Review of Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949) by Devon B — 01 May 2010

From the famous british production company of the 40s and 50s, Ealing films (which produced such films as "The Ladykillers" and "The Lavender Hill Mob"), comes Robert Hamer's "Kind Hearts and Coronets", a film that combines elements of Hitchcock and Peter Sellers.

Louis Mazzini (Dennis Price) is the disenfranchised heir to the Dukedom of D'Ascoyne (his mother was ostracized from the family after marrying an italian opera singer who passes away when Louis was born).

After watching his mother struggle all her life in exiled poverty, he vows to get revenge on the family that shunned him. Murdering his estranged family will not only get him his revenge, but also put him in line to inherit the Royal title, and all the wealth and nobility associated with that title.

It's too much temptation for the ambitious Louis. One day, while working as a clerk in a clothing shop, one of his royal relations comes into the store and gets him fired. He then concocts a plot to rid the earth of his dreaded family, who are all played by Ealing star Alec Guinness.

Dennis Price is quite charming and debonair as cunning and ruthless murderer (it's almost impossible not to root for him) and Guinness is simply amazing in the many disguised roles he undertakes. I also can't under-emphasize how well-written the story is.

All in all, it's a flawlessly entertaining dark farce.