A distant poor relative of the Duke D'Ascoyne plots to inherit the title by murdering the eight other heirs who stand ahead of him in the line of succession.A distant poor relative of the Duke D'Ascoyne plots to inherit the title by murdering the eight other heirs who stand ahead of him in the line of succession.A distant poor relative of the Duke D'Ascoyne plots to inherit the title by murdering the eight other heirs who stand ahead of him in the line of succession.
- Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award
- 4 wins & 3 nominations total
Stanley Beard
- Warder
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaSir Alec Guinness nearly drowned in the scene where the Admiral goes down with his sinking ship. Guinness was held down by wires whilst the set filled up with water. Once the scene was wrapped, the crew started to leave, until one technician suddenly realized that they had forgotten to release Sir Alec from the wires holding him underwater. He immediately dove into the waters with some wire-cutters and freed Guinness. Fortunately for all concerned, Guinness took great pride in his ability to hold his breath for long periods of time.
- GoofsThe first murder that Louis Mazzini commits involves him swimming fully dressed underwater to release a boat from its moorings. In spite of having brought no change of clothes or even a towel, he is shown shortly after committing the murder paddling down the river with his clothes bone-dry.
- Quotes
Sibella: [sobs] Oh Louis! I don't want to marry Lionel!
Louis Mazzini: Why not?
Sibella: He's so dull.
Louis Mazzini: I must admit he exhibits the most extraordinary capacity for middle age that I've ever encountered in a young man of twenty-four.
- Crazy creditsThe opening credits list photos of the 4 leading actors with their character names; in the case of Alec Guinness, 8 photos of the 8 characters he plays are shown, along with the one character name of "The D'Ascoyne Family." In the end credits, the 8 character names are listed for him.
- Alternate versionsWas available in a computer colorized version.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Film Profile: Michael Balcon (1961)
- SoundtracksIl mio tesoro intanto
Aria from "Don Giovanni"
Written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (as Mozart)
Libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte (uncredited)
The music is played by The Philharmonia Orchestra
Conducted by Ernest Irving
Sung by an unidentified soloist
Featured review
Wickedly clever
Robert Hamer's 1949 film "Kind Hearts & Coronets" is the epitome of British humor, from start to finish. Louis Mazzini (Price) is a descendant of the D'Ascoyne family, a family of royals, but unfortunately his mother has been disowned by the family for taking up with and marrying Louis Mazzini Sr., an Italian singer whom the family highly disapproves of. When Mazzini Sr. meets an untimely death early in young Louis' life, he sees his mother struggle to give him everything he needs, so after she dies, he vows revenge. He decides that he will get his birthright and become the Duke of Chalfont, except he has to get through the eight people ahead of him (all members of the D'Ascoyne family are played by Alec Guinness) who are in line for the title. Meanwhile, while he is calculating how he is going to commit cold-blooded murder to knock off each heir, he carries on a sort of double affair with Sibella (Greenwood), a woman who he has been enamored with since they were children and is now married to a former classmate of theirs, and Edith (Hobson), the young widow of one of the D'Ascoyne heirs that Louis offs. The story is told in flashbacks as Louis sits in a jail cell, awaiting his execution and writing his memoirs.
This was one of the most clever and wickedly funny films I had seen in a long time. I honestly had no idea what to expect from it when I started watching; I only knew that it was an IMDb Top 250 film and it starred Alec Guinness. I didn't have a clue that it was going to turn out to be one of the greatest examples of British comedy I've seen this side of Monty Python. The gags in the film are so dry and subtle (at one point, Louis causes an explosion that means the demise of one of the D'Ascoyne heirs, yet when it goes off while he and the heir's wife are sitting in the garden having tea, neither of them even flinch, and she doesn't notice something is wrong until she actually turns around and sees the plumes of black smoke) and the theme so dark that it could theoretically be easy to forget that one is actually watching a comedy. There are no sight gags, double takes or high hilarity present, which makes this film all the more appealing, because it elicited huge laughs without stooping to typical elements of comedy.
I thought that Guinness was going to be the breakout guy in "Kind Hearts and Coronets", and believe me, it's certainly noteworthy to see him dressed in drag as Lady Agatha, but the real star of the film was the fantastic Dennis Price. He plays Louis with the slick charm of a Rex Harrison, but it is clear that his heart and temperament is far more nefarious than anything Harrison could drum up, even when he was plotting to kill his wife in "Unfaithfully Yours". When he utters lines like "The next morning I went out shooting with Ethelred - or rather, to watch Ethelred shooting; for my principles will not allow me to take a direct part in blood sports" when he has not only already killed several, but is planning on killing Ethelred himself, his aplomb yet sincere delivery is comic gold.
I really enjoyed "Kind Hearts and Coronets" and sincerely hope that even though it seems to be slipping more and more to the bottom of the IMDb Top 250 list after an initial strong appearance, its placement on the list will make more people seek it out. Frankly, I had never heard of the film before seeing it appear on the list, and I consider myself to be fairly adequate in my knowledge of classic film. And you'd be hard pressed to find a better classic film comedy than this one; it is ahead of its time in its clever wickedness. I would be willing to bet the Coen Brothers are fans of this film. 8/10 --Shelly
This was one of the most clever and wickedly funny films I had seen in a long time. I honestly had no idea what to expect from it when I started watching; I only knew that it was an IMDb Top 250 film and it starred Alec Guinness. I didn't have a clue that it was going to turn out to be one of the greatest examples of British comedy I've seen this side of Monty Python. The gags in the film are so dry and subtle (at one point, Louis causes an explosion that means the demise of one of the D'Ascoyne heirs, yet when it goes off while he and the heir's wife are sitting in the garden having tea, neither of them even flinch, and she doesn't notice something is wrong until she actually turns around and sees the plumes of black smoke) and the theme so dark that it could theoretically be easy to forget that one is actually watching a comedy. There are no sight gags, double takes or high hilarity present, which makes this film all the more appealing, because it elicited huge laughs without stooping to typical elements of comedy.
I thought that Guinness was going to be the breakout guy in "Kind Hearts and Coronets", and believe me, it's certainly noteworthy to see him dressed in drag as Lady Agatha, but the real star of the film was the fantastic Dennis Price. He plays Louis with the slick charm of a Rex Harrison, but it is clear that his heart and temperament is far more nefarious than anything Harrison could drum up, even when he was plotting to kill his wife in "Unfaithfully Yours". When he utters lines like "The next morning I went out shooting with Ethelred - or rather, to watch Ethelred shooting; for my principles will not allow me to take a direct part in blood sports" when he has not only already killed several, but is planning on killing Ethelred himself, his aplomb yet sincere delivery is comic gold.
I really enjoyed "Kind Hearts and Coronets" and sincerely hope that even though it seems to be slipping more and more to the bottom of the IMDb Top 250 list after an initial strong appearance, its placement on the list will make more people seek it out. Frankly, I had never heard of the film before seeing it appear on the list, and I consider myself to be fairly adequate in my knowledge of classic film. And you'd be hard pressed to find a better classic film comedy than this one; it is ahead of its time in its clever wickedness. I would be willing to bet the Coen Brothers are fans of this film. 8/10 --Shelly
helpful•152
- FilmOtaku
- Aug 5, 2005
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official sites
- Languages
- Also known as
- Adel verpflichtet
- Filming locations
- Leeds Castle, Maidstone, Kent, England, UK(Chalfont - D'Ascoyne family castle)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $35,948
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $8,004
- Dec 1, 2019
- Gross worldwide
- $146,400
- Runtime1 hour 46 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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By what name was Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949) officially released in India in English?
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