Synopsis
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 her family’s dukedom. Unfortunately, eight relatives, all played by the incomparable Alec Guinness, must be eliminated before he can do so.
Cast
| Louis | Dennis Price |
| Edith | Valerie Hobson |
| Sibella | Joan Greenwood |
| The duke | Alec Guinness |
| Mama | Audrey Fildes |
Credits
| Director | Robert Hamer |
| Based on a novel by | Roy Horniman |
| Screenplay | Robert Hamer and John Dighton |
| Producer | Michael Balcon |
| Cinematography | Douglas Slocombe |
| Editing | Peter Tanner |
| Associate producer | Michael Relph |
Disc Features
SPECIAL EDITION DOUBLE-DISC SET:
- New, restored high-definition digital transfer
- A feature-length BBC documentary on the history of Ealing Studios
- Rare, 70-minute talk show appearance by Alec Guinness, from 1977
- Gallery of archival production and publicity photographs
- Original theatrical trailer
- American ending
- A new essay by film critic Philip Kemp
- Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
From the Current
Kind Hearts and Coronets:
Ealing’s Shadow Side
by
Feb 21, 2006
Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949) is an Ealing comedy in name only. True, it’s undeniably a comedy and was made by (though largely not at) Ealing. But in virtually every other respect, it deviates startlingly from the commonly accepted stereotype. Ealing comedies, it’s widely agreed, are . . .
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