Wrong Region

Politics | Thu, Mar 19, 2009 at 6:06:43 pm PDT

When British PM Gordon Brown visited the US recently, Barack Obama responded to his gift of a penholder carved from the timbers of an anti-slavery ship by giving Brown a boxed set of 25 classic American movies on DVD.

Movies that won’t play on European DVD players.

While not exactly a film buff, Gordon Brown was touched when Barack Obama gave him a set of 25 classic American movies – including Psycho, starring Anthony Perkins on his recent visit to Washington.

Alas, when the PM settled down to begin watching them the other night, he found there was a problem.

The films only worked in DVD players made in North America and the words “wrong region” came up on his screen.

Now, that’s diplomacy.