A good Englishman...

Posted by Baceseras on October 05, 2009 at 14:42

In Reply to: A good Englishman... posted by RRC on October 04, 2009 at 17:39:

: : : : Last night I briefly watched the end of a movie (which I don't know the name of) that had several famous female British actresses and Chef of all people. The setting was in Italy during WWII. One of the women taught Shakespeare (and the difference between right and wrong). Near the end, one of the male characters said something that caught my attention and I am having no luck doing a Google search. Please help!

: : : : I am only paraphrasing. It happened so quickly that I did not have a chance to write it down. It went something like this...

: : : : "According to Shakespeare... 'A good Englishman puts himself last'."

: : : [Could you say who some of the famous actresses were? I can find no such movie featuring Isaac (Chef) Hayes: it must have been another actor. And I regret to tell you no Shakespearean phrase like that comes to mind, either. - B.]

: :
: : Yes, Thank you for considering my query. I have since discovered that the movie is called "Tea with Mussolini" and the famous actresses are as follows as I can recall: Dame Judy Dench, Maggie... I can't remember... and another woman who was in the American original Disney adaptation of 21 Dalmations (who played the Nanny), plus Cher, plus Lily Tomlin. The quote was near the end of the movie.

: I was looking for movies with Lenny Henry of "Chef!". Was anyone looking for a movie Alistair "Chef" Cook the famous cricketer?
: Joan Plowright was the Nanny the SECOND Disney version of "101 Dalmatians" - the first being the 1961 animated version.
: Lynn, you might also try some sites for movie buffs as I'm guessing this may not be a real Shakespeare quote.

[According to some who have seen "Tea with Mussolini," the St. Crispian's Day speech from "Henry V" is quoted near the end. If the original questioner hasn't discovered this already, here's a page that gives the speech and briefly explains its context - www.chronique.com/ Library/Knights/crispen.htm - and maybe it will accord with your memory of the movie. - Baceseras.]