The Ladykillers
1955 Comedy / Crime / Thriller
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Credits
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Summary
Old Mrs Wilberforce is delighted when she finds a respectable-looking
gentleman to rent one of the rooms in her dilapidated London
guesthouse. Unfortunately, Mr Marcus is not the harmless music
professor he claims to be but the head of a gang of notorious
criminals. Whilst pretending to rehearse for a music concert,
Marcus and his gang plan a robbery, in which Mrs Wilberforce is to play
a crucial role. Unwittingly, she helps to deliver a trunk
containing stolen banknotes through a police cordon. But before
the crooks can make a safe getaway, she uncovers their crime and tells
them she intends to inform the police. The crooks have no choice
but to kill the little old lady - but getting rid of her proves to be
much harder than they think...
Review
The Ladykillers (the film
which did for Boccherini's String Quintet in E what
Brief Encounter had done for
Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2) is the last great comedy to come
out of Ealing Studios before it closed for business in 1955. The
film, which was a huge success in both Britain and America, has
acquired the status of a classic and is widely regarded as one of the
best British film comedies. The film won two BAFTAs - one for
lead actress Katie Johnson and the other for screenwriter William
Rose. 2004 saw the release of an inferior re-make of the film,
directed by the Coen brothers and starring Tom Hanks in the Alec
Guiness role.This was director Alexander Mackendrick’s fifth film for Ealing Studios - he had previously scored some notable successes with such films as Whisky Galore! (1949) and The Man in the White Suit (1951). After The Ladykillers, Mackendrick moved to Hollywood, where he had a hit with Sweet Smell of Success (1957). More than anything, what makes the original Ladykillers such a great classic, and lends it its deliciously dark subversive tone, is its magnificent ensemble cast. A heavily made up (and virtually unrecognisable) Alec Guinness is both sinister and hilarious as the seemingly imperturbable Professor Marcus, looking like something that has just limped off the set of a 1930s horror film. Apparently, he based this persona on the actor Alastair Sim, who was originally considered for the part. Marcus's gangster friends are equally funny, a well-delineated bunch which includes Cecil Parker’s cowardly Major and Herbert Lom’s Mafia-style hoodlum. Peter Sellers is also there, in his first major film role; he would later win fame for his multi-character appearance in Kubrik’s Dr. Strangelove (1964) and, of course, for his legendary Inspector Clouseau in the Pink Panther films. There's no doubt that the real star of The Ladykillers is 77-year old Katie Johnson, who, as the loveably dotty Mrs Wilberforce, is a pure delight. Not only does Johnson brilliantly evoke, with her mild indignation, the noble moral standards of the past, but she is also the perfect foil for the conniving villains who surround her. It is Mrs Wilberforce’s air of sublime ignorance of the world around her that gives the dear old lady her mantle of invulnerability, and also what makes her such a formidable adversary for the monsters who want to do away with her. The most enduring memory of The Ladykillers (after Alec Guinness’s terrifying dentistry) is Katie Johnson calmly sitting at the centre of the violent storm that rages around her, happily minding her own business as the decadent modern world smashes itself to pieces. © James Travers 2008
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