The Ladykillers (1955)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Director:

Alexander Mackendrick

Writers:

William Rose (story)
William Rose (screenplay)

Release Date:

December 1955 (UK)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Thriller

Tagline:

Meet "The Unholy Five"...The Most Befuddled Set of Assorted Thugs That Ever Fouled Up a Million Dollar Bank Robbery!!

Plot:

Five diverse oddball criminal types planning a bank robbery rent rooms on a cul-de-sac from an octogenarian widow under the pretext that they are classical musicians.

Plot Keywords:

Widow | Planning | Criminal | Octogenarian | Bank Robbery

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 2 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Alec Guinness	...	Professor Marcus
Cecil Parker	...	Claude (a.k.a. 'Major Courtney')
Herbert Lom	...	Louis (a.k.a. 'Mr. Harvey')
Peter Sellers	...	Harry (a.k.a. 'Mr. Robinson')
Danny Green	...	One-Round (a.k.a. 'Mr. Lawson')
Jack Warner	...	The Superintendent
Katie Johnson	...	The Old Lady
Philip Stainton	...	The Sergeant
Frankie Howerd	...	The Barrow Boy

Also Known As:

The Lady Killers

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Australia:G | Sweden:11 (1975 re-rating) | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Norway:15 | Sweden:15 (original rating) | UK:U

Filming Locations:

Argyle Street, St. Pancras, London, England, UK

Company:

Ealing Studios

Trivia:

Premiere voted this movie as one of "The 50 Greatest Comedies Of All Time" in 2006.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: From the street in front of Mrs. Wilberforce's house, the front of St. Pancras station is visible, placing the house south of the station. No tracks leave St. Pancras or the adjacent King's Cross station in that direction, so the house could not be adjacent to a tunnel as depicted (see trivia entry).

Quotes:

[Harry and Marcus are distracting Mrs. Wilberforce while Louis deals with the Major on the roof]
Mrs. Louisa Wilberforce: It won't do any harm to tell you now that Major Courtney has gone to the police. They'll be here shortly.
[there is a loud crash from outside]
Mrs. Louisa Wilberforce: Oh! Whatever is that?
Harry: I expect something fell off the roof, mum.
Mrs. Louisa Wilberforce: The roof?
Harry: Probably a... chimney-pot.
Mrs. Louisa Wilberforce: A chimney-pot?
Professor Marcus: See who it is, Harry
[pushes Harry out the door]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Film Geek (2005)

Soundtrack:

Music

Superlative

I won't go on about this, but I think this is one of the funniest comedies I've ever watched. So did my ten-year-old, with whom I've watched it many times on tape. I say "one of the funniest" deliberately because this is about as good as it gets, and other comedies have reached that same asymptotic height -- "Dr. Strangelove," for instance, or "Some Like it Hot," -- but none have, or is ever likely to, exceed it.

Most of what can be said about this Ealing Comedy has already been said and I won't repeat it. I will add, however, one generally overlooked point. The principal cockatoo, "General Gordon," sees Professor Marcus's shadow on the door and squawks "SOS" in Morse code.

If you feel yourself falling into a funk, this is the one to watch. Well, okay, it's the one to watch anyway. A non parreille, light years better than my spelling of French.