The Lavender Hill Mob
The men who BROKE the bank - and LOST the cargo!
Sir Alec Guinness received his first Oscar nomination as Best Actor for his delightful performance as Henry Holland, a meek clerk who devises an ingenious plan to rob a fortune in gold bullion from his own bank. But when Henry and his odd accomplice (Stanley Holloway of My Fair Lady fame) melt the gold into souvenir Eiffel Towers to smuggle into France, their perfect crime becomes a disastrous caper of Cocney crooks, customs chaos and an ill-timed group of British schoolgirls, all leading to some of the most hilarious and unexpected surprises in criminal history.
Sidney James (of the Carry On series) and a young Audrey Hepburn co-star in this beloved Ealing Studios hit directed by Charles Crichton (A Fish Called Wanda, The Titfield Thunderbolt) that won the 1951 Academy Award for Best Screenplay.
Member Reviews
Um... - ShawnConnery
Amusing? Sure. One of the greatest comedies ever...? Are you serious? The acting is definitely solid, the plot interesting, even some chuckle-inducing scenes, but certainly nothing more than that. Alec Guiness definitely always earns my respect, but there was just too much of a lack of suspense, slapstick, screwball, twists...it was like a little bit of everything, but not enough of anything. It was ok, though.British humour required - Ford_Prefect
Obviously the other reviewers failed to grasp the British humour of this one. It is truly delightful! The chase scenes are not high powered, there are few special effects. The story though is well written with a wonderful twist. I fully understand why Alec Guiness was nominated. I guess my children must also be warped as they enjoyed it! (OK so they like Monty Python)Not That Sweet Smelling - Squish
When 'The Lavender Hill Mob' popped up in my mailbox, a left field delivery from Zip.ca, I thought it would be a refreshingly fun little interlude between the heavy dramas I'm accustomed to ticking off my 1001 Must See List. As I began to watch a very young Obi-Wan Ken Obi before his career as a gifted ninjatic sci-fi rebel, I quickly felt that I was in for a film that would merge an intelligent heist film with enough screwball to keep it funny while staying out of the Mel Brooks grade of stupid. About half-way through a passably good story, the plot twists to become a wacky off-the-wall foot chase with hoards of cops scrambling through a police exhibition - then turns into a slide-whistle worthy car chase that had everything but cartoon boings, an old lady blinking with incredulence while cars whiz around her as she's crossing the street, and explosions that leave everyone dazed in soot on a heap of twisted metal that used to be a car. And you know, had they added those things, going so overboard as being a laughable Mel Brooks grade of stupid, well perhaps I'd have enjoyed it... who am I kidding, that would have been terrible. My point is that, unfortunately, 'The Lavender Hill Mob' succeeds at being a decent heist film, but fails when we encounter the hook, a stupid sub-plot involving the remotest of chances at police discovery. Well wouldn't you know it, the story takes us leaps and bounds to bring us to an ending so forced, so contrived that you suspended your disbelief three coincidences ago. In the end, the shrinking odds bring us to a conclusion whose premise is so unfathomable that even an angel would have a rough time squeezing through the eye of that possibility's needle.
Member Reviews
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Um... - ShawnConnery
Amusing? Sure. One of the greatest comedies ever...? Are you serious? The acting is definitely solid, the plot interesting, even some chuckle-inducing scenes, but certainly nothing more than that. Alec Guiness definitely always earns my respect, but there ...British humour required - Ford_Prefect
Obviously the other reviewers failed to grasp the British humour of this one. It is truly delightful! The chase scenes are not high powered, there are few special effects. The story though is well written with a wonderful twist. I fully understand why Alec ...Not That Sweet Smelling - Squish
When 'The Lavender Hill Mob' popped up in my mailbox, a left field delivery from Zip.ca, I thought it would be a refreshingly fun little interlude between the heavy dramas I'm accustomed to ticking off my 1001 Must See List. As I began to watch a very young ...