Alexander Mackendrick (director)
Studiocanal (studio)
Cert U (certificate)
97min (length)
26 October 2015 (released)
26 October 2015
Regarded by many as one of the funniest of all the Ealing comedies, The Ladykillers from 1955 boasts a magnificent ensemble cast lead by the incomparable Alec Guinness as an arch villain who, together with his gang, operates in the guise of a music professor.
Kindly old widow Mrs. Wilberforce (Katie Johnson) has placed an ad in the local shop window. The eccentric lady is looking for a lodger and it isn’t long before the sinister and toothy Professor Marcus (Alec Guinness) turns up at her doorstep. A cursory look at the professor should let us know where this individual is coming from! However, Mrs. Wilberforce is a woman who tends to see the best in everyone and it comes as no surprise that Marcus is welcomed as the prospective new tenant. However, he has an ulterior motive and charms her into believing that he and four of his friends have formed an amateur string quintet, thus would like to use one of the rooms as a rehearsal space. To the delight of the old lady and her three pet parrots, Boccerini’s Minuet soon can be heard from one of her upstairs rooms – little does she know that the music comes from a record player instead of the posing quartet!
In reality, the gang are planning an audacious robbery at nearby Kings Cross station. The gang is comprised of four rather over the top stereotypes: Peter Sellers as Cockney spiv Harry Robinson, dim-witted drunkard and ex-boxer ‘One Round’ Lawson (Danny Green), continental criminal Louis Harvey (Herbert Lom), and last not least Cecil Parker as ‘Major’ Courtney. How about this for a classical string quartet?
After the initially successful robbery, Mrs. Wilberforce is coaxed into being the custodian of a large trunk containing the stolen money of course she hasn’t got the foggiest notion of its contents. Things seem to be running smoothly until the meddlesome but well-meaning old dear finds herself in an altercation with a barrow boy (a hilarious cameo from Frankie Howerd), who is giving a rag n bone man’s horse a bad time for eating his apples. All hell breaks loose and the scenario descends into a farce! However, not to fear! The old lady arrives safely back in her lopsided mansion with the trunk, blissfully unaware of what’s contained therein. After the gang have distributed the lolly, ‘One Round’ manages to get his cello case trapped in the front door and the banknotes end up all over the place. Finally, it dawns on Mrs. Wilberforce that this string quartet are not all they appeared to be! Even the smooth-talking Professor Marcus cannot talk his way out of this one, and the gang come to the conclusion that the only way out of the situation is to hasten the departure of the widow… but this turns out to be far more difficult than they had envisaged!
The then 76-year old Katie Johnson deservedly won a BAFTA for her portrayal – quite a feat when you consider whom she was up against. As for Alec Guinness (a perennial Ealing favourite!), he admitted that he based his performance on Alistair Sim; however, this being Guinness he makes this role very much his own, complete with protruding teeth. As for the remaining gang, Herbert Lom’s character is perhaps the most development and best defined though the other three are equally well cast.
American director A. Mackendrick made full use of the Kings Cross locations, some of which can still be seen today although the area had changed dramatically since that time.
The Ladykillers is a timeless black comedy, and to celebrate its 60th Anniversary, Studiocanal have released this gem fully restored as a Collector’s Edition with a number of interesting SPECIAL FEATURES:
* New Locations Featurette
* New audio Interview with Producer Tom Pevsner
* New audio Interview with Cinematographer David Peers
* New stills gallery
* Audio commentary by Film Historian Philip Kemp
* Intro by Terry Gilliam
* Forever Ealing documentary
* Interview with Screenwriter / Producer Allan Scott
* Interview with Terence Davies
* Interview with Screenwriter Ronald Harwood
* Cleaning up The Ladykillers featurette
* Trailer