Kind Hearts and Coronets
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Movie Reviews of Kind Hearts and Coronets
Movie Review: The best comedy ever made
Summary: 5 Stars
This film is outstanding. Exhilarating, superb with an overpowered cast. Dennis Price in the best role of his life and Sir Alec Guiness showing once more why he is in the top list of england actors,altogether with Laurence Olivier,Michael Redgrave,Leslie Howard, Gielguld, Burton,O Toole, Albert Finney, Trevor Howard,Dennis Price,Dick Bogarde, John Mills,Michael Caine amog others. England experienced a sudden creative explossion of talent in that decade like no other country in the world. And the golden age of the english comedy places in this decade like no one else.
Remember the lavender hill mob,the lady killers, the Hobson choice, the man in the white suit. Unbelievable,do not you.
The fact that Sir Alec Guiness has played eight roles in that movie is just a little detail.
When you think it deeper,you will notice that this is an irreverent film . The plot is so well made,the sense of ambition reminds us the laughable side of the sinister Richard III and his epic efforts to reach the top.
All this puzzle flows with such organical coherence that leaves you stunned. The edition, the amazing plot, the creative situations will not let you indifferent.
If not for that movie, I would consider Dr.Strangelove like the most enjoyable black comedy ever filmed, but this film heads the five supremes comedies ever filmed. Kind hearts, Dr. Strangelove, The lavender hill mob, the lady killers and the gold rush can be in this group.May be you do not agree but in this particular selection. Three of this five are from the fifties decade and enriched with the presence of Alec Guiness, somehow the godfather of Peter Sellers, partner with Alec in Lady killers.
Movie Review: Vicious, delicious, and perfect
Summary: 5 Stars
The script, plot, performances and direction of this play would be impossible to improve on. Although Alec Guinness is constantly cited for his multiple roles, the star of the piece is undoubtedly Dennis Price, who is incomparable and impeccable in this Wildean incarnation. Few, if any, reviews seem to credit Robert Hamer and John Dighton for their utterly brilliant script and dialogue, said to be based on a novel by Roy Horniman. Perhaps I should have heard of him. There is a deep, dark and acid undercurrent of vitriolic censure of the hypocrisies of the English class system. The setting is Edwardian -- not Victorian -- England, ie some time between 1902 and 1910: the manners and mores, dress and conventions of the age will shortly be swept away by World War I. The references to women's suffrage are entirely to the point. Mr Mazzini elicits sympathy for his evil career because he, or rather his mother, has been treated so callously by the prevailing social code. Price's most passionate moments are when he remembers his mother. In fact, these are the only moments he shows any feeling at all. There is a fleeting comment on the furnishings of the castle: the D'Ascoyne family rose to power by methods little different from those employed by the successful 10th Duke. Hence the collection of murderous weaponry, stretching back over centuries. Violence begets violence, and blood runs thicker than water. Who can tell whether the reprieved killer did not manage to retrieve his memoirs before any damage was done, and go on to eliminate the wicked little Sibella? Marriage to Edith might prove punishment enough. A consummate salad, cold but delectable.Movie Review: THE comic masterpiece.
Summary: 5 Stars
This film belongs in my top ten list, and is my favourite comedy. Dennis Price is very much the center of this film as an angry and avenging "gentleman" with aspirations to kill his way to a Dukedom. Yet with such lines as "revenge is a dish best served cold", or "I shot an arrow in the air - she fell to earth in Berkeley Square!", we cannot help but laugh at his deadpan matter-of-factness in his flash-back narration. His motivations are based on the neglect of his mother by her family for marrying "beneath" her, and by the initial rejection of his proposal of marriage by the delicious Joan Greenwood as the somewat amoral Sibella. Alec Guiness plays the various victims with a brilliant feeling for each, and yet we can also see them as intentional caricature - particularly the Vicar. The plot then takes some unexpected twists and turns before a wonderful "oh-no!" ending. Finally, the script-writing is superb! Rarely is the English Language so well served in ANY film. Fortunately, they kept the original ambiguous ending, rather than the US release, where it was mandated that the film remove any doubts about his being brough to justice.The film is black and white, and not DVD subtitled, but it is closed-captioned. In any case, for the US audience, the British accents (particularly Price's) are generally easy to follow. The DVD resolution, contrast and video noise levels are quite good. Sound is par for a 1950 release.
Movie Review: Sometimes Imitated--Never Duplicated.
Summary: 5 Stars
I will not repeat the excellent plot synopsis of Mr.Stubbs, and I agree completely with the highly positive reviews found in this site by people who appreciate this truly classic comedy.
Over the years, there have been a number of films which have treated the subject of murder in a humourous way--but "Kind Hearts and Coronets " set the standard.
Dennis Price is perfectly cast as the "upwardly mobile" young man trying to attain what he considers to be his rightful inheritance through eliminating members of a noble family who are "in the way". This is a difficult role because he is an unscrupulous snob--yet quickly has our sympathy. We are soon cheering for him to eradicate a ( mostly ) unpleasant family.
Alec Guinness, playing the various doomed family members, is absolutely brilliant--even clever make-up and costumes do not disguise the fact that we have a genius at work here.
Like a number of Ealing comedies, "Kind Hearts" has a very nice "twist" at the end--a great finish to a memorable movie.
The DVD captures the black and white image very well--for a 53-year old film, this is nice.
For collectors of classic comedy, this DVD is a "must".
Movie Review: Few KIND HEARTS On Display, Lots of Sharp Wit Though!
Summary: 5 Stars
Stunt casting, it turns out, is nothing new. KIND HEARTS AND CORONETS is renowned for having Alec Guinness take on eight roles, and being bumped off in seven of them. Of course, Dennis Price plays a couple of roles too (he's both Louis Mazzini AND his opera singer father). Nice nod-and-wink touches, to be sure, but al of this would mean next to nothing if the film itself weren't such a masterful entertainment.
Guinness, as it turns out, really is not the focus of the film. Dennis Price, whose subsequent career seemed to trend more toward the horror genre, is the film's actual lead, and he's spectacular as the elegant young social climber/vengeance seeker, obsessed with doing away with the many estranged relatives who stand between him and dukedom. The comedy is black and the social satire biting. For those of us Americans, who admire smart, elegant British wit but are suspicious of the stifling British class structure, it doesn't get much better than this.
An excellent supporting cast includes the wonderful Joan Greenwood and the elegant Valerie Hobson. Overall great intro to the Ealing comedies--and just plain great entertainment.