This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Much of our perceptions of the British — quietly determined, maintaining their stiff upper lips, keeping calm and carrying on — are products of the movies, particularly ones made during and about World War II.

With Christopher Nolan's "Dunkirk" — a dramatization of the legendary retreat of British forces, and the civilian sailors who crossed the Channel to save them — opening Friday, it's worth a look at seven movies (listed chronologically) that exemplify that British ideal.

1. "Mrs. Miniver" (1942)

In 1939, a middle-class English couple (Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon) sees family concerns — like son Vincent (Richard New) falling for the granddaughter (Teresa Wright) of the local noblewoman (Dame May Whitty) — give way to the worries brought by World War II. Mrs. Miniver encounters a wounded German pilot, Vincent joins the RAF, and Mr. Mininver helps the British soldiers trapped at Dunkirk. It's the quintessential British home-front movie.

2. "Henry V" (1944)

Laurence Olivier took Shakespeare's great historical drama and created a morale booster for British troops and an allegory for the war that was then consuming the world. Olivier directed and played the title character, a young king learning the depth of his responsibility of a leader both to his kingdom and his soldiers.

3. "Lifeboat" (1944)

From the relative safety of Hollywood, Alfred Hitchcock did his part for his home country's war effort with this claustrophobic thriller. Seven survivors of a freighter torpedoed by a German U-boat make it to a lifeboat. The group — which includes Tallulah Bankhead and a young Hume Cronyn — discovers their survival depends on whether they can trust a rescued German sailor (Walter Slezak) who says he can direct them to Bermuda. A nail-biter of a script (partly credited to John Steinbeck) is also a lesson in banding together against a common enemy.

4. "Bedknobs and Broomsticks" (1971)

In this live-action/animated hybrid, three kids are sent during World War II to live with an eccentric woman (Angela Lansbury), who is actually an apprentice witch. She, the kids and a ("Mary Poppins'" David Tomlinson) join forces to uncover the secret to a spell that could help the British win the war. One of the loopier entries in the Disney canon.

5. "Enigma" (2001)

Long before "The Imitation Game," the code-breakers at Bletchley Park inspired this fictionalized take, a thriller in which math genius Tom Jericho (Dougray Scott) works against time to decrypt the Nazis' unbreakable code machine — and, in the process, unravel the fate of the mysterious woman (Saffron Burrows) with whom he's in love. Director Michael Apted spins a clever spy tale, and gets some good chemistry out of Scott and Kate Winslet. Mick Jagger was one of the movie's producers, and has a cameo.

6. "The King's Speech" (2010)

King George VI (Colin Firth) is a surprise successor to the throne when his brother Edward VIII (Guy Pearce) abdicates, and unsure he's worthy of the crown because of his severe stammer. Enter Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush), a speech therapist with unconventional methods, who helps the King find his voice — just in time to lead the British into World War II. Strong performances by Firth, Rush and Helena Bonham Carter (as Elizabeth, the current monarch's mother) make this a royal treat.

7. "Their Finest" (2017)

Gemma Arterton shines in this recent release, as Catrin Cole, a young woman who supports her artist husband (Jack Huston) by getting a job writing scripts for the British government's uplifting propaganda films around the time of The Blitz. (Much of the movie focuses on one script, inspired by the retreat at Dunkirk.) Catrin finds her voice, navigating through bureaucracy, massaging the ego of an aged actor (Bill Nighy), and finding a kindred spirit in a fellow writer (Sam Claflin), in director Lone Scherfig's gently moving examination of the sacrifices brought on by war.

movies@sltrib.com

Twitter: @moviecricket