Fresh
At once a witty comedy of manners, a grotesque serial-killer caper and an acerbic satire on the class system.
Ben Walters, Time Out
Kind Hearts and Coronets
He chopped down the family tree...
1949 · 1h 44m · Not Rated
Comedy, Crime
Directed by
Robert Hamer
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Kind Hearts and Coronets
Overview
When his mother eloped with an Italian opera singer, Louis Mazzini was cut off from her aristocratic family. After the family refuses to let her be buried in the family mausoleum, Louis avenges his mother's death by attempting to murder every family member who stands between himself and the family fortune. But when he finds himself torn between his longtime love and the widow of one of his victims, his plans go awry.
Director and cast
- Robert Hamer Director
- Dennis Price as Louis
- Valerie Hobson as Edith
- Alec Guinness as The D'Ascoyne Family: The Duke / The Banker / The Parson / The General / The Admiral / Young Ascoyne / Young Henry / Lady Agatha
- Joan Greenwood as Sibella
- Audrey Fildes as Mama
- Miles Malleson as The Hangman
- Clive Morton as The Prison Governor
- John Penrose Cast
- Cecil Ramage Cast
- Hugh Griffith Cast
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
100%
Tomatometer
Fresh
Robert Hamer's 1949 film is often cited as the definitive black, eccentric British comedy, yet it's several cuts better than practically anything else in the genre.
Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader
Fresh
Translation to a screen comedy has been effected with a mature wit.
Variety Staff, Variety
Fresh
It's a brilliantly cynical film without a hint of middle-class guilt or bitterness.
Geoff Andrew, Time Out
Fresh
The sly and adroit Mr. Guinness plays eight Edwardian fuddy-duds with such devastating wit and variety that he naturally dominates the film.
Bosley Crowther, New York Times
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