The English Teacher's Top Ten: The Films of Alec Guinness

Our maverick English Teacher and movie buff goes the top ten route. Up next - Alec Guinness. Equally at home in comedy and drama, Guinness was (and is) considered by many to be the finest film actor of his generation of English Actors, a generation that included Olivier, Redgrave, and Mills. Toughest choices: 1) What to do about his long association with David Lean and his "guest spots" in many Lean films ( Lean considered him a good luck charm; I ultimately picked the 3 films Guinness had the most central roles in); 2) What to do about "Star Wars" (Guinness HATED it and disavowed his work in it; I included it because it's so important to film history); and 3) Was there room for "Damn the Defiant"? ( There wasn't.) My favorite Guinness performance? Colonel Jock Sinclair in "Tunes of Glory".