Kind Hearts and Coronets

Kind Hearts and Coronets
by Robert Hamer

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Movie Reviews of Kind Hearts and Coronets

Movie Review: A droll and hilarious case study in the gentle art of murder
Summary: 5 Stars

With Louis as our narrator we go back to the beginning of the story, when his Mama (Audrey Fildes) was disowned by the aristocratic D'Ascoyne family after she ran away with an Italian tenor, who promptly died upon the announcement of the birth of a son. Attempts to reconcile by Louis's mother with the family were coldly rejected and she raised the boy in relative poverty, but with a sense of class that would serve him well in the future. It was the dream of his mother that Louis might one day inherit the title, which descends through the women as well as the men; the title was given for service to King Charles II during the Interegnum by the first Duke and the right of the women to inherit was added by services of the Duchess after the Restoration. When his mother denies and is refused burial in the D'Ascoyne family crypt, Louis vows to make her dream come true by bumping off all of his relations that stand between him and his goal, using his mother's copy of the family tree to help make sure he does it right.

Guiness plays eight different D'Ascoyne family members, from an Admiral and a General to a Parson and a dowager suffragette, creating distinct characters even when reduced to only a line or two of dialogue; too bad the opening credits give away the game. However, "Kind Hearts and Coronets" really is Dennis Price's movie polite killer and would be Duke. Price had been born into an upper class family and after this effort two of his next three films would find him playing Lord Byron. Therefore, it is not surprising that he hits the proper mark with the impeccable sense of propriety and reserved indignation he brings to his quest. His effort is ultimately complicated by his affections for both his childhood sweetheart, Sibella (Joan Greenwood), who refused to wait for him to become a Duke and married another, and Edith D'Asoyne (Valerie Hobson), the wife of one of his early victims, who would make a most suitable and deserving Duchess.

This is a film where we root for the "hero" to succeed in his quest although we are well aware that he is a naughty boy who should be punished and have reason to believe Fate is helping Louis along with his efforts because some of the offending D'Asoyne relatives manage to meet their own ends without his assistance. Besides, there is some creativity involved in most of the murders that has to be appreciated as well; if not totally ingenious, at least he does not cheapen his efforts by using the same trick twice. The ending of the film presents a series of ironies that seem totally appropriate give the fact that our hero is a serial killer.

"Kind Hearts and Coronets" begain a string of classic roles for Guiness is Ealing comedies, amply seen the following year when he made both "The Lavender Hill Mob" and "The Man in the White Suit." But this film clearly has the driest wit as well as teh most charm and elegance of them all. It presents a perfect little exercise in the gentle art of murder.