Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)
97%RT Audience Score: 94%
Awards & Nominations: NA
Performed with chameleonic brio by Alec Guinness, Kind Hearts and Coronets is a triumphant farce.
If you’re looking for a good laugh, Kind Hearts and Coronets is the movie for you! Alec Guinness absolutely kills it with his chameleon-like acting skills. He plays multiple characters with such ease, it’s like watching a one-man show. The whole movie is a hilarious farce that will leave you in stitches. Trust me, this movie is a triumph and definitely worth a watch.
Production Company(ies)
Ealing Studios, Michael Balcon Productions,
Distributor
General Film Distributors, Eagle-Lion Films Inc. [us], Anchor Bay Entertainment
Release Type
Theatrical, Theatrical (Limited)
Filming Location(s)
Leeds Castle, Kent, England, UK
MPAA / Certificate
Not Rated
Year of Release
1949
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Color:Color
Black and White -
Sound mix:Dolby
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Aspect ratio:1.37 : 1
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Runtime:1h 44m
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Language(s):English, Italian
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Country of origin:United Kingdom
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Jun 14, 1950 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Feb 28, 2006
Genre(s)
Comedy
Keyword(s)
starring Alec Guinness, Dennis Price, Valerie Hobson, Joan Greenwood, Miles Malleson, Hugh Griffith, directed by Robert Hamer, written by Roy Horniman, Robert Hamer, John Dighton, comedy, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Anthony Lane, Patrick Gibbs, Derek Malcolm, Anthony Quinn, Peter Bradshaw, Paul M Bradshaw, MPAA rating, produced by John Dighton, General Film Distributors, Eagle-Lion Films Inc., Anchor Bay Entertainment, revenge, aristocracy, murder, inheritance, farce, black comedy, social satire, chameleonic performance, triumphant, witty, delightful, dark, British, class, plan, title, bad taste, good comedy, diabolically clever, enlivened with cynicism, dramatic irony, suspicion, serial killing, charismatic, convincing, talented performers, effective wit, effective storytelling, high comedy, loaded with dramatic irony, shot through with a suspicion of social satire, amazing courage, combining bad taste with good
Worldwide gross: $145,583
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $2,055,194
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,408
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 224,122
US/Canada gross: $35,948
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $507,478
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,322
US/Canada opening weekend: $8,004
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $112,992
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,891
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Dennis Price – Louis Mazzini
Valerie Hobson – Edith D’Ascoyne
Joan Greenwood – Sibella Holland
Miles Malleson – Mr. Elliott – the Hangman
Hugh Griffith – Lord High Steward
Director(s)
Robert Hamer
Writer(s)
Roy Horniman, Robert Hamer, John Dighton
Producer(s)
John Dighton
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
NA
Academy Awards
All Critics (49) | Top Critics (16) | Fresh (49)
Drownings, explosions, and poisonings, their ethical status barely mentioned, let alone chastised, roll by like carriages in the park. The comedy is as black as widow’s weeds. Artfulness is all.
November 22, 2019
Anthony Lane
New Yorker
TOP CRITIC
A high comedy that is enlivened with cynicism, loaded with dramatic irony and shot through with a suspicion of social satire.
December 20, 2014
Patrick Gibbs
Daily Telegraph (UK)
TOP CRITIC
Amazingly courageous for its day (1949) in combining bad taste with good comedy.
August 19, 2011 | Rating: 5/5
Derek Malcolm
London Evening Standard
TOP CRITIC
August 19, 2011 | Rating: 5/5
Anthony Quinn
Independent (UK)
TOP CRITIC
This was Robert Hamer’s masterpiece…
August 18, 2011 | Rating: 5/5
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian
TOP CRITIC
Technically brilliant and savagely funny, serial killing has never looked so much fun.
August 18, 2011 | Rating: 5/5
Paul M. Bradshaw
Little White Lies
TOP CRITIC
No detail has been left to chance. Each word is carefully weighed, there is not one word too many, each scene is meticulously prepared, and none could possibly have been structured or executed better.
April 4, 2022
Bernard Chardère
Positif
The ideal film would, of course, have… the most talented director in the canvas chair a superbly-written screen-play and the best possible cast. This British comedy has come so close to this mark that it is difficult to see how it could be improved.
March 30, 2022
Harold Whitehead
Montreal Gazette
The narration is splendidly wry and full of details, revealing dastardly intentions and acerbic observations.
August 13, 2020 | Rating: 9/10
Mike Massie
Gone With The Twins
Dennis Price is a polite society murderer, and the sensational Alec Guinness is all eight of the aristocratic targets on his list.
October 9, 2019
Clyde Gilmour
Maclean’s Magazine
I keep wondering how the film manages to stay so light in spite of the notional black comedy of its plot. I think it has something to do with the sense of being out of time that I mentioned earlier: not timeless, but resistant to time.
September 20, 2019
Michael Wood
London Review of Books
A diabolically clever comedy.
September 14, 2019 | Rating: 3.5/4
Matt Brunson
Film Frenzy…
Plot
In prison awaiting execution the next morning, Louis, the 10th Duke of Chalfont, puts down on paper the events that led him to his current situation. His mother has been banished from her family, the D’Ascoynes, after she married Louis’ father, who was considered far beneath her. After her death, the D’Ascoynes refused permission for her to be buried in the family crypt. Louis then plots his revenge, and kills all those ahead of him in the succession until he becomes the Duke. Along the way, he becomes involved with the married Sibelia who, when spurned, makes sure he ends up in prison. The day before his execution, Sibelia recants her testimony, saving him not only from the gallows, but also sets him free. Once outside the prison however, he realizes he’s forgotten one little thing.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Alec Guinness plays eight different characters in the film.
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