington-DCs-famous-cherry-blossoms-bloom.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ico=taboola_feed

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ladykillers

About the author
Angela Lansbury is a travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please share links to your favourite posts.

The 40 Most Beautiful Actresses Pre-1960 (my preferences) - and characters

I love this compilation of old films. If you pick your dates carefully, you can choose out of copyright pictures and films.

Nostalgia from the old days.

My favourites: Marilyn Monroe, always first in the list and first in my mind. I really like Lauren Bacall. So sultry.

As the saying goes, the past is another country. L P Hartley wrote that, I believe.

You can now save films on Singapore Airlines to watch the endings later or see your favourites again.

If you were to take actresses with character, you could compile a totally different but equally mesmerising list. My favourites would start with: Marilyn Monroe, Brigitte Bardot, Ursula Andress, Bette Davis, Liz Taylor, Ingrid Bergman in Casablanca with Humphrey Bogart - play it again, Sam or Singapore Airlines.

What about older women, or the same women when they grew older? Who is my favourite?

The Ladykillers
The little old lady whose name I always forget who appears in the classic comedy, The Ladykillers, with Alec Guinness and Peter Sellers. She never made another film. But one is enough to put her on my list. I hope one day to grow gracefully old, appear in my final film, to play a character and to be in real life as seemingly innocent yet disarmingly smart as she was.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please save links to your favourite films.

Travel back in time to old England?

Problem
England is not the England of old films.

Where can I see old England?

1 Gibraltar.
2 New Zealand.
3 Medieval Banquets in London; Hatfield House; USA.
4 The City of London, England.
5 Walking tours of London and other cities.
6 York, England.
7 Stratford-upon-Avon - Tudor black and white gabled buildings, the real thing.
8 Old Films: The Ladykillers is a 1955 British black comedy film made by Ealing Studios.  It stars Alec Guinness, Cecil Parker, Herbert Lom, Peter Sellers, Danny Green, Jack Warner and Katie Johnson as the old lady.^[1]

(More photos, websites and lists later today.)

Author
Angela Lansbury