Rating: 
Summary: Tennyson Please
Review: I Dont think Tennyson had quite this in mind with his passage " Kind Hearts and Conronets" This is one of the truly great Ealling Films.Guiness of course plays all the figures in the way of being duke. A Hell of a screenplay that is so understated one might not realize a few flaws...no matter..this film grows in stature with each viewing..Catch" The Lavendar Hill Mob" or " The Lady Killers" or even " The Man In the White Suit"
Rating:
Summary: Sometimes Imitated--Never Duplicated.
Review: I will not repeat the excellent plot synopsis of Mr.Stubbs, and I agree completely with the highly positive reviews found in this site by people who appreciate this truly classic comedy. Over the years, there have been a number of films which have treated the subject of murder in a humourous way--but "Kind Hearts and Coronets " set the standard. Dennis Price is perfectly cast as the "upwardly mobile" young man trying to attain what he considers to be his rightful inheritance through eliminating members of a noble family who are "in the way". This is a difficult role because he is an unscrupulous snob--yet quickly has our sympathy. We are soon cheering for him to eradicate a ( mostly ) unpleasant family. Alec Guinness, playing the various doomed family members, is absolutely brilliant--even clever make-up and costumes do not disguise the fact that we have a genius at work here. In fact, I'll take it a step further. I consider Alec Guinness to be the greatest actor in the history of film. His terrific work in "Kind Hearts " was a major sign of the things to come--the man was a "chameleon" who could play virtually any type of role and be totally convincing. Others may pick Brando as the greatest--or Tracy--or Olivier-or more recent stars such as De Niro or Hoffman. All are great--no argument--but for versatility, I'll take Sir Alec. ( As an aside--best film actress of all time ? Miss Katherine Hepburn--no contest. ) Like a number of Ealing comedies, "Kind Hearts" has a very nice "twist" at the end--a great finish to a memorable movie. The DVD captures the black and white image very well--for a 53-year old film, this is nice. One negative comment. At one point in the film, a very old children's rhyme is quoted which uses the awful,insulting racial "N" word. It even appears in the trailer for the film, included in the extras. I know that this a very old film--and I am not generally in favour of censorship--but since the line adds nothing to the film, perhaps it could have been deleted ? To hear such an offensive word in an otherwise delightful old comedy is jarring, to say the least.
Rating:
Summary: The best black comedy ever filmed
Review: It`s useless to state we are in the presence of the biggest black comedy in all the cinema's story. Every detail is perfect, from the direction, passing through the superb cast, in which Dennis Price gives the best role of his brilliant career. Alec Guiness shows us why he's who he's. A wonderful actor. Not only because in this film gives us eight different roles, but the elegance , the organical flow of its monumental script.
Together with Lavender hill mob, Hobson's choice, the man in the white suit and The lady killers, the english cinema never before had literally had an explossion of talents in multiple aspects.
Ironic, cynical, ravishing, ambitious, with a lot of laughs and surrealistic situations, this movie reminds us the other side of the coin about Richard III, because no matter how many crimes you have to commit for reaching your goal.
A must for everyone who loves the craft's cinema.
Rating:
Summary: Classic comedy
Review: Kind Hearts and Coronets is a funny, classic and well-acted comedy starring Alec Guinness in no less than 8 roles. The main character, Louis, goes about murdering the various members of a family ahead of him in line for dukedom (having been cast out due to a common father) and each of the 8 parts is played by Alec Guiness. With some truly timeless jokes, its carried off with excellent style and great acting, not only from Guinness but from Dennis Price as Louis and Joan Greenwood as the brilliant Sibella, a truly great character.
Rating:
Summary: Murder Has Never Been So Hilarious.
Review: Louis D'Ascoyne Mazzini (Dennis Price) is the forgotten heir of the aristocratic D'Ascoyne family, who ostracized his mother when she married well below her station. But Louis was raised to value his blue-blooded heritage, with the understanding that he was in line to inherit the Dukedom of Chalfont and its accompanying wealth, although it was a very long line. Louis eventually becomes frustrated by his professional prospects and so spiteful of the D'Ascoyne's arrogance that he decides to elevate himself to the Dukedom...by murdering the 8 heirs that stand before him in the line of inheritance. "Kind Hearts and Coronets" is probably the most acclaimed and widely appreciated of the "Ealing Comedies", which Great Britain's Ealing Studios produced after World War II under the reign of studio boss Michael Balcon. The film was directed by Robert Hamer and brilliantly adapted for the screen by Hamer and John Dighton. It is loosely based on the 1907 novel "Israel Rank" by Roy Harniman, although the novel is not a comedy, and its tone as well as the personality of its protagonist are very different from the movie. "Kind Hearts and Coronets" is probably best known for Alec Guinness' multiple comic performances. He plays all 8 members of the D'Ascoyne family, who range in age from 24 to about 80, with comic but convincing flair. Dennis Price, as Louis, recounts the film's events with wonderfully dry wit. His one-liners are priceless. Sociopathic behavior has never been more delightful. The filmmakers shamelessly lampoon the hereditary aristocracy, all in the form of Alec Guinness. "Kind Hearts and Coronets" is simply a thoroughly enjoyable film. The DVD: Bonus features include a rather long theatrical trailer and a written bio for Sir Alec Guinness, also long. Dubbing is available in French. No subtitles.
Rating: 
Summary: Dry, Witty, and Dark
Review: Louis Mazzini (Dennis Price) is sitting on death row in 19th century England waiting on his execution the following morning. The prison ward is astounded over Mazzini's calm behavior before the execution as Mazzini begins to tell his life's account. He was born a son of a father who died at the first sight of him and a mother who married his father who was below her social rank and was disowned by the D'Ascoyne family as a result. Kind Hearts and Coronets is a extremely witty story with very dry dark humor combined with the mind of a serial killer that pulls at the facial muscles of the audience numerous times.
Rating:
Summary: Good transfer of an excellent British comedy
Review: No need to add much to the comments above and below about this excellent post-war (1949) British black comedy, so I'll restrict myself to the DVD. This is a good transfer of a film which is now well over 50 years old. Criterion might have got more out of it, but this release wouldn't do that company any shame. Damage is virtually non-existent, contrast is excellent and the image very sharp. There is an occasional hint of grain, but this is a much better DVD transfer than I was expecting on such an inexpensive disc. Just check out the trailer which is almost indiscernible image-wise to show what a good job they have done. The sound is mono and sounds a little thin at first but Dennis Price's beautiful narration is clear and the ear soon adjusts. All in all, a very good DVD release.
Rating:
Summary: A Withering Family Tree
Review: Sir Alec Guinness plays multiple characters in the story of an Englishman who is nine relatives removed from a dukedom. He conspires to murder his way to prosperity by getting rid of his family members who stand in his way. The story unfolds as the memoir of a condemned man but there is a wonderful twist at the end. Quite clever.
Rating:
Summary: A wickedly witty Classic
Review: The Ealing Studios "British Little Comedies" have rarely been equalled -- certainly never surpassed -- for elegance, stylishness, and wicked black humor. And this is perhaps the finest of them. The eight roles of Sir Alec Guiness are varied and delightful -- many have cited the wonderful scene where Price, posing as the Bishop of Matabililand, polishes off the Reverend Henry D'Ascoyne, who, as he raises the poisoned port to his lips, delivers the wonderful line, "May I say, my Lord, you have brought me something I could not expect from any other churchman in England." A constant delight also is Price's delicious narration. When one of his "disposals" also removes the victim's paramour, he says "I was sorry about the girl, but could console myself with the knowledge that during the weekend she most certainly had already succumbed to a fate worse than death." (Or something like that!) One could go on and on citing the evilly funny moments As he takes tea on the lawn with one victim's wife, behind her we hear a muffled "Pffooff!" as the victim's darkroom explodes into flame. Price reacts with just a slight pause and movement of his eyes-- and goes right on taking tea as the smoke billows higher with each cross-cut. In short, this film is not funny in a belly-laugh sense, but in a more intellectual, subtle way. Like a fine wine, you don't gulp it -- you sip and savor it. Exquisite!
Rating: 
Summary: To spare you as much pain as possible, I¿ll be brief...
Review: The film is wonderful, naturally, portraying mass murder as the gentlemanly art that it really ought to be. The problem is the print. All the Ealing films I've seen in this "British Sterling Collection" have been mastered from low quality prints. Not terrible, like a public domain knock-off, but simply chintzy. Ladykillers is probably the worst of the bunch, with it's puke green overcast in some sections and livid pink in others, but Kind Hearts is pretty bad too. I compared this one with the older version I taped off PBS some years ago and, even though the older copy was second generation, the differences were demonstrable. Most egregious is the soundtrack, or what's left of it. I say "what's left" because the lower half of the soundtrack is gone goodbye. This renders Dennis Price's voice a half an octave higher and robs it of all it's resonance; he sounds kind of breathy and nasal. Everything is a little muffled and indistinct, and there's a persistent hiss through the whole film. The black and white print is so washed out that the highlights of people's faces are the same stark and featureless shade of white as their shirt collars, while at the same time there's no detail in the gooey not-quite-black shadows. Douglas Slocombe's finely shaded cinematography deserves a lot better treatment than this. These flaws may seem minor; after all, the film is still watchable. But on a subliminal level they add up and undermine the impact of a great film. There's a good print of this movie out there -- I've seen it -- but this 1994 reissue ain't it. Why the heck do the people responsible for the Ealing vaults fob us off with this substandard fare???...
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