The Lavender Hill Mob (1951)

To me, this movie is perfection.

This movie is the proof that the world is becoming a sick and dumb place

A lot of fun.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

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.

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 is a wonderful heist comedy that preceded THE LADYKILLERS by 4 years. Alec Guiness and Stanley Holloway are pretty square masterminds of a bullion robbery where everything seems to be going fine until a bunch of English school girls thwart their well laid out plans. Much hilarity ensues.The plotting is brilliant with some truly hilarious and surprising twists to the story. Especially the "surprise" at the end. There is a brilliant car chase and nearly everything about this movie was perfect. There is hardly a false note anywhere, not even in the most outrageously funny scenes.(10/10)

Amusing, if not hilarious British comedy. I expect the film was a belly-laugh when first released and the material was much newer. The pacing is certainly lively, but now such comedic centerpieces as criminal capers gone humorously wrong, and slapstick escapes with speeding cars, appear somewhat shop-worn. Fortunately, however, there are also pleasures that refuse to fade, such as the lowly functionary (Guinness) outwitting a smug employer, or having a brilliant plan tripped up by pre-adolescent schoolgirls. Then too, I expect the slapstick was welcome relief for British audiences still recovering from the horrors of WWII.Guinness is his usual droll self, but also stuffy when he needs to be, while Holloway mugs it up shamelessly. Together, they're an amusing team. Too bad, however, there wasn't a shapely girl to relieve the eyes from the four guys. Then too, I think I could have done without the spiraling descent from the Eiffel Tower; I'm still reeling from that one. One thing for sure, that effect is no cliché.Anyway, the movie appears to have influenced a number of later British comedies, including the St. Trinians series. But whatever its historical value, the comedy is still a very entertaining 90-minutes. Besides, I really like that twisty last shot.