Film Forum

U.K., 1949
Directed by Robert Hamer
With Alec Guinness (in eight different roles), Dennis Price, Valerie Hobson, Joan Greenwood
Photographed by Douglas Slocombe
Approx. 106 min. 4K DCP. 

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 one D’Ascoyne after another, from an arrogant playboy, to a bullet-headed general, to a stiff-upperlipped Admiral, to a dotty reverend, to a formidable dowager — all, plus three more, played by Alec Guinness. Inspiration for the 2014 Tony Award winning musical, A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder.

Trailer

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
Click here to read the full review (scroll down)

“Brilliantly cynical...Ealing’s blackest comedy.”
– Time Out

“Robert Hamer's 1949 film is often cited as the definitive black, eccentric British comedy, yet it's several cuts better than practically anything else in the genre.”
– Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader

"A spoof on the highest level of cultivated humor and device."
– Bosley Crowther, The New York Times