Edgar Wright has been doing a public service lately with the new issue of Empire that celebrates the theatrical experience, but also using his standing in the industry to reach out to other filmmakers to have them share their love of movies. One person he reached out to was Martin Scorsese, in part to thank Scorsese for his list of must-see international films. Wright asked if Scorsese had a list of favorite British films, and then with Scorsese’s permission, reprinted an admittedly incomplete list of 50 British movies the acclaimed director thinks folks should see.

Here’s the list followed by Wright’s tweet where Scorsese briefly expands on his choices.

  • Kind Hearts and Coronets
  • Station Six Sahara
  • Brief Ecstasy
  • The Halfway House
  • Went the Day Well
  • Nowhere to Go
  • The Nanny
  • Madonna of the Seven Moons
  • The Man in Grey
  • So Long at the Fair
  • A Stolen Face
  • Spaceways
  • Four Sided Triangle
  • The Sound Barrier
  • This Happy Breed
  • Guns at Batasi
  • Green for Danger
  • The Mind Benders
  • To the Public Danger
  • It Always Rains on Sunday
  • The Long Good Friday
  • A High Wind in Jamaica
  • The Queen of Spades
  • Hue and Cry
  • Pink String & Sealing Wax
  • The Blue Lamp
  • The Good Die Young
  • Mandy
  • Vampyres
  • Uncle Silas
  • The Legend of Hell House
  • Night of the Eagle
  • The Flesh & The Fiends
  • The Snorkel
  • Taste of Fear
  • The Damned
  • The Plague of the Zombies
  • Quartermass and the Pit
  • Jekyll & Sister Hyde
  • The Devil Rides Out
  • The Aspyhx
  • Underground
  • Shooting Stars
  • Sapphire
  • Whistle and I’ll Come to You
  • Dead of Night
  • Enfield Haunting
  • The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne
  • The Pumpkin Eater
  • The Innocents
  • The Seventh Veil
  • Yield to the Night

When you look at a list like this, the notion that Scorsese is some elitist film snob utterly falls apart. There’s some very pulpy titles on here like those from Hammer as well as crime classics like The Long Good Friday. What this list says to me is that Scorsese is someone who is always trying to expand his horizons, and that curiosity is what we should celebrate, admire, and seek to emulate.