1955 Directed by Alexander Mackendrick
Five oddball criminals planning a bank robbery rent rooms on a cul-de-sac from an octogenarian widow under the pretext that they are classical musicians.
Alec Guinness Cecil Parker Herbert Lom Peter Sellers Danny Green Katie Johnson Jack Warner Philip Stainton Frankie Howerd Madge Brindley Hélène Burls Kenneth Connor Michael Corcoran Harold Goodwin Fred Griffiths Lucy Griffiths George Hilsdon Vincent Holman Stratford Johns Sam Kydd Edie Martin Jack Melford Arthur Mullard Ewan Roberts George Roderick John Rudling Leonard Sharp Peter Williams Neil Wilson Show All…
Tueurs de dames, El quinteto de la muerte, El Quinteto de la Muerte, Η συμμορία των 5, 贼博士, 老妇杀手团
One of the greatest physical comedy performances in cinema is achieved by a 76-year-old.
That would be Katie Johnson in “The Ladykillers,” who doesn’t let being someone’s gran stop her from carrying the entire movie on her back.
Released in an era of slick heist flicks like “Rififi” and “The Killing,” director Alexander MacKendrick dared to have a different type of take for the time: what if it’s not the robbers who were cool... but an old lady?
And cool as ice Johnson is - not just in the face of mildly hardened criminals, but also to MacKendrick’s technically exacting directorial style.
Really though, the hapless robbers should have known better. MacKendrick’s production design is ripped right out of the darkest crags of German expressionism. Granny was living in the lair of Dr. Mabuse this whole time.
Part of Warm Fuzzies Winter.
The confliction between old fashioned and the slightly pretentious values of Britain with more contemporary ones was one of the critical components that Ealing comedies controlled with authority, and The Ladykillers is a crucial testimony to that. Directed by Alexander Mackendrick (Sweet Smell of Success) and starring Ealing regular Alec Guinness as the impressively devious and intimidating Professor Marcus, the leader of a crime ring.
It's furthermore inhabited with some great supporting actors including an early screen performance from Peter Sellers, and the studio, as usual, delivers the material with impressive delicacy and skill; earning its screenwriter, William Rose, a Best Original Screenplay nomination at the 29th Academy Awards. The Ladykillers is an excellent example of the prestigious and beloved studio firing on all cylinders with well-written dialogue and a succession of metaphors for the state of the British isles after WWII.
"Simply try for one hour to behave like gentlemen!"
Reunited with theaters and it feels so good!
Today I went to the 12:40 pm screening of The Ladykillers at the Film Forum and it was just the absolute best feeling. (Last night I actually typed up a list of my entire outfit for the excursion, like preparing for a first day of school.) I couldn't have planned for a better longtime favorite to ease me back into the moviegoing routine, especially with the 4K restoration that makes Alexander Mackendrick's wonderfully ludicrous comedy look more charming than ever. Katie Johnson is one of the all-time overlooked should-have-been-Oscar-winners as Mrs. Wilberforce, the Teflon senior citizen who proves to be the undoing of…
The Ladykillers is a brilliant crime comedy from the 50s. The ladykillers, a band of criminals, all with distinct appearances and personalities, and an old lady make this movie much more fun than I expected. The plot is amazing, the writing is great. In every single scene, everything that can go wrong-goes wrong. I actually meant to see the Coens version, but after I started the movie and realized it was the original, I said what the hell and watched this. Boy, am I glad that I did! Strongly recommended.
The Ladykillers, considered a British comedy classic has memorable characters including a menacing looking Alec Guinness playing Professor Marcus, and Mrs Wilberforce, a sweet old lady played by Katie Johnson. A well written accomplished script which has a fairly dark and screwball comedic tone. Great direction and a simple, albeit, interesting premise that is admirably executed.
Surely a contender for being the greatest British comedy film of all time, The Ladykillers is possessing of all the qualities that certainly made Ealing the greatest producer of comedy movies of all time.
Perhaps by virtue of the fact that it's seen as a very British film label, I get the impression sometimes that its output is seen as somewhat quaint and even gentle. Yet if you go though pretty much all of Ealing's biggest hits, they really are anything but. There's always a dark streak to them - not even an undercurrent, but a darkness that is often front and centre.
They often played with that view of Britain and British life too, sending it up while also…
Professor Marcus: "What's that? Who's talking?"
Mrs. Wilberforce: "Well, it's only General Gordon. He belonged to my late husband. I had four."
Professor Marcus: "Husbands?"
Mrs. Wilberforce: "No, parrots. And now I've only three."
Professor Marcus: "Parrots!"
Boasting a killer cast of some of the finest names in British film history, this classic Ealing Studios caper is well worth your time. It is delightfully dark, macabre even as a gang of thieves headed by Alec Guinness's Professor Marcus make a base of sweet little old lady Mrs Wilberforce (Katie Johnson), making her complicit in their criminal plan at the same time. What Marcus and his gang don't account for though is the 'human element', their greatest adversary just so happens…
“Anyone can get the goods,” as David Mamet points out, “the hard part is getting away.”
It’s hard to get away with the “lolly,” but even harder get away with this farcical premise for a whole hour after the robbery — after the getaway she didn’t know she’d led, a naive biddy is holed up in a marvelous crooked house with a “mastermind” and his alternately bumbling and psychotic crew; she accidentally outsmarts them and the police and ends up with a cello case of cash to split between herself, her parrots, and the neighborhood panhandlers.
The premise only works because of Katie Johnson’s performance as Mrs Wilberforce and her interactions with future Obi Wan Alec Guinness (May Mrs Wilberforce…
