Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)

Director:

Robert Hamer

Writers:

Roy Horniman (novel)
Robert Hamer (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

14 June 1950 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

A hilarious study in the gentle art of murder.

Plot:

A distant poor relative of the Duke of D'Ascoyne plots to inherit the title by murdering the eight other heirs who stand ahead of him in the line of succession.

Plot Keywords:

Bow And Arrow | Executioner | Inheritance | Aristocrat | Psychopath

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Dennis Price	...	Louis
Valerie Hobson	...	Edith
Joan Greenwood	...	Sibella
Alec Guinness	...	The Duke / The Banker / The Parson / The General / The Admiral / Young Ascoyne / Young Henry / Lady Agatha
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
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Stanley Beard	...	Warder (uncredited)
Maxwell Foster	...	Warder (uncredited)
Peter Gawthorne	...	First Lord Delivering Verdict (uncredited)
Molly Hamley-Clifford	...	Lady Redpole (uncredited)
Leslie Handford	...	Gamekeeper Hoskins (uncredited)
Nicholas Hill	...	Sergeant-at-arms (uncredited)
Fletcher Lightfoot	...	Peer of the Realm (uncredited)
Cavan Malone	...	Young Graham (uncredited)
Laurence Naismith	...	Warder in Jail (uncredited)
Gordon Phillott	...	Clerk of Parliament (uncredited)
Jeremy Spenser	...	Young Louis (uncredited)
Ivan Staff	...	Valuer (uncredited)
Richard Wattis	...	Defence Counsel (uncredited)
Carol White	...	Young Sibella (uncredited)
Harold Young	...	Captain (uncredited)

Directed by
Robert Hamer

Writing credits
Roy Horniman		(novel "Kind Hearts and Coronets")
Robert Hamer		(screenplay) &
John Dighton		(screenplay)

Produced by
Michael Balcon	....	producer
Michael Relph	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Ernest Irving		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Douglas Slocombe		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Peter Tanner

Art Direction by
William Kellner

Costume Design by
Anthony Mendleson

Makeup Department
Barbara Barnard	....	hair stylist
Harry Frampton	....	makeup artist
Pearl Gardner	....	hair stylist
Ernest Taylor	....	makeup artist
Daphne Martin	....	assistant hair stylist (uncredited)

Production Management
Leigh Aman	....	unit production manager
Hal Mason	....	production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Norman Priggen	....	assistant director
David W. Orton	....	second assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Bert Davey	....	assistant art director (uncredited)
Norman Dorme	....	draughtsman (uncredited)
Jack Shampan	....	draughtsman (uncredited)

Sound Department
Stephen Dalby	....	sound supervisor
John W. Mitchell	....	sound recordist (as John Mitchell)
Gordon Stone	....	dubbing editor (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Geoffrey Dickinson	....	special effects
Sydney Pearson	....	special effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Jeff Seaholme	....	camera operator
Jack Dooley	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Bob Penn	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Hugh Wilson	....	focus puller (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Roy Baker	....	second assistant editor (uncredited)
Seth Holt	....	assembly cutter (uncredited)

Music Department
Ernest Irving	....	conductor

Other crew
Phyllis Crocker	....	continuity
J. Arthur Rank	....	presenter (as J.Arthur Rank)

Production Companies

• Ealing Studios

Distributors

• General Film Distributors (GFD) (1949) (UK) (theatrical)
• J. Arthur Rank Film Distributors (1949) (UK) (theatrical)
• Eagle-Lion Films (1950) (USA) (theatrical)
• Société des Etablissements L. Gaumont (1950) (France) (theatrical)
• Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) (1976) (USA) (TV)
• Thorn EMI Video (198?) (USA) (VHS)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Studio Canal (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Studio Canal (2006) (UK) (DVD)
• Mainostelevisio (MTV) (1970) (Finland) (TV)
• Parvisfilmi (1950) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Sandrew Metronome Distribution (2008) (Finland) (DVD)
• YLE Teema (2008) (Finland) (TV)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (1966) (Finland) (TV)

Other Companies

• Crest National  DVD coding
• Philharmonia Orchestra, The  music played by

Runtime:

106 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Iceland:L | Finland:K-16 | UK:U (video rating) | UK:A (original rating) (cut)

Filming Locations:

Ealing Studios, Ealing, London, England, UK

Company:

Ealing Studios

Trivia:

The right of peers to be tried in the House of Lords was abolished in 1949, the same year the film was released. The two were not connected, the right was abolished due to a combination of a Labour Government and reaction from a drunk driving case where the lordly defendant was tried in the House of Lords.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Warder in Jail: Good evening, Mr. Elliot.
The Hangman: Good evening.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Creating 'The Upside of Anger' (2005) (V)

Soundtrack:

Il mio tesoro intanto

Ealing's finest hour

The best and most loved of the Ealing Comedies is also the darkest. Kind Hearts and Coronets is probably most famous today as "that film in which Alec Guinness plays eight characters." That said, it is Denis Price as Louis Mazzini, the charming, urbane serial killer, who really steals the show.

The film opens in prison, with the Louis Mazzini D'Ascoyne, Ninth Duke of Chalfont awaiting execution for one of the few suspicious deaths in the film he wasn't responsible for. On that, his last night, he is completing his memoirs, which act as a framing device for the rest of the film, as well as allowing for a dry, witty narration from Mazzini himself.

Kind Hearts and Coronets is everything modern cinema is not. It is not laugh-out-loud comedy, but a biting wit that often leaves you wondering whether you should be laughing at all. The screenwriter takes seeming delight in the precision of the dialogue, with no unnecessary verbiage. This culminates in an astonishing minimalist performance from Price when he finds himself in the dock of the House of Lords, being tried by his peers.

I suppose you could look at Kind Hearts and Coronets as a form of social commentary. It was made after WWII, after the Beverage reforms, and may reflect a growing restlessness with the stuffiness of the old social order. Certainly, Louis is presented with such sympathy, and his nefarious endeavours told with such gleeful abandon that it is difficult for the audience not to identify with him.

You could regard it as a form of social commentary but, frankly, why bother? It's just glorious fun and, despite a certain English post-war feel, surprisingly modern and anarchic – there can be few films, even today, which cast a multiple murderer so firmly in the hero role. And there can be few modern films were the dialogue is so witty, for instance, when excusing his flustered state of mind after his first murder by saying "furthermore, I am not naturally callous".

Of course, everyone talks about Alec Guinness' acting tour de force – playing all eight other members of the D'Ascoyne family; from young Ascoyne D'Ascoyne to the hilariously named Elthelred D'Ascoyne (presumable unready for the fate that awaits him), the Eighth Duke of Chalfont. In reality, few of these characters receive more than a footnote in the film. But this is more than made up for by the splendid cast of other leading British actors – Denis Price, Valerie Hobson and Joan Greenwood being the notables.

This remains not only my favourite Ealing Comedy, but right up there with Dr Strangelove as one of my favourite comedy films ever made. A wonderful, heart-warming tale of multiple murder. 9½ / 10