The Lavender Hill Mob (1951)

Britain's Ealing Studios was at the top of its game when this classic comedy was released in 1951--one of the all-time best crime-caper comedies and a quintessential example of the witty and subtly subversive Ealing style. Alec Guinness stars as a mild-mannered transporter of gold bullion who has spent 20 years moving gold bars to banks in an armored truck. Then one day he simply decides to help himself to a million British pounds' worth of the gold, but to pull off the heist he enlists and old friend (Stanley Holloway), who sculpts and manufactures paperweights. Once the gold is hijacked, it's molded into souvenir miniatures of the Eiffel Tower and shipped off to Paris, right under the noses of British customs officials on alert for the missing gold. Panic ensues when six of the gold miniatures are mistakenly sold to a group of English schoolgirls, and just when the amateur thieves think they've finally pulled off their heist without a hitch ... well, let's just say this classic comedy has a few climactic tricks up its sleeve. Guinness is in peak form here, and director Charles Crichton (who scored a late-career hit with A Fish Called Wanda over a quarter-century later) keeps the action moving with impeccable British efficiency. Along with The Ladykillers and The Man in the White Suit (both starring Guinness), The Lavender Hill Mob represents the golden age of British comedy, and it's still delightfully entertaining. --Jeff Shannon Amazon.com essential video

Still funny after more than 50 years

What superlatives can one say about Alec Guinness that haven't been said? He was a great dramatic actor, as in "The Bridge on the River Kwai." He was a great comic actor, as in "The Ladykillers." Amd his genius comes through in the subject movie, in which he plays a mild bank clerk who becomes a mastermind thief of enormous comic proportions.

All of the humor is visual/physical, as Guinness and his cohort Stanley Holloway try to chase down some stray loot--in the hands of little English schoolgirls. In one scene, for example, the two amateur crooks race down a tight circular stairway on the Eiffel Tower and cannot stop spinning when they reach street level.

There a lot of laughs here, as in a great chase scene in police cars, and excellent performances. One bit of trivia: What future Academy Award winning actress has a tiny bit part in this movie? Stanley Holloway later played her Cockney father in a movie. August 18, 2008

Not Watchable

I'm a huge movie buff, love Alec Guinness, and enjoy offbeat comedies, but my kids and I simply couldn't get into one.

Aneil May 17, 2008

Underdogs Don't Always Win - But They Come Close

Directed by Charles Crichton. With Alec Guinness, Stanley Holloway - A film for a lifetime! Lavender Hill (yes, that's really a district in London) Mob is another soft non-violent, clean, thoughtful comedy out of England's post war film Renascence - with the added joy of a thoughtful performance by a very young Guinness - who had already made his mark on cinema in heavy weight films like Great Expectations and Oliver Twist and as a multi-part actor in Kind Hearts and Coronets - Soft, thoughtful and funny. Can't beat it! May 17, 2008

ANOTHER AMUSING SITUATIONS COMEDY

THIS ONE IS NOT REALLY MY FAORITE, BUT, THE STORYLINE AND THE RESULTS ARE VERY ENTERTAINING. September 27, 2007

One of Ealing's Finest

This film is one of the masterpieces of British Comedy. Alec Guinness and Stanley Holloway are an unlikely pair of "crooks". The inverted commas are there because neither the viewer nor the characters quite believe it themselves. The pair just want a bit of adventure and a taste of the high life. Guinness is brilliant as the timid bank clerk who despises the trust he is given because he knows he is seen by his superiors as too weak an individual to be a threat. That gives him the power to succeed in his daring plan. The catalyst is Stanley Holloway, a businessman with an eye for the main chance. However, he does not believe he can succeed until he meets Guinness, and Guinness does not believe that his little fantasy about robbing the bank can become a reality until he meets Holloway. When the pair meet up with a couple of real (but inept) crooks, the job is on! It's a wonderful cast and we like them so much that we hope they get away with it. It's a great story and highly entertaining. Everyone should have this in their DVD collection. September 22, 2007

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