Review for The Ladykillers: The StudioCanal Collection

Look at this cast and just tell me this isn't great: Alec Guinness (Yes, I know most of us will think of him as Obi-Wan, but I choose to think of him as one of the eight members of the D'Ascoyne family in Kind Hearts and Coronets), Herbert Lom (Chief Inspector Dreyfus from the Pink Panther films) and Peter Sellers, who I would hope I don't need to introduce. Looking at the cast and really the quality just speaks for itself and as for those behind the camera we are looking at a Director Alexander Mackendrick and a Writer William Rose who between them have won or been nominated for many major awards and this is clearly them both at the peak of their careers.

The Ladykillers has a fairly simple plot, a group of thieves take lodgings in an old lady's (Mrs Wilberforce, played wonderfully by Katie Davies) home and use this as their base to plan and execute the perfect crime. Their cover is that they are musicians looking for somewhere to practice. However, when Mrs Wilberforce becomes aware of their true motives the thieves need to silence her before she can alert the authorities and really the question is: Who should do the silencing?

This was the last of the Ealing comedies and along with Kind Hearts and Coronets is considered one of the best. Winning multiple awards including being nominated for the Best Original Screenplay Oscar (Winning the BAFTA in the same category) I simply cannot explain how good this film is. The reason is that it is so simple, the dialogue, the acting, the setups, the characters, the way the film is shot. At times you forget it is a comedy because of how dark the film is at times. You watch scenes with Peter Sellers expecting Clouseau like buffoonery or a dash of Goon Show madcap, but instead he plays it fairly straight and Guinness's performance is possibly the creepiest I have ever seen. I have watched this film many, many times and so it is wonderful that I am able to experience it all over again.

The extras on this disk are fabulous from the commentary by Philip Kemp who you can tell loves this film, through the three interviews with Ronald Harwood, Terence Davies and Allan Scott to the bizarre introduction by Terry Gilliam, everything on here is pure gold. Two documentaries Forever Ealing and Cleaning Up the Ladykillers are fabulous to watch and Forever Ealing really makes me hope that more Ealing films will be given this treatment soon.

The Ladykillers is one of the best British films of the Twentieth Century and was even voted by Total Film as one of the Greatest Comedies of all time. I'm not so sure about that. As a comedy, I feel this film misses its mark at times leaning a little too much towards the dark side; however as a motion picture I cannot fault it and I enjoyed every minute of it.