Review of Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949) by Ricardo O — 14 Nov 2010

The film begins on the morning of the execution of Louis Mazzini, played by Dennis Price, where he is writing his memoirs describing the events that led to him being executed. The film then goes to an extended flashback of which takes up the duration of the film. In Edwardian England, Louis is the son of a woman who was disowned by her aristocratic family for eloping with an Italian opera singer. On her deathbed, the D'Ascoynes deny her last wish, to be entombed in the family crypt. Louis then plots to have his revenge on his relatives and to inherit the D'Ascoyne dukedom, however there are eight relative standing in his way from becoming Duke. Louis determines to murder each of his relatives, all played by the great Alec Guinness. He kills 6 of the 8 relatives in inventive, blackly humorous, and ironic ways. The Young Ascoyne D'Ascoyne, the son of Lord Ascoyne D'Ascoyne, is pushed over a weir with his girlfriend in a boat by Louis; Young Henry D'Ascoyne, a photographer, accidentally explodes the petrol in his lamp inside his darkroom; the Reverend Lord Henry D'Ascoyne dies from poison Louis puts into his port; Lady Agatha D'Ascoyne is killed by Louis firing an arrow into her hot air balloon plunging her back to earth; the Admiral Lord Horatio D'Ascoyne dies without the assistance of Louis when his ship sinks while going towards the Port side instead of Starboard and in turn crashing into another ship causing the sinking of the ship; the General Lord Rufus D'Ascoyne is killed by Louis who sends him a bomb posing as a pot of caviar that the General sets off when he puts his knife into it; Ethelred D'Ascoyne, the VIIIth Duke of Chalfont, is lured by Louis into a mantrap and shoots him with his own gun, making it look like it was an accident; and finally Lord Ascoyne D'Ascoyne, a banker, employer of Louis and the IXth Duke of Chalfont, dies of shock after hearing of the death of the previous Duke. During this time Louis involved with two women, first Sibella, played by Joan Greenwood, who is the wife of his childhood rival Lionel, played by John Penrose, and the other Edith, played by Valerie Hobson, who is the widow of his second victim. He eventually marries Edith but when Lionel goes bankrupt and kills himself, Sibella hides his suicide note. Louis is then tried by his peers in the House Of Lords and is convicted of murdering Lionel, whom he did not kill. Sibella however "finds" the suicide note and Louis is then released in time before he can be hanged. Stepping through the prison gate with greets from a cheering crowd, there are two carriages awaiting him: Edith's and Sibella's. He is unable to choose between them and when a representative of a magazine asks for the publication rights to his memoirs, Louis realizes that he left the incriminating papers in his prison cell. It is then left ambiguous to the viewer whether his guilt is discovered.

The Ealing Comedy classic Kind Hearts and Coronets is based on a novel by Roy Horiman brilliantly brought to the screen by director/screenwriter Robert Hamer. Hamer's script is utterly brilliant. The witty dialogue fantastic. Robert Hamer directs his actors with great skill. The film is highlighted by two actors who give great performances. Dennis Price plays the scoundrel son of a disowned woman to a tee and his performance is only surpassed by the inimitable Alec Guinness who plays eight very different characters with subtle brilliance. The production values aren't too bad though they are only slightly faulty because the studio was usually underfunded. Kind Hearts and Coronets is a fantastic piece of British black humor that is at times more of a crime film than a straight up comedy but the comedy is done in a subtle way. It is truly one of the best black comedies ever made and all movie lovers should sit down and watch it. 9/10.