Director Robert Hamer's fiendishly funny Kind Hearts and Coronets stands 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 the dukedom. Unfortunately, eight family members (all played by the incomparable Alec Guinness) must be eliminated before he can do so. SPECIAL FEATURES: New, restored high-definition digital transfer, BBC programs on Alec Guinness and the history of Ealing Studios, Gallery of archival production and publicity photographs, Original theatrical trailer and A new essay by film critic and historian Philip Kemp.
Set in Victorian England, Robert Hamer's 1949 masterpiece Kind Hearts and Coronets remains the most gracefully mordant of the Ealing comedies. Dennis Price plays Louis D'Ascoyne, the would-be Duke of Chalfont whose mother was spurned by her noble family for marrying an Italian singer for love. Louis resolves to avenge his mother by murdering the relatives ahead of him in line for the dukedom, all of whom are played by Alec Guinness. Guinness's virtuoso performances have been justly celebrated, ranging from a youthful D'Ascoyne with a priggish wife to a brace of doomed uncles and one aunt. Miles Malleson is a splendid doggerel-spouting hangman, while Valerie Hobson and Joan Greenwood take advantage of unusually strong female roles. But the great joy of Kind Hearts and Coronets is the way in which its appallingly black subject matter (considered beyond the pale by many critics at the time) is conveyed in such elegantly ironic turns of phrase by Price's narrator/antihero. Serial murder has never been conducted with such exquisite manners and discreet charm. --David Stubbs
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 5.0 / 5.0
Dry, Droll, And Unspeakably Funny--In The Most Polite Way Possible:
The English seem to have a gift for "black comedy"--and nowhere is that gift on better display than in the 1949 KIND HEARTS AND CORONETS, a film that finds Alec Guiness playing eight members of the D'Ascoyne family and Dennis Price as the black sheep of the family who is determined to kill his way through them to both avenge his mother and obtain the title Duke of Chalfont. The film is often described as "droll," and indeed the word might have been invented with this movie in mind. The story and body... more info
Oustanding masterpiece of British movie making:
Perhaps the greatest script ever written for any movie? Quite a claim but if you have not seen KH&C, do and see if you agree. As usual the Criterion Collection edition is the DVD to go for (so now where is the CC version of The Wrong Box???????). The xtras are not many (2.5) but very worthwhile.
Delightful comedy:
This is the kind of movie that creates it's own captivating universe. The acting and settings are top notch; Alec Guiness plays 8 different characters, the members of the Ascoyne D'Ascoyne family which Louis (Dennis Price) must murder to become a duke. The dialogue is very british, witty and precise and provides a kind of contrast to the dark mind of the protagonist.
The DVD from Criterion has an excellent image, stable, clear and without damage marks. Extras: no commentary, but an extra disc with a... more info
Lightest Treatment of a Serial Killer Ever Made:
"Kind Hearts and Coronets,"(1950), a black comedy/drama, is one of the most famous, and acclaimed, post World War II releases by the British Ealing Studios. It's generally agreed to be a minimalist masterpiece of wit and irony, made in black and white. Roy Horniman wrote the novel on which it's based, Robert Hamer wrote the screenplay and directed. Two celebrated witty novelists, Nancy Mitford and Evelyn Waugh, were hired to work on the script, though nothing specific seems to survive of their efforts. The... more info
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