The Ladykillers | | Cast : | Alec Guinness, Peter Sellers | | Director : | Alexander Mackendrick | | Studio : | Anchor Bay Entertainment | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned | | Released Date : | January 01, 1955 | | DVD Released Date : | September 10, 2002 | | Language : | English (Dubbed), French (Dubbed) | | Audience Rating : | NR (Not Rated) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | July 23, 2005 | | Summary | Classic British Comedy | Content
 | A great classic crime comedy. The cast is great, featuring Alec Guinness and Peter Sellers. The plot is that Guinness is organizing a crime, in which a main ingredient is a little old lady, Mrs. Wilberforce whose house the thieves need to stay in during the heist. As you might geuss, things don't go just as planned. Parts of it are really hilarious. It's a classic British comedy. |
| Rating | | | Date | May 19, 2005 | | Summary | Good Humour | Content
| This is one of those movies where the situation builds into a very funny ending somewhat along the lines of black comedy. The plot is simple enough; a group of crooks rent a room at the home of an elderly, somewhat eccentric woman. They plan and implement a big heist but, somehow, the little old lady seems to be their biggest obstacle. This isn't slapstick. Rather it's a decent comedy improved to the next level on the basis of some truly quality acting. Katie Johnson as the little old lady is very good and the acting of Peter Sellers, Herbert Lom, Alec Guiness, and others is even better.
Although I think this is a very good movie, I did think that it had its' slow points. Perhaps you might be able to see the ending coming but stick with it to the end. It's worth a good laugh on a rainy day. |
| Rating | | | Date | March 22, 2005 | | Summary | "What could possibly go wrong now?" | Content
| Now that's an ominous movie line if I ever heard one, spoken by Professor Marcus, with regards to his plans to commit the perfect crime. The only thing he didn't figure on was the disastrous affects that one, kindly old lady named Mrs. Louisa Wilberforce would have on said plans. The Ladykillers (1955), written by William Rose (It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner) and directed by Alexander Mackendrick (The Man in the White Suit), stars Sir Alec Guinness (The Bridge on the River Kwai, Murder by Death), Herbert Lom (A Shot in the Dark, The Return of the Pink Panther), and Katie Johnson (How to Murder a Rich Uncle). Also appearing is Cecil Parker (The Man Who Changed His Mind), Danny Green (The 7th Voyage of Sinbad), Jack Warner (The Quatermass Xperiment), and Peter Sellers (The Mouse That Roared, The Pink Panther) in his first, major screen role.
The story begins innocently enough, as we meet Mrs. Wilberforce (Johnson), a dear, elderly widowed woman who lives in a small English town, in a small, slanted house (the `subsidence' occurred due to the bombing of a previous war, you see, and so one effect is none of the pictures in the house hang correctly) with her three birds. Interested in taking on a border (perhaps as much for company as well as the extra income), she posts an ad, one that's answered by Professor Marcus (Guinness), an odd-looking fellow with more in mind than just renting a room. Turns out Professor Marcus is a criminal mastermind, and he and his gang, featuring Louis (Lom), Harry (Sellers), Claude (Parker), and One-Round (Green) are preparing to steal a great deal of money, and are not only using Mrs. Wilberforce's home as a headquarters and hideout, but Marcus' diabolical scheme also involves using her as an unwitting sixth member. The score goes off relatively hitch free, but little do they know the amount of trouble about to be brought down upon their collective heads as this kindly, old lady continuously, albeit inadvertently, mucks up their cunning designs, eventually becoming wise, forcing the men to take desperate measures in now they must eliminate this sweet, old woman, or surely be caught. Five harden criminals against a lone, elderly woman? They don't stand a chance...
Of all the Ealing Studios/Alec Guinness dark comedies I've seen, The Ladykillers is probably my favorite, although I have yet to see Kind Hearts and Coronets (1950), which I've heard is also excellent. The comedic caricatures presented here are truly wonderful, in the hardened career criminal Louis (Lom), the seemingly sophisticated prim and proper Claude (Parker), whose classy veneer hides a cowardly core, the slick and excitable Harry (Sellers), the loutish, dimwitted One-Round (Green), who's the muscle of the group, and finally the ever cunning, devious, slimy bucktoothed (he wore specially made false teeth for the role), yet slyly witty, Professor Marcus, played by Guinness. The supporting cast provides much, but the real star is Guinness. His ability to assume the role of his characters is among the best I've ever seen. From the way he talks, walks, his mannerism, facial expressions, and even they way he sits all are intended to work together to achieve the desired result. And he does this with such seeming ease, garnering the accolade, rightly so, of being the acting equivalent of a chameleon. He does have his hands full in that of Katie Johnson, as she threatens to steal nearly every scene she's in as the sweet, seemingly frail Mrs. Wilberforce. She's the small, unassuming, gracious, genial elderly woman with the kindest heart, sweetest disposition (that is unless she thinks you're hurting an animal), and friendliest manner I've ever seen. You'd think all of this would come off as phony, but it truly seems like it's part of her nature, like she's someone plucked off the street, placed amongst these characters and is not acting, but being herself amidst these actors, or at least that was the impression I got...she also had some of my favorite scenes. The gang posed as a stringed quartet as to cover their reason for being in her home, and so while they met to make with their plans, they would put on a record playing some classical piece, to which she would often comment quite verbosely on later, usually to One-Round for his exceptional cello playing, to which One-Round would have absolutely no idea what she was talking about, and just nod with a idiotic look on his face. Another favorite scene is when she finally discovers what the gang has been up to, and proceeds to admonish them in her own way, calling their behavior shocking and appalling, much like a parent would register his or her disappointment in a child. And the men, these dangerous criminal types, stand there, taking it, with hangdog expressions. There's a great many funny scenes, both of the low brow and the sophisticated kind. This is a fine example of so many elements, the writing, direction, script, music, etc., working in tune with each other to create one of the funniest comedies I'll probably ever see. There has been a remake, released in 2004, made by the Coen Brothers, starring Tom Hanks, which I haven't seen, but given how much I like this original version, I can't say I'm eager to watch the newer version as I doubt, even despite Mr. Hanks and the Coens talents, that they could come close to matching the level of entertainment provided here.
Anchor Bay Entertainment provides a beautiful widescreen picture (1.66:1), enhanced for 16 X 9 TVs, on this DVD, and the monaural Dolby Digital 1.0 is decent (I could have used some subtitles, as the English accents made some of the dialogue hard to understand, but this was an infrequent event, and didn't spoil the film whatsoever). Special features include a theatrical trailer for the film, along with an extensive biography of Alec Guinness, and also a reproduction of a poster for the film, printed on a heavy cardboard insert (chapter stops on the back). If I learned anything from this film, it's the invaluable nature of having direct access to a train yard when the need arises to dispose of a body...
Cookieman108
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| Rating | | | Date | March 09, 2005 | | Summary | The Killer Lady... | Content
| Alec Guiness is a criminal mastermind who leads a band of crooks (including both Peter Sellers and Herbert Lom) into the perfect heist. Well, almost. A little old lady named Mrs. Wilberforce is their cover and helper, though she is oblivious to their scheme. She ends up being the undoing of the entire mob as she mild-manneredly destroys their plot, while the thugs destroy themselves! Never mind the remake, this is the original masterpiece! Highly recommended... |
| Rating | | | Date | February 25, 2005 | | Summary | And the Meek Shall Inherit the Earth. | Content
| In THE LADYKILLERS Alec Guiness stars as the criminal mastermind, Professor Marcus, behind a perfect plot to pull of a great train robbery (well, all the money from a train). Marcus has orchestrated the perfect plot as well as the perfect crew to pull off the heist: Major Claude Courtney (Cecil Parker), Louis Harvey (Herbert Lom), Harry Robinson (Peter Sellers), and One-Round Lawson (Danny Green). The gang is altogether, but they need a place to meet to plan the last minute details. Enter Mrs. Wilberforce (Katie Johnson). Mrs. Wilberforce rents out a room in her house to Professor Marcus believing he and his gang are actually an instrumental ensemble. They fool the elderly woman by playing the same record over and over and over as they hash out the plot of their crime. They pull of the crime perfectly, but an accident during the getaway brings Mrs. Wilberforce into the circle of crime. When she refuses to go along with the plan, the gang draws straws to decide who will bump her off. But five criminals are no match for the honesty and humility of a strong-willed little woman.
Writer William Rose is said to have dreamed up the entire movie literally in a dream in his sleep one night. I can believe that because the film flows together seamlessly, as though born out of an ethereal universe and tinged with the dark comedy of nightmare.
Guinness was at the beginning of the peak of his career (BRIDGE OVER RIVER KWAI was just two years away) and gives a delightful show. His performance as the slimy Professor Marcus is dead-on. The other performances are just as brilliant and it's a special treat to see Guinness and Sellers together in the same dark comedy. However, the true star of the movie is Katie Johnson. Johnson's Mrs. Wilberforce is the true driving charcter in the story and it takes an extremely talented actress to upstage the likes of actors such as Guinness and Sellers. Surprisingly the producers originally rejected director Alexander Mackendrick's choice of Johnson as Mrs. Wilberforce because they felt the woman was to frail to handle the rigours of the filmming schedule. They hired a younger actress instead, but several weeks before filmming she died. It must have been an omen.
The DVD version of this 1955 classic black comedy includes an Alec Guinness biography and the original motion picture trailer. |
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