bregund I first saw this film thirty years ago and loved it then, and saw it again last night and my opinion of it has changed in the interim. I realize the main character isn't supposed to be likable, but the idea that he somehow "deserves" a noble title ahead of anyone else in the family has modern-day echoes of certain members of the younger generation who feel entitled to unearned privileges, a concept I didn't find objectionable until I hit middle age. This creeping sense of uneasiness worsened during the scene where the main character meets the parson, a kindly but doddering old man surely not deserving of Mazzini's hatred. I suppose this concept might have its modern-day equivalent in films like Saw, but even then the victims somehow deserve their bloody fates. The film is redeemed of course by Guinness's incomparable performances, proving that he was every bit a chameleon as Peter Sellars.

Christopher Reid Kind Hearts and Coronets is funnier in concept than in execution. I can think of things from it and laugh at the idea but thinking of the scenes doesn't make me laugh. It leaves me confused. I found the movie a bit slow and boring. Perhaps I need to know more about England, literature and class systems to properly appreciate it. Some humour may have gone over my head. But good comedy should transcend barriers, it should speak to every keen audience member. And it should fire on all cylinders if possible. This Is Spinal Tap has funny dialogue, sight gags, a mockumentary style, funny gestures and facial expressions, everything. But this movie seems to depend almost solely on words with only a handful of visual gags.Alec Guinness doesn't get to do a whole lot. Mostly he wears various costumes and sits and talks like an old man or says nothing at all. It's an acting job that many would be capable of. Why not make better use of him? Dennis Price is too plain and calm for my liking. I found this to make him forgettable and uninteresting. He doesn't seem to feel anything. I get that there is subtlety but then it should be witty or ironic the whole way through. The problem is that half of the lines aren't funny at all and we're left with too many dull moments. There is no drama or romance to speak of so why not go all the way with the comedy? It's confusing. I spent scenes trying to find the humour and couldn't. What are those scenes there for?A handful of parts were hilarious. Price puts gasoline in a photographer's camera. Eventually the photographer goes off to develop the film. We hear an off-screen "boom" and then smoke slowly rises in the distance. The characters barely notice but eventually Price goes to investigate. "Needless to say, it was too late." One character he wishes to execute is in jail. So he helps petition for her release. He expresses his gladness when another one of his targets dies. He somewhat liked them and is now relieved from the duty of murdering them. A captain of a ship confuses the sea terms for left and right and gives instructions that lead to an easily avoidable crash with another ship. Both sink and everyone comfortably survives except for the captain - he stubbornly chooses to go down with his ship. The image of him saluting as he goes down is hysterical.I can see what Kind Hearts and Coronets is trying to do. But that's the problem - I should love this movie. I love sarcasm and irony and subtle wit and juxtaposition. The idea of a gentleman planning the vaguely justified murder of a series of rich relatives (played by one actor) and then running into numerous little difficulties is appealing. But this movie feels a bit too slow and pretentious for my liking. It presumes our attention rather than working for it. Not all of the jokes are great and I think most could be done more effectively. Too many scenes are unnecessary and waste time. They don't build tension or develop important plot points.I definitely need to give this another viewing at some later date, perhaps after becoming more familiar with Ealing movies and British humour in general. But I also have to trust my current judgement and say that aside from an overall mildly amusing undercurrent and some laugh out loud moments, Kind Hearts and Coronets is quite plain and underwhelming.

MisterWhiplash One of the things I noticed on my first watch of Robert Hamer's Kind Hearts and Coronets (from the studio that later brought you The Ladykillers), is that it aims and achieves for much more than it could have. This could have been just a silly comedy about an ambitious man trying to reach his way to the top of the Duke-dom - specifically with the D'Ascoyne family, all played by Alec Guinness by the way - and it might have some edge to it but would be more about the funny make-up and outfits that Guinness puts on. But what makes it more is that there is a real film here, and attention is paid to supporting characters - especially the women, and another man named Lionel who will prove to be a big part of the plot - and it has the underlying air of a film noir: a criminal, the dames in his life, and narration leading the viewer along on the way.At the same time, Kind Hearts is a raucous satire of the upper class and nobility, and what it means to have privilege and status in society. Dennis Price plays Louis as a man who is nearly always with the utmost, upright character. He may be half Italian and half the son of an Italian singer (who, as we learn, dropped dead of a heart attack before he really knew him), but everything in his actions as he goes one by one in killing most of the D'Ascoynes is that of a complete gentlemen. If he wasn't so fervent about rising to the top in his calculating and homicidal manner, he might make for a great (if strict) teacher of manners for school-boys... which is part of the point: this is a society that prides manners, good speaking, poise, fashionable dress, and even Price's accent is just right. If he had the bad luck of being raised Cockney, he'd never make it through the front door of the Duke's home.Guinness is a performer-genius, and this is one of the films that shows that with riotous effect. Some of the characters may not even get much screen time, like the Admiral who goes down with the ship by going Port instead of Starbord (not one of Louis' victims, but what a way to go), or the Lady D'Ascoyne, who meets maybe the funniest end as she flies over the people promoting Women's rights in a hot air balloon (it shouldn't be funny, promoting women's rights, but when it's Guinness in a dress waving to the public, I'm sorry, I lost it). Maybe my favorite of his creations is the religious man, The Parson, who is one of the older figures, slow and yet loving to ramble and drag things along about the D'Ascoyne legacy in the church he works at, and watch as he is under no impression of fakery listening to Louis reciting some obscure language. Guinness may not look like it, but he's having the time of his life with these roles, going so far as to change his height when necessary, and it's surprising to see what he'll show up as next.In the more straightforward part of the story, this too is solid and goes along with the satirical part, if a little more leaning towards a conventional story. There's the two women in his life - one of them, a D'Ascoyne wife (soon to be ex), is actually admirable and attractive to Louis. It's interesting to see how our (anti)hero sees other people and actually does have respect for them (the one member of the family who dies of stroke he admits "glad" to have not had to kill), perhaps because they share the same upstanding manner of him, or have a sense of dignity in his warped perspective. Hobson is Edith, the (ex)D'Ascoyne, and is a pleasure to see on screen opposite Louis. The other woman is one who fancies him more than he does her, Sibella (Greenwood), maybe more of the 'femme fatale' of the story. She may have some level of dignity, but it's below Louis' standards, whatever those they may be. How she comes around at the end, however, is one of the more clever twists in all movies. I mean, ever.So much of Kind Hearts and Coronets is based upon the droll manner that becomes English society, specifically the 'noble' class, or even those who may be closer to "working" like the Photographer who imbibes in secret in his development room. In some ways this would make a good double feature with Chaplin's Monsieur Verdoux, also about a murderous character we grow to kinda love while also about class, but perhaps an even better comparison is with The Rules of the Game by Renoir. Deep down this is cunning, savage work on how for centuries the British have seen themselves, and I have to think this could only be done, at least this way, from the UK. We all know Royalty gets it way too good, they're up at the top, so a movie like this is practically necessary - a beautiful, cynical, and a dastardly tonic for everyone not of royalty, and right after WW2 to boot (though, who knows, maybe they love it as well, if only in secret).A lot of this is funny, but even if it's not it's captivating stuff. Even the "Villain Monologue" trope is not only acceptable but riveting.

Prismark10 Kind Hearts and Coronets is a morality tale and social satire combined into one. Although it is well known for the eight roles played by Alec Guinness, you will discover that some of the roles he plays are rather brief.Louis Mazzini is played coldly and rather understated by Dennis Price. He is the grandson of the Duke of D'Ascoyne whose mother married beneath herself to a singer and was exiled by her rich family and died destitute.Louis is toiling in a shop and ends up losing his job thanks to a D'Ascoyne and wants to get revenge against the pompous family. So he brutally bumps them off one by one and gets nearer to the line of inheritance and at the same time his social and financial status elevates.This film is one of the well known Ealing comedies which has a dark heart. In fact the film opens in prison as Louis is facing the gallows which indicates that he might had not got away with his plans. Even then there are further twists to emerge as Louis complicated love live threatens to derail him.Although Guinness grabs the headlines this is Price's film and he is well supported by a sly, witty and literate script.