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Kind Hearts and Coronets

Play trailer Poster for Kind Hearts and Coronets 1950 1h 44m Comedy Crime Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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100% Tomatometer 51 Reviews 93% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings
When his mother eloped with an Italian opera singer, Louis Mazzini (Dennis Price) was cut off from her aristocratic family. After the family refuses to let her be buried in the family mausoleum, Louis avenges his mother's death by attempting to murder every family member (all played by Alec Guinness) who stands between himself and the family fortune. But when he finds himself torn between his longtime love (Joan Greenwood) and the widow of one of his victims (Valerie Hobson), his plans go awry.
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Kind Hearts and Coronets

Kind Hearts and Coronets

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Critics Consensus

Performed with chameleonic brio by Alec Guinness, Kind Hearts and Coronets is a triumphant farce.

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Critics Reviews

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Kevin Maher The Times (UK) 03/30/2023
A black comedy, with beautiful writing — the screenplay, co-written by Robert Hamer, its director, is a joy— and flawlessly silly film-making. Go to Full Review
Anthony Lane The New Yorker 11/22/2019
Drownings, explosions, and poisonings, their ethical status barely mentioned, let alone chastised, roll by like carriages in the park. The comedy is as black as widow's weeds. Artfulness is all. Go to Full Review
Patrick Gibbs Daily Telegraph (UK) 12/20/2014
A high comedy that is enlivened with cynicism, loaded with dramatic irony and shot through with a suspicion of social satire. Go to Full Review
Julian Singleton Cinapse Jul 12
Kind Hearts and Coronets is a delightfully dark comedy featuring a king’s ransom of fantastic performances by Guinness as well as leads Dennis Price, Joan Greenwood, and Valerie Hobson. Go to Full Review
Bernard Chardère Positif 04/04/2022
No detail has been left to chance. Each word is carefully weighed, there is not one word too many, each scene is meticulously prepared, and none could possibly have been structured or executed better. Go to Full Review
Harold Whitehead Montreal Gazette 03/30/2022
The ideal film would, of course, have... the most talented director in the canvas chair a superbly-written screen-play and the best possible cast. This British comedy has come so close to this mark that it is difficult to see how it could be improved. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Matthew D @OceanSage 1h Dennis Price’s devious serial killer is so clever and entertaining, while Alec Guinness portraying all eight of the rich family members is hilarious. Joan Greenwood’s seductive femme fatale is a sultry scream! Director Robert Hamer’s British crime-comedy Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949) is an excellent English classic of cinema. Hamer’s playful proper direction is very amusing. Writers John Dighton and Robert Hamer’s adaptation of Roy Horniman’s use of refined English manners that mines so much humor here. Dennis Price is delightful as the suave and clever British serial killer Louis Mazzini. Alec Guinness is hysterical as all eight rich members of the D'Ascoyne family. Valerie Hobson is lovely as the nice aristocrat lady Edith D'Ascoyne. Joan Greenwood steals the film as the gorgeous, hilarious, and conniving Sibella Hallward. She really feels brilliant and always has the upper hand on Louis. In all, Kind Hearts and Coronets is an easy watch for a surprisingly upbeat black comedy. See more Navid S. @navidshah94 Nov 7 Brilliantly written and wonderfully acted, but not really the comedy I expected. It felt more like a dark and tragic satire than something meant to be funny. The story of Louis calmly murdering his way up the family tree is fascinating, and the ending was perfect in its irony. A sharp, elegant film about ambition, hypocrisy, and the cruelty behind manners. See more William B Jul 27 What a fun and interesting movie. Epic ending. Recommended to everybody. See more Steven M 11/22/2024 This film is a delight to see! Miles Malleson is the standout as Mr. Elliott, the hangman. See more Petros T @PetrosTserpelis 11/15/2023 A delightfully macabre satirical comedy with a charming, winding voice-over, several laugh-out-loud moments and a very good cast including Dennis Price, Joan Greenwood and of course Alec Guinness as eight different characters (and even appearing as six of them in the same frame!). The fact that Louis's scheme arouses no suspicion is a little hard to believe however (forgiven though this may be due to the comedic premise), and the last part is not as interesting or snappy as what has come before. See more Suzanne G @SueGood 11/05/2023 Watched it all the way through, just to see how it would end. It was a bit interesting to see Alec Guinness play so many parts, and the story definitely was told in a droll style, but it was kind of a waste. Not really funny. Kind of a drag. See more Read all reviews
Kind Hearts and Coronets

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Movie Info

Synopsis When his mother eloped with an Italian opera singer, Louis Mazzini (Dennis Price) was cut off from her aristocratic family. After the family refuses to let her be buried in the family mausoleum, Louis avenges his mother's death by attempting to murder every family member (all played by Alec Guinness) who stands between himself and the family fortune. But when he finds himself torn between his longtime love (Joan Greenwood) and the widow of one of his victims (Valerie Hobson), his plans go awry.
Director
Robert Hamer
Producer
John Dighton
Screenwriter
Roy Horniman, Robert Hamer, John Dighton
Distributor
Anchor Bay Entertainment, General Film Distributors, Eagle-Lion Films Inc. [us]
Production Co
Ealing Studios
Genre
Comedy, Crime, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jun 14, 1950, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Feb 14, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA)
$35.9K
Runtime
1h 44m
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