15 thoughts on “Kenneth Branagh Movies”

1. I forget the name of the cinema but I saw Much Ado About Nothing there in 1993. It was a cinema on 62nd and like 1st Avenue, like a 7 plex. Anyway the picture was stopped because there was a fire in the plex. They sent us all out to the lobby and when the situation was resolved (it was minor) it was too late to restart the film so they gave us passes for a free movie. I used it to see Lost in Yonkers at the Ziegfeld theater. Amazingly Ken has never been on the Oracle list but he really doesn’t connect with many people on the list. I’m surprised also he only appeared in one film with his ex, Emma Thompson. These are the people on the list he has appeared with.

   5 MICHAEL CAINE Sleuth (2007)
   9 WILLEM DAFOE MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS (2017)
   16 TERENCE STAMP Valkyrie (2008)
   27 FRANK WELKER The Road to El Dorado (2000)
   52 JOHN CLEESE Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)
   64 TOM WILKINSON VALKYRIE (2008)
   108 M. EMMET WALSH Wild Wild West (1999)
   111 RICHARD HARRIS Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)
   136 JOHNNY DEPP MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS (2017)
   167 MAGGIE SMITH Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)
   178 RICHARD GRIFFITHS Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)
   188 MICHELLE PFEIFFER MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS (2017)
   196 JUDI DENCH ALL IS TRUE (2019)
   196 JUDI DENCH MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS (2017)
   196 JUDI DENCH My Week with Marilyn (2011)
   211 BILL NIGHY Pirate Radio (2009)
   211 BILL NIGHY Valkyrie (2008)
   249 TOM CRUISE Valkyrie (2008)
   251 SIMON CALLOW MINDHORN (2016)
   258 DEREK JACOBI MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS (2017)
   258 DEREK JACOBI My Week with Marilyn (2011)
   265 ROBBIE COLTRANE Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)
   279 JASON ISAACS Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)
   298 JULIAN GLOVER Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)
   298 JULIAN GLOVER The Dance of Shiva (1998)
   363 PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN Pirate Radio (2009)
   370 THOMAS KRETSCHMANN Valkyrie (2008)
   397 KEIRA KNIGHTLEY Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014)
   401 ARMAND ASSANTE The Road to El Dorado (2000)
   411 COLM FEORE JACK RYAN: SHADOW RECRUIT (2014)
   437 TOBY JONES HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS (2002)
   437 TOBY JONES MY WEEK WITH MARILYN (2011)
   440 JUDE LAW Sleuth (2007)
   506 PENELOPE CRUZ MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS (2017)
   513 LYNN REDGRAVE How to Kill Your Neighbor’s Dog (2000)
   528 TIMOTHY SPALL LOVE’S LABOUR LOST (2000)
   551 JIM CARTER MY WEEK WITH MARILYN (2011)
   562 KEVIN MCNALLY VALKYRIE (2008)
   607 KEVIN COSTNER JACK RYAN: SHADOW RECRUIT (2014)
   627 DAVID HAYMAN JACK RYAN: SHADOW RECRUIT (2014)
   630 MIRIAM MARGOLYES Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)
   638 SALMA HAYEK Wild Wild West (1999)
   653 LESLIE PHILLIPS Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)
   671 BERNARD HILL VALKYRIE (2008)
   674 IAN MCKELLEN ALL IS TRUE (2019)
   675 RHYS IFANS PIRATE RADIO (2009)
   678 TED LEVINE WILD WILD WEST (1999)
   690 IAN MCNEICE VALKYRIE (2008)
   694 KEVIN KLINE The Road to El Dorado (2000)
   694 KEVIN KLINE Wild Wild West (1999)
   738 JARED HARRIS How to Kill Your Neighbor’s Dog (2000)
   777 HELENA BONHAM CARTER The Theory of Flight (1998)
   791 EMMA THOMPSON Pirate Radio (2009)
   894 KENNETH CRANHAM VALKYRIE (2008)
   930 DANIEL STERN How to Kill Your Neighbor’s Dog (2000)
   944 BAI LING Wild Wild West (1999)
   997 NATHAN LANE LOVE’S LABOUR LOST (2000)
   HM (793) RICHARD BRIERS LOVE’S LABOUR LOST (2000)

   Kenneth has only appeared with 9 Oscar winners.

   EMMA THOMPSON Pirate Radio (2009)
   JUDI DENCH ALL IS TRUE (2019)
   JUDI DENCH MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS (2017)
   JUDI DENCH My Week with Marilyn (2011)
   KEVIN KLINE The Road to El Dorado (2000)
   KEVIN KLINE Wild Wild West (1999)
   MAGGIE SMITH Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)
   MARK RYLANCE DUNKIRK (2017)
   MICHAEL CAINE Sleuth (2007)
   OLIVIA COLMAN MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS (2017)
   PENELOPE CRUZ MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS (2017)
   PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN Pirate Radio (2009)

   Reply

   1. hi Dan, I love your contributions. I believe emma and Kenneth were in “much ado about nothing” together as well as pirate radio(also called “the boat that rocked”). and “dead again”. you might correct beacon’s new list about this oversight and get kudos you deserve.

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      1. To Bob Cox. Pirate Radio is there but you are right about Much Ado About Nothing and Dead Again. What I find strange is that just today I added Kenneth Branagh to the database since it was the first time he ever appeared on the Oracle of Bacon list, at # 839. By my database since I made the chart above he should have been on the master list but wasn’t. Sometimes I put credits in for people when Mr. C puts up a new person and I must have done it. I haven’t thrown the new people in with whom they match to yet, they’re just listed at the bottom of the list with their credits. Sometimes I find credits missing that were there but were lost through some error I made (notably between 2011 and 2014). These connections from the top 100, the new list would also change now since some people he appeared with might fall off (Emma did not) or new or returning actors would combine with him. The Oscar winners would be the same.

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         1. Hey Dan….thanks for the clarification. So he is now in the Top 1000. I can buy that. Those Oracle people and that Mr. C. seem to keep you busy…..lol.

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      2. Good catch bob cox. You are 100% correct about there being more movies with Emma Thompson and Kenneth.

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   2. Hey Dan. Sorry it took so long to respond to this comment…..I was a bad goalie…not only did the puck get by me….I did not even realize it. Interesting story about the fire interrupting your movie. I actually liked Much Ado About Nothing….I normally do not like Shakespeare movies at all. You are correct….when looking at the first list…..it is pretty small compared to some of the monster lists you have provided. Looks like the Dame Dench is his most frequent Oracle co-star. Single digits in the Oscar co-stars…I would have not guessed that all. His movie with Michael Caine is horrible….as much as I love the original Sleuth, I despise the remake of Sleuth. Heck I have a blu-ray with a Caine commentary that I have never even bothered to listen to. Good stuff as always.

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2. ooh Sir Kenneth Branagh, good subject, Knight of the Silver Screen.

   I’ve seen 16 of the 35 films on the chart, less than I thought.

   Favorites include – Dunkirk, Henry V, Hamlet, Thor, Bram Stoker’s Frankenstein,
   Hairy Putter and the Chamber of Doom, The Road to El Dorado (sequel to The Road to Rio Bravo), Valkyrie and Wild Wild West.

   I haven’t seen Othello or Rabbit Proof Fence.

   I thought he did an excellent job directing Thor and picking the right actors for the roles.

   Good stuff Bruce. Vote Up!

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   1. Wow…. I missed all of these Kenneth Branagh comments. I blame college. On the next update…his Warm Springs will be on the table. Tally count: Steve 16 and me 19…so it was close. I have seen all of your favorites with the exception of The Road To El Dorado. For once…I have not seen either of the critical darlings that you missed. Neither is high on my list of movies to watch. Wild Wild West is really on your favorites list…..now that is surprising….I recently re-watched it….we do not agree on that one at all. Good stuff.

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3. Kipling also wrote the poem The Road to Mandalay and it was put to music. Sinatra wanted to do a recording that would “swing” Kipling’s wording and add a lot of Rat Pack type slang words to Rudyard’s classic verses but Frankie was obliged by the copyright laws to seek the permission of the latter’s widow. She refused and got a traditional Sinatra mouthful.

   Not to be deterred he made Sergeants Three which was a Rat Pack/Clan western version of Kipling/Leach’s Gunga Din with Sammy Davis Junior as Gunga but called Jonas Williams a former American slave who dreamed of being a “real American”. ie he admired the Sinatra/Dino Lawford trio and wanted to be like them. It was in fact the last movie featuring the complete Rat Pack as Sinatra and Lawford fell out.

   Anyway who but a Philistine would want to distort wonderful poetry such as this?-

   “By the old Moulmein Pagoda, looking eastward to the sea,
   There’s a Burma girl a-sitting, and I know she thinks of me;
   For the wind is in the palm-trees, and the temple-bells they say:
   “Come you back, you British soldier; come you back to Mandalay!”

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4. In addition to his prolific film and stage acting and directorial career Ken has also (1) appeared in 20 TV productions (2) narrated 15 others (3) performed on radio for the British Broadcasting Company by taking the title roles of Hamlet and Cyrano De Bergerac and that of Edmund in King Lear. The works of the Bard of Stratford upon Avon’s are never far away when Ken gets involved.

   Regarding the future Sly Stallone mustn’t be available because Ken is playing Poirot again in a further remake of Christie’s Death on the Nile which he also directs [Peter Ustinov played the part on the big screen in 1978] and Ken’s version is at post production stage as are (1)Tenet which is a thriller with Ken seemingly in a supporting acting role and not directing (2) Disney’s sci-fi adventure yarn Artemis Fowl which Ken has produced and directed but doesn’t appear to act in. All 3 are scheduled for 2020 release. We Belfast folk like to keep busy.

   In the recent USA movie production of Jack the Giant Killer all the good giants had American accents but the evil ones had Northern Irish accents and I remember my son in law who watched it with me turning and saying “This shows you what the Americans think of us over here!”

   Possibly it was revenge for Ireland’s Oscar Wilde suggesting that whilst all GOOD Americans when they die go to the cultured Paris all BAD Americans go to America. Anyway it’s good to see one of our citizens getting some Cogerson Love. “Voted UP!”

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   1. Hey Bob….thanks for including lots of information on his stage work and his television work….the man has been very very busy. Stallone as Poirot…I like it. I can see Stallone taking on Murder on the Orient Express….there would be some awesome action scenes….think of the awesome fights they could come up with on a train set…lol. Evil Irish accents for the bad guys….very interesting. I am looking forward to all three new Branagh movies coming down the road. Good stuff as always.

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5. Kenneth Branda has never been a front-line box office star but rather a prestige actor and director etc particularly in relation to Shakespeare . There is no such thing as a ‘Kenneth Branda film’ as he intends to get involved with a mix of things such as Harry Potter and The Avengers as well as the horror pic Frankenstein and the crime drama Dead Again; and Billy Shakespeare’s Much Ado about Nothing which these days tends to bring to my mind The Work Horse’s repeated inclusion on this site of extracts from Joel Hirschhorn’s book.

   In the recent version of murder on the Orient Express Ken was as unlike the Hercule Poirot of the Christie books as anyone I have ever seen. He plays Herc more like one of Steve and Bruce’s action heroes than like the Great Thinking Detective of Agatha’s pen. Sylvester Stallone would probably have to play Poirot for there to be a more off beam interpretation but I enjoyed Ken’s performance nonetheless which I probably wouldn’t be able to say about Sly’s.

   WH certainly must have liked Dead Again and other Branda films because he lists many twice in both tables though for a bit of variety possibly for example one listings pair could have been written as Dead Again and then Dead, Again. Such duplication of so many listings and grosses would have made me suspect “dirty work at the crossroads” had Willis been in the films concerned.

   As Bruce says above Ken comes from Northern Ireland and in fact from Belfast where I live and there are very few boys from Belfast that have ever earned in films the $60 million that is Ken’s quoted current net worth. His credentials as a prestige actor are demonstrated by the fact that IMDB quotes 32 awards and 66 noms for him.

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   1. Hey Bob….thanks for the thoughts on Sir Kenny. I figured you would get a kick out of a Belfastie getting some UMR love. The double titles and Avengers are currently being deleted from this page. His duo roles as an actor and director caused that issue…and I am removing his uncredited voice role in Infinity War….I am thinking WoC put that movie into his table. I liked him as Poirot…..and we get to see him in the role again later this year when Death on the Nile comes out. Thanks for the information on his awards. Good stuff.

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      1. HI BRUCE: Thanks for the thoughtful feedback. Always enjoyable. In the Christie books Poirot was a sedentary character who shuffled about with a mincing walk, had an aversion to getting his hands dirty or even his shoes, and hated travel because he got airsick and seasick quite easily. In one story a woman contemptuously describes him as a “mincing pansy.”

         The last thing that he would have considered doing was leaping about bridges and scurrying up beams as Sir Kenny did. Guys like you and Steve don’t seem to be able to enjoy heroes who do their best work sitting on their a** and thinking!

         The movies always got a bad name for making a travesty of the works of famous authors and their characters. The great Rudyard Kipling wrote the classic poem Gunga Din that was the basis for the Al Leach movie and literary scholars have complained how Archie and the other actors ruined it by sending it up at times.

         I found it unwatchable so I can’t comment but I am guessing that they were referring to that screwball comedy style acting that the young Archibald was addicted to and which for me type cast him at times whereas I thought he possessed a wider rang that was never exploited.

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