The Blue Plaque next door

London is famous (ok, not really) for it's "blue plaques", which are circular signs on buildings commemorating famous people who lived in a house for a period.  They look like this:

So on the building next to mine, there is a plaque commemorating the residence of "Alexander McKendrick, Film Director."  Who???

Being something of a film buff, I got curious about McKendrick, and learned that he was the director of  The Sweet Smell of Success, The Man in the White Suit, and The Ladykillers, three all-time great films.  If you haven't seen these films (I've been trained not to use the term "movies", which they don't use here in the UK), put them on your NetFlix list, you will not regret it.

Trivia point: in Barry Levinson's Diner, one character's dialogue is nothing but lines from Sweet Smell of Success.

Why it might not be worth it to get cable TV in London

Simplified TV listings for 7pm:

BBC 1:  News
BBC 2: Reality show
ITV 1: Soap opera
Channel 4: News
Channel 5: Reality show
Sky 1: The Simpsons
Sky Living:  American crime drama
Sky Atlantic:  Quiz show
Watch TV: Reality show
Gold:  British sitcom from the 70s
Dave:  Reality show
Comedy Central:  American sitcom
Universal: American crime drama
SyFy:  Buffy the Vampire Slayer
BBC 3:  Awful celebrity reality show
BBC 4: News
ITV 2:  Reality show with awful celebrities
ITV 3:  American crime drama
ITV 4:  Nature documentary with David Attenborough
Sky 2:  Reality show
Sky Living 2:  Nature documentary with David Attenborough
Sky Living 3:  American crime drama
FX:  American crime drama
Sky Sports:  Fantasy football:  Gondor vs. Shire
Challenge:  Quiz show
MTV:  American sitcom from the 80s
Comedy Central +1:  American sitcom
Comedy Central Extra:  American sitcom from the 70s (M*A*S*H ye shall have with ye always)
Sky Arts:  Reality show
Sky Arts 2:  Nature documentary with David Attenborough
ITV 1+2:  Nature documentary without David Attenborough (series finale)

...you get the picture.  Thank God for The Simpsons.