The Lavender Hill Mob (1951)

I saw this movie before reading any reviews, and I thought it was very funny. I was very surprised to see the overwhelmingly negative reviews this film received from critics.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

Alec Guinness is the reason for that emoji with eyes replaced with hearts, right? I mean, seriously, I first met Alec Guinness while watching The Bridge on the River Kwai, and his turn as the seriously extreme Colonel Nicholson is one that will stay with the viewer long after the film ends. Guinness reintroduced himself to me in Lawrence of Arabia, another extreme role proving the man behind the roles that had blown me away was someone to see more of. I'm currently on a quest to see as many Guinness films as I can which led me to his turn in the 1951 film directed by Charles Crichton, The Lavender Hill Mob. In the Lavender Hill Mob, Guinness plays an unassuming bank clerk who decides to put a plan in motion to bring his life something more. In a classic British comedy, which exposed a whole new side of Alec Guinness, The Lavender Hill Mob is a film to see. Holland (Alec Guinness) is a feeble, regimented, shy bank clerk, who is constantly reminded that he is not getting any younger. After 20 years, he has worked for the same bank as their agent who oversees the deliveries of gold bullion. After a chance meeting with a Mr. Pendlebury (Stanley Holloway), a maker of souvenirs, Holland realizes (in a very Leo Bloom a la The Producers way) that with Mr. Pendlebury's tools and expertise, the pair could steal gold from the bank and melt it into miniature Eiffel Tower souvenirs, smuggling massive amounts of money for themselves. After becoming committed to their ideas, the unlikely pair put a plan in motion with the help of a couple of career criminals, Lackery (Sidney James) and Shorty (Alfie Bass). Of course, the plan doesn't go as smoothly as it was first conceived, and it becomes a comedy of errors for the plan to succeed, a true treat for audiences. British films are so fun, the comedic dialogue so unique to films that come from across the pond, is second to none. The writing in The Lavender Hill Mob is sensational, filled with jokes or subtle lines, it is a film that has something new to give upon each viewing. The comedic timing is also a standout in The Lavender Hill Mob. Each actor plays a great role and proves their talents for comedic acting with fantastic performances in The Lavender Hill Mob. Another surprising standout in this film was the score. People don't expect much in the way of a musical score in a comedy, The Lavender Hill Mob blows that stigma out of the water. The score, the comedic acting, the performances make The Lavender Hill Mob a film to be sure to watch, especially if you're tired of the mindless comedies that are so plentiful in American cinemas. The show stopper is Alec Guinness, I am not sure this wonderful film would be as wonderful without him. The Lavender Hill Mob certainly won't be the last Alec Guinness film that I see.

One of the strength's of this excellent comedy, wonderfully played by Guinness & Holloway as an unlikely criminal duo with support of a cast of other familiar faces, is TEB 'Tibby' Clarke's imaginative script which takes an absurd premise and spins it out to its comedic conclusion.Very often I enjoy the set-up and premise of a Ealing comedy as they contain lots of characterisation and little details that then find later expression as the plot gathers pace. For instance, the down at heel boarding house filled with little old ladies, one of whom later appeared in 'The Ladykillers'.It's these little gems of observation as well as the main story that make this film memorable. Early in the film, Holland's ordered existence includes reading pulp thrillers with US criminal slang to one elderly lady as she does her knitting, listening intently and providing commentary on the plot. Later, after the robbery, we see her sitting at tea with two policemen & asking one of them, using contemporary slang, about who they think did the job. The bemused policemen are taken aback, anticipating Mrs Wilberforce talking about 'her aliens' to the desk officers in 'The Ladykillers'.Behind these apparently quaint English Ealing comedies lies real anarchy & subversive wit.

Yet another quirky, fun Ealing Comedy with main man Alec Guinness again taking the lead as the dull, downtrodden gold bullion inspector who waits twenty years to come up with a foolproof inside-job heist to foster his dream of living it up in some exotic South American country. His unlikely accomplices are old lags Sid James and Alfie Bass, while his right hand man is antique reproducer Stanley Holloway who unwittingly inspires Guinness's gold-plated idea for concealing the goods.As ever, it's all very stylish and yet knockabout stuff, from the bizarre way Guinness and Holloway "advertise" their need for their henchmen, the crazy mixed-up car chase through London, their dizzying race down the Eiffel Tower, the visit to the young girls school to attempt to get back the six golden Eiffels, another crazy mixed-up chase at the Police Training School not to mention the delightfully concise and unexpected resolution at the end.Within these disparate elements there are many memorable details which just stick in the brain like Guinness reading pulp fiction to his avid OAP landlady, a fully tied up and gagged Guinness throwing himself on the ground and into the Thames to make the robbery look real, Holloway's absent-minded pilfering of a street trader's painting ("It was a Landseer last week!"), which jeopardises the operation, Guinness's escape in and out of a London Tube Station to escape the pursuing policemen, Guinness and Holloway's hilarious attempts to board a boat in the face of French red-tape inscrutability and even a blink and you'll miss it cameo by a very young Audrey Hepburn as a grateful chanteuse down Mexico way, all this and more might give you an idea of the structured yet skittish way it's all knitted together, although what a crazy patchwork quilt it is in the end.Best not to examine the plot strands too much and how they go together, just go with the flow as they say and savour in particular Guinness's admirable submersion in his role as well as director Crichton's breakneck direction style - especially the descent from the Eiffel Tower which will have you reeling. I rather agree with the sentiment that they should have all, or at least Guinness, gotten away with it, but I suppose the "crime doesn't pay" moral was important for the austere times, although as I said earlier the adroit way old Alec gets his own comeuppance makes for a memorable ending. Any Ealing Comedy, especially those starring Guinness, is worth watching and this crazy caper is definitely one of them.

THE LAVENDER HILL MOB by KudosIt is very easy to live in the present and dismiss the past, ignored it if its not in 3DHD5.2 WS but certain aspects of films ride over their time, clever scripts, top notch acting and less reliance on FX means some films don't look dated, just look their time.LAVENDER HILL MOB is one of them, character based drama with a solid heist plot, it is oceans 11 with out the need to ramp up the action or acting, if you cant rely on flashy effects and big stunts then you are forced to get the other elements pin sharp and it does, you get hints of why Sid James became as big as he did and one very clever car chase but it is the two main leads that carry the plot and draw the viewer into rooting for them ….........even though they are the "bad guys", 90 mins of faultless acting and story telling This is only my second toe I have dipped into this era, but this and "I'm alright Jack" means I would be happy to take plunge and give some time to understanding the roots of modern cinema THE LAVENDER HILL MOB by Nigel HareSunday, the day of rest. Church in the morning followed by a roast dinner with lots of vegetables and fruit pie and custard to follow. The afternoon spent on the sofa watching old movies, while mother did the ironing. After a light tea, left over roast in sandwiches perhaps, its the bath before bed ready for another week. That was pretty much my life back in the early 70s.Today there isn't church, dinner is now in the evening and it's me doing the ironing. But ...the movie is still an old one, although it is a better description to call it ancient now. Alec Guinness (Old Ben in the first Stars Wars movies) is superb in this witty crime caper. Yes it's black and white and it doesn't have violent thugs, it has gentle middle class thieves who team up with likable trusting professional criminals to steal a million in gold. There aren't any high speed chases or double crosses, it's Ealing Studios Britain. What this fifties movie has is laughs: 'Dutch' scrambling around after being tied and blind folding after the theft, running down the spiral staircase to beat the lift descending down the Eiffel tower and the policeman singing 'Old Macdonald' verse about pigs among many. You will be fully entertained for 90 minutes if you give this movie ago.