SYNOPSIS

Louis Mazzini is an Englishman born into poverty but with a distant connection to a dukedom on his mother's side. Louis decides to claim the title of duke, which he believes is his birthright, to avenge the shabby treatment his mother received by her aristocratic D'Ascoyne relatives. The only trouble is that no less than eight D'Ascoyne family members stand between him and his title. Louis solves the problem by systematically bumping off each D'Ascoyne in increasingly clever ways.

Director: Robert Hamer
Producer: Michael Balcon
Screenplay: Robert Hamer and John Dighton
Based on the novel Israel Rank: The Autobiography of a Criminal by Roy Horniman
Cinematography: Douglas Slocombe
Art Direction: William Kellner
Editing: Peter Tanner
Costume Designer: Anthony Mendleson
Cast: Dennis Price (Louis), Alec Guinness (The Duke / The Banker / The Parson / The General / The Admiral / Young Ascoyne / Young Henry / Lady Agatha), Valerie Hobson (Edith), Joan Greenwood (Sibella), Audrey Fildes (Mama), Miles Malleson (The Hangman), Clive Morton (The Prison Governor), John Penrose (Lionel), Cecil Ramage (Crown Counsel), Hugh Griffith (Lord High Steward), John Salew (Mr. Perkins), Eric Messiter (Burgoyne), Lyn Evans (The Farmer), Barbara Leake (The Schoolmistress), Peggy Ann Clifford (Maud), Anne Valery (The Girl in the Punt), Arthur Lowe (The Reporter).
BW-107m. Closed Captioning.

Why KIND HEARTS AND CORONETS is Essential

With its delicious bone-dry humor, Kind Hearts and Coronets is widely considered to be one of the smartest and best black comedies from England ever made.

Kind Hearts and Coronets is also recognized as possibly the greatest creative achievement of British writer/director Robert Hamer as well as one of the most successful films that Ealing Studios ever made.

Kind Hearts and Coronets was one of distinguished actor Alec Guinness's earliest films, following on the heels of Great Expectations (1946) and Oliver Twist (1948). Guinness is a marvel to watch in his tour de force performance as he takes on eight different roles throughout the film as the doomed members of the D'Ascoyne family. His work in the film made him an international star and quickly established him as one of Britain's most talented and versatile actors.

by Andrea Passafiume