It's simply the accent. As others have said, it implies a certain intelligence. But Americans aren't the only ones fascinated with accents. Look at "The Lord of the Rings". Peter Jackson gives the wizards and elves lovely lilting educated British accents; the hobbits slightly less sophisticated ones and the ORCS SPEAK PURE COCKNEY! I got such a laugh out of that. Good to know even Aussie love a good cliche! And the British accent is something of a cliche, isn't it? Not doubt its inflections as lovingly tended by those who subscribe to its subtext of class as the denizens of the Bronx love the gutteral furor suggest by their particualr patoire. Whatever. I grew up in 8 different states. I'm an accent-free mutt, myself.
BTW, That Guardian article was typical Guardian rubbish. God, that newspaper we think of any crappy story to get some anti-American sentiment in. It's so pathetic.
And those cinema writers at The Guardian really ought to spend a little real time in Hollywood to see the constant lines of British actors, writers, directors and producers making the rounds at studios, dying for a shot of working in Hollywood.
The Guardian writer who said "Our cut-price actors come over and do their dirty work, as villains and baddies and psychopaths" must just be jealous that Ewan McGregor, Jude Law, Anthony Hopkins, Guy Richie, and all their BEST talent usually flees the fog and rain of London to work on the sunny shores of LA. What a charade.
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