Kind Hearts and Coronets

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 (The Frightened Bride) 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 hilariously played by the incomparable Sir Alec Guinness (The Bridge on the River Kwai), must be eliminated before he can do so.  (Dir. by Robert Hamer, 1949, UK, 106 mins., Not Rated)