Shoot the Glass

Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949, Robert Hamer)

This was the most entertaining movie I’ve seen in a while. It’s a classic British film by Ealing Studios, and I liked it better even than The Ladykillers.

It tells the story of a man called Louis Mazzini (Dennis Price), whose mother belonged to the aristocratic family D’Ascoyne, but was shunned after she married an Italian commoner. When his mother dies, the now-adult Louis realises that the one way he can avenge his mother, and impress the woman he loves (Joan Greenwood), is to get his Dukedom back. And the only way to do that — kill all eight D’Ascoynes who stand between him and the title.

This movie was hilarious, and so much fun to watch. Louis comes up with increasingly insane ways to kill his foes. The humour is absolutely pitch black, and dry in the way only British movies know how to be.

Notably, Alec Guinness plays all eight of the D’Ascoynes Louis has to kill to win his rightful title back. Guinness is great fun to watch in these roles, even though his screentime is rather limited.

One might think the story is straight-forward, and it’s true that we see in the first scene of the movie that Louis did get caught and is set to get hanged the next day. However, why he is caught, and what happens then might surprise you. The irony is practically dripping from those final scenes.

This movie is an absolute blast, and the ending is wonderful. If you’re looking for a British movie with dark humour, which is filled with great scenes and performances, this movie is for you.

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