hi,
i mean was he a big mafia boss ?
its like everybody showed him too much respect.
initially i thought he was the jailer !!!
thanks
He was British and therefore not a Mafia boss. He was also a big incarcerated criminal mastermind who had lots of power on the inside as well as on the outside.
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The prison warden is the guy Bridger goes to complain to after Charlie has broken into his toilet.
He's basically the man who can provide the resources for Charlie's plan
The Movie Miscellanyshare
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He is not mafia, but a massive crime lord in the British underground. He had huge influence in the jail, and the outside.
I assure you I'm not officer, I've only had a few ales
Either I wasn't paying close enough attention, or the movie wasn't very clear; but it took me way too long to figure out that Mr. Bridger was a prisoner and that the joke of his character was that he practically ran the place and acted as if we were the warden's superior. A lot more attention was paid to the destruction of cars than to a coherent plot.
...Justin
Either I wasn't paying close enough attention, or the movie wasn't very clear.
It's pretty obvious if you remember the whole movie is relentlessly 'tongue in cheek' - taking real life idiosynchrasies, and then exaggerating them in the name of humour.
I dunno if you have ever seen an old tv show called 'porridge' which was a comedy set inside a prison starring Ronnie Barker. I remember they had a similar character (called 'grouty' or something like that)...
More 'serious' crime/underworld films have similar characters, but without the approach being comical in nature - something like Goodfellas, where they have access to a (from memory) very large cell, and fresh food/produce and facilities to cook and so forth.
I'd say the latter. The movie was very unclear to the fact that Bridger was in fact a prisoner.
My vote history: http://us.imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=9354248
Rubbish. The movie was as clear as it needed to be; most people got it. Just because you didn't doesn't make it unclear.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsi5jvteK_chttp://tinyurl.com/cyneuhg
You didn't notice Bridger's prisoner uniform? Compare his uniform with a prison warden's uniform and you'll see he's a prisoner.
shareNot to mention the fact that a Warden wouldn't be going for a crap in the toilets which the general population would use...
I was only slightly confused up until the part where he complained to the real warden...AFTER said toilet debacle.
He's London's Mr Big and beautifully played by Noël Coward in his last film.
BTW I can understand some posters initially thinking he's part of the prison staff.
When you first see him he's outside his cell, standing with a prison guard, in a uniform, not unlike those of the guards and Charlie addresses him as if he was part of the prison staff. It's only later in the film that it becomes clear that he's Mr Big.🐭
My guess he was a member of The Royal Family, who had somehow turned into crime lord.
There are several clues on that in the movie:
1. music played during most his appearings
2. his respect for The Queen
3. phrase "my royalty" in the lavatory scene
4. respect to him from both inmates and prison officers including warden
5. car tag "HMP 1" which can be "His Majesty Prince…"
He's a top London crime lord, who happens to be a massive fan of Her Majesty. He also believes he's a natural born gentleman, but he's a special flake.
The joke of him being a gentleman is that most London gangsters and crime lords of that time stereotypically came from rough or poor backgrounds. Solid working class. As they rose up the criminal ladder, they flashed their money around, buying expensive houses and cars. They can't buy class. But Bridger believes he can.
Bridger probably likes to think himself different from those gangsters and does so by acting like a proper English gentleman, who stands for everything English. The Queen. The true Englishmen. Good manners. Cuppa of tea. Daily newspapers. Hartley Street (a famous London street of doctors and dentists for wealthy English people and English aristocrats).
Can't believe anyone found it difficult to work out who Mr Bridger was! The only reasons I can think of would be that they aren't British or are very young. In those cases they would be unfamiliar with the power of British crime boses in the sixties able to influence the police and prison service, and also unfamiliar with the humour of British films throughout the 40s 50s and 60s (and later)portraying the ineptitude of British authorities.
shareWhen I saw the movie I thought he was a big businessman/crime lord who happened to live in one of his factories.
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