Film Forum

12:15 & 5:15 ONLY

(1949, Robert Hamer) Poor relation Dennis Price, ninth in line to the Dukedom of Chalfont, coolly narrates from prison his ascent to the peerage via serial murder, bumping off his establishment relations, the D'Ascoynes – from an arrogant playboy, to a bullet-headed general, to a formidable dowager, to stiff-upperlipped admiral, to a fussy reverend, and three more, all played by Alec Guinness (the family tree was expanded from three to eight at the actor's behest). But there's a final choice too for Price: between prim and proper Valerie Hobson (Mrs. John Profumo of scandal fame) and sultry-voiced Joan Greenwood ("the most endearing of English comediennes" – David Shipman); and a final oversight to be corrected. 4K DCP restoration. Approx. 106 min.

A RIALTO PICTURES RELEASE.

Reviews

“A MERCILESS MASTERPIECE. If you are unfamiliar with Kind Hearts and Coronets, the question is not whether making the trip to Film Forum to see it is worth your while. The question is how stiff a penalty should be levied upon you by the city of New York should you fail to do so. My personal view is that a brief prison sentence would not be too harsh. There really is no excuse.”
– Anthony Lane, The New Yorker

“The most perfect and most subversive of all British films.”
– Simon Heffer, The Telegraph

“Brilliantly cynical… Ealing’s blackest comedy.”
– Time Out (London)

“Often cited as the definitive black, eccentric British comedy, yet it’s several cuts better than practically anything else in the genre.”
– Dave Kehr

“Hamer’s masterpiece… surely entitles him to be mentioned in the same breath as, say, Max Ophüls, and to be considered one of the great directors.”
– The Guardian

“If a movie ever deserved a sequel, this is it.”
– David Thomson