Tuesday, July 9, 2013

The Ladykillers (1955). A-

One of the best examples of British dark comedy (and contrary to my remake comment in my Gaslight review, superior to the American remake by the Coen brothers), the Ladykillers puts Alec Guinness and his team of thugs against an innocent old lady who lets them use her house to plot a robbery. She thinks they're musicians looking for a place to practice, and the scenes in which they must pretend to be doing so are truly funny. And as the film grows progressively darker, it never looses its wit- have murders ever seemed so playful? Guinness, both gleefully macabre and a sophisticated English gentleman, carries the film, while there are great contributions from Katie Johnson as the old woman and Peter Sellers in his screen debut. 

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