Kind Hearts and Coronets

The film stars Dennis Price as the narrator, Louis Mazzini. He recounts his efforts to wreck revenge on the members of his mother's titled family who had disowned her when she married an Italian opera singer. His particular form of revenge consists of murder, and the film consists of his various efforts in this direction. Guinness, who in the course of his career managed to die in an astounding number of films, in this one manages to die eight times. He is excellent in each and every incarnation of a member of the D'Ascoyne family. Valerie Hobson is as elegant as always in playing the widow of one his victims with whom he later becomes romantically involved. Hobson was a great light of British cinema in the forties and early fifties, but gave up acting to marry politician John Profumo, who would be the principal public figure to fall in the Christine Keeler scandal. The film also features one of my all time favorite actresses, Joan Greenwood, who may have possessed the most delicious voice of any female in the history of film. Mention must also be made of Miles Malleson, who has a small but memorable role as the hangman.

The makers of the film manage a perfect concoction of highbrow wit that still managed to border on the absurd. For instance, at one point Mr. Mazzini informs a victim that he will first kill him and then run screaming for help, and then we manage to see him doing precisely that, running from the woods crying for assistance. There are many marvelous lines, many of them almost throwaways. As a fan of Samuel Johnson, I was delighted when Mazzini tells someone, "Dr. Johnson was right, as he always was . . . " In particular, I love the understated humor throughout the film. If this were a TV show instead of a film, I am certain that they would have dispensed of the laugh track.

Before someone complains about the DVD not offering a widescreen option, I should point out that the original was a 35MM print in 1.37:1 ratio. In other words, this will of necessity be a full screen DVD, and there will never be a widescreen.


Sometimes Imitated--Never Duplicated.   September 30, 2002
peterfromkanata (Kanata, Ontario Canada)
23 out of 29 found this review helpful

I will not repeat the excellent plot synopsis of Mr.Stubbs, and I agree completely with the highly positive reviews found in this site by people who appreciate this truly classic comedy.

Over the years, there have been a number of films which have treated the subject of murder in a humourous way--but "Kind Hearts and Coronets " set the standard.

Dennis Price is perfectly cast as the "upwardly mobile" young man trying to attain what he considers to be his rightful inheritance through eliminating members of a noble family who are "in the way". This is a difficult role because he is an unscrupulous snob--yet quickly has our sympathy. We are soon cheering for him to eradicate a ( mostly ) unpleasant family.

Alec Guinness, playing the various doomed family members, is absolutely brilliant--even clever make-up and costumes do not disguise the fact that we have a genius at work here.

Like a number of Ealing comedies, "Kind Hearts" has a very nice "twist" at the end--a great finish to a memorable movie.

The DVD captures the black and white image very well--for a 53-year old film, this is nice.

For collectors of classic comedy, this DVD is a "must".


THE comic masterpiece.   October 1, 2002
22 out of 22 found this review helpful

This film belongs in my top ten list, and is my favourite comedy. Dennis Price is very much the center of this film as an angry and avenging "gentleman" with aspirations to kill his way to a Dukedom. Yet with such lines as "revenge is a dish best served cold", or "I shot an arrow in the air - she fell to earth in Berkeley Square!", we cannot help but laugh at his deadpan matter-of-factness in his flash-back narration. His motivations are based on the neglect of his mother by her family for marrying "beneath" her, and by the initial rejection of his proposal of marriage by the delicious Joan Greenwood as the somewat amoral Sibella. Alec Guiness plays the various victims with a brilliant feeling for each, and yet we can also see them as intentional caricature - particularly the Vicar. The plot then takes some unexpected twists and turns before a wonderful "oh-no!" ending. Finally, the script-writing is superb! Rarely is the English Language so well served in ANY film. Fortunately, they kept the original ambiguous ending, rather than the US release, where it was mandated that the film remove any doubts about his being brough to justice.
The film is black and white, and not DVD subtitled, but it is closed-captioned. In any case, for the US audience, the British accents (particularly Price's) are generally easy to follow. The DVD resolution, contrast and video noise levels are quite good. Sound is par for a 1950 release.


Dazzling talent   May 24, 2000
kennedy19 (wakefield, ma USA)
11 out of 13 found this review helpful

Guinness is in top form playing all seven family members (male and female!) who must be assassinated before the cunning protagonist can assume a title. This is a little jewel of a film, often overlooked these days. I think it even better than "The Lavender Hill Mob." Joan Greenwood is wonderfully distinct as always. This black comedy is full of wild wit, as when one of Guiness' incarnations is shot down while throwing suffragette leaflets from a hot air balloon: "I fired an arrow in the air, she fell to earth in Barclay Square!" Superb fun.


A wickedly witty Classic   August 24, 1999
11 out of 12 found this review helpful

The Ealing Studios "British Little Comedies" have rarely been equalled -- certainly never surpassed -- for elegance, stylishness, and wicked black humor. And this is perhaps the finest of them. The eight roles of Sir Alec Guiness are varied and delightful -- many have cited the wonderful scene where Price, posing as the Bishop of Matabililand, polishes off the Reverend Henry D'Ascoyne, who, as he raises the poisoned port to his lips, delivers the wonderful line, "May I say, my Lord, you have brought me something I could not expect from any other churchman in England." A constant delight also is Price's delicious narration. When one of his "disposals" also removes the victim's paramour, he says "I was sorry about the girl, but could console myself with the knowledge that during the weekend she most certainly had already succumbed to a fate worse than death." (Or something like that!) One could go on and on citing the evilly funny moments As he takes tea on the lawn with one victim's wife, behind her we hear a muffled "Pffooff!" as the victim's darkroom explodes into flame. Price reacts with just a slight pause and movement of his eyes-- and goes right on taking tea as the smoke billows higher with each cross-cut. In short, this film is not funny in a belly-laugh sense, but in a more intellectual, subtle way. Like a fine wine, you don't gulp it -- you sip and savor it. Exquisite!