Kind Hearts and Coronets

Year:

1950

Duration:

106 min

Genres:

Comedy | Crime

IMDB rate:

8.2

Director:

Robert Hamer

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 4 wins & 1 nomination

Details

Country: UK

Release Date: 1950-06-14

Filming Locations: 31 Grange Road, Ealing, London, England, UK

Cast

Actor

Character

Jeremy Spenser

Kind Hearts and Coronets

Dennis Price

Louis

Valerie Hobson

Edith

Joan Greenwood

Sibella

Alec Guinness

The D'Ascoyne Family: The Duke / The Banker /

Audrey Fildes

Mama

Miles Malleson

The Hangman

Clive Morton

The Prison Governor

John Penrose

Lionel

Cecil Ramage

Crown Counsel

Hugh Griffith

Lord High Steward

John Salew

Mr. Perkins

Eric Messiter

Burgoyne

Lyn Evans

The Farmer

Barbara Leake

The Schoolmistress

Peggy Ann Clifford

Maud

Anne Valery

The Girl in the punt

Arthur Lowe

The Reporter

Stanley Beard

Warder (uncredited)

Maxwell Foster

Warder (uncredited)

Peter Gawthorne

First Lord Delivering Verdict (uncredited)

Molly Hamley-Clifford

Lady Redpole (uncredited)

Leslie Handford

Gamekeeper Hoskins (uncredited)

Nicholas Hill

Sergeant-at-Arms (uncredited)

Fletcher Lightfoot

Peer of the Realm (uncredited)

Cavan Malone

Young Graham (uncredited)

Laurence Naismith

Warder in Jail (uncredited)

Gordon Phillott

Clerk of Parliament (uncredited)

Ivan Staff

Valuer (uncredited)

Richard Wattis

Defence Counsel (uncredited)

Carol White

Young Sibella

Harold Young

Captain (uncredited)

Did you know?

Trivia

Although Ealing boss Michael Balcon later professed that this was his favorite of the Ealing films he produced, at the time of production he was less favorably inclined towards it, to the extent that he refused director Robert Hamer the chance to follow it up with his long-cherished project set in the West Indies. Hamer ultimately only directed one more film for Ealing, His Excellency (1952).

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Novelists Nancy Mitford and Evelyn Waugh were hired independently to work on various drafts of the script, though apparently none of their contributions survived in the film as shot.

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The hit 2014 Broadway musical "A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder," and "Kind Hearts and Coronets," were both based on the 1907 novel "Rank: The Autobiography of a Criminal" by Roy Horniman.

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Goofs

When "The Hangman" (Miles Malleson) opens the peep-hole to the prisoner's cell, he moves the covering to the right, with a finger. After we are allowed to gaze at the back of the prisoner's neck for a few seconds, the shot reverts to the outside of the cell door; The Hangman releases the cover which closes from left to right, not right to left, as it should have done.

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When Louis is crossing out the twins on the family tree, a rubbed out cross from an earlier take is visible.

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The first murder that Louis Mazzini commits involves him swimming fully dressed underwater to release a boat from its moorings. In spite of having brought no change of clothes or even a towel, he is shown shortly after committing the murder paddling down the river with his clothes bone dry.

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Quotes

Tit Bits reporter.: Your grace. I represent the magazine "Tit Bits" by whom I'm commissioned to approach you for the publication rights of your memoirs.

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Sibella: [sobs] Oh Louis! I don't want to marry Lionel!

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The Banker: A tragic loss serves to put lesser matters in their proper perspective.

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Faq

Q

How much sex, violence, and profanity are in this movie?

A

For detailed information about the amounts and types of (a) sex and nudity, (b) violence and gore, (c) profanity, (d) alcohol, drugs, and smoking, and (e) frightening and intense scenes in this movie, consult the IMDb Parents Guide for this movie. The Parents Guide for Kind Hearts and Coronets can be found here.

Q

Is "Duke of Chalfont" a real title?

A

No, it is fictional.

Q

Who are Alec Guinness's eight characters, and how do they die?

A

Ascoyne d'Ascoyne: Mazzini releases his punt from its moorings, and he falls over a weir with his mistress.Henry d'Ascoyne: His darkroom goes up in flames after Mazzini has replaced the paraffin (kerosene) with petrol (gasoline)Canon d'Ascoyne (The Parson): Poisoned portLady Agatha d'Ascoyne: Mazzini bursts her hot-air balloon with an arrow, and she falls to her deathAdmiral d'Ascoyne (The Admiral): "Goes down with his ship" after a naval disaster (not murdered)General d'Ascoyne (The General): blown up by a bomb concealed in a pot of caviarLord d'Ascoyne Ethelbert (The Duke): caught in a man-trap and shotHenry d'Ascoyne, Sr. (The Banker): already weak from a stroke, dies after a heart attack after hearing that he is now the Ninth Duke of Chalfont

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