Film Forum

12:30 & 6:10 ONLY

(1949) 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.  DCP. Approx. 106 min.

A RIALTO PICTURES RELEASE

Reviews

“Kind Hearts and Coronets — the finest and funniest of many excellent comedies produced by Ealing Studios in the 40s and 50s, currently showing at Film Forum in New York in honor of its platinum anniversary—is the rare work of art that gets less dated with age."​​​​​​”
– Jackson Arn, The Forward

“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

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