Kind Hearts And Coronets (1949) ****
Kind Hearts And Coronets (1949), perhaps the best of the Ealing comedies, is a misanthropic romp, full of gallows humor, wonderful performances, and economic writing/direction by Robert Hamer.
Dennis Price plays our antihero, Louis Mazzini, who casually murders the members of the D'Ascoyne family, in order to inherit the title of duke (robbed of him due to his mother marrying below her social class). The eight D'Ascoyne family members that Louis murders are all famously (and splendidly) brought to life by Alec Guinness. Price gives a delightfully dry performance and it's hard not to root him on, even though Louis himself is a bit of a cad. Along with his gleeful murder spree, our protagonist carries on an affair with a married woman, Sibella (deliciously played by Joan Greenwood)—every bit the equal of the plotting and vengeful Louis.
Dennis Price plays our antihero, Louis Mazzini, who casually murders the members of the D'Ascoyne family, in order to inherit the title of duke (robbed of him due to his mother marrying below her social class). The eight D'Ascoyne family members that Louis murders are all famously (and splendidly) brought to life by Alec Guinness. Price gives a delightfully dry performance and it's hard not to root him on, even though Louis himself is a bit of a cad. Along with his gleeful murder spree, our protagonist carries on an affair with a married woman, Sibella (deliciously played by Joan Greenwood)—every bit the equal of the plotting and vengeful Louis.
Although not necessarily a film of the laugh out loud variety, Kind Hearts And Coronets is a classic of British comedy, a bleak yet brilliant slice of cinema that still entertains 75 years on.
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