KIND HEARTS & CORONETS (1949)

Director Robert Hamer’s fiendishly funny Kind Hearts and Coronets stands out as one of Ealing Studios’ greatest triumphs, and one of the most wickedly black comedies ever made.

Dennis Price is sublime as an embittered young commoner determined to avenge his mother’s unjust disinheritance, by ascending to her family’s dukedom. Unfortunately, eight relatives, all played by the incomparable Alec Guinness, must be eliminated before he can do so. His eightfold performance as the entire D’Ascoyne family established his reputation as a comic actor of unsurpassed versatility.

Unlike the other famous Ealing comedies, this film is more callous, amoral, cool, ironic, and witty. However, when released in the USA in 1950 the movie was 6 minutes shorter due to extensive censorship under the Hayes Commission.

The Spectator called it, “the most confident comedy ever to come out of a British

studio”, and Peter Ustinov considered it the “most perfect achievement” of Ealing Studios, “a film of exquisite construction and literary quality”

The plot is loosely based on the novel Israel Rank: The Autobiography of a Criminal (1907) and was reinterpreted as a Broadway musical in 2004 as A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder.

Enjoy food and drinks from our licensed bar from 6:00PM.