| Kind Hearts and Coronets | |
|---|---|
 Original British film poster byJames Fitton | |
| Directed by | Robert Hamer |
| Screenplay by |
|
| Based on | Israel Rank: The Autobiography of a Criminal byRoy Horniman |
| Produced by | |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Douglas Slocombe |
| Edited by | Peter Tanner |
| Music by | Ernest Irving |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | General Film Distributors (UK) |
Release date |
|
Running time | 106 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Box office | £224,853[1] |
Kind Hearts and Coronets is a 1949 Britishcrimeblack comedy film directed byRobert Hamer. It featuresDennis Price,Joan Greenwood,Valerie Hobson andAlec Guinness; Guinness plays eight characters. The plot is loosely based on the novelIsrael Rank: The Autobiography of a Criminal (1907) byRoy Horniman. It concerns Louis D'Ascoyne Mazzini, the son of a woman disowned by her aristocratic family for marrying out of her social class. After her death, a vengeful Louis decides to take the family'sdukedom by murdering the eight people ahead of him in the line of succession to the title.
Michael Balcon, the head ofEaling Studios and the producer ofKind Hearts and Coronets, appointed Hamer as director. Filming took place from September 1948 atLeeds Castle and other locations in Kent, and at Ealing Studios. Themes of class and sexual repression run through the film, particularly love between classes.
Kind Hearts and Coronets was released on 13 June 1949 in the United Kingdom, and was well received by critics. It has continued to receive favourable reviews over the years and, in 1999, it was number six in theBritish Film Institute's ranking of theTop 100 British films. In 2005, it was included inTime's list of the top 100 films since 1923.
InEdwardianEngland, Louis D'Ascoyne Mazzini, 10th Duke of Chalfont, is in prison awaiting hishanging for murder, the following morning. As he writes his memoirs, he recounts the events that led him there in aflashback.
His mother, the youngest daughter of the 7th Duke of Chalfont, eloped with an Italian opera singer named Mazzini and was disowned by her family for marrying beneath her station. The Mazzinis were poor, but happy until Mazzini died shortly after Louis was born. Louis' mother brings him up among stories of the history of her family and tells him how, unlike most otherpeerages, the dukedom of Chalfont can descend through female as well as male heirs. Louis's only childhood friends are Sibella Hallward and her brother, the children of a local doctor.
When Louis leaves school, his mother writes to her kinsman, Lord Ascoyne D'Ascoyne, head of aprivate bank, for assistance in launching her son's career, but is rebuffed. Louis is forced to work as an assistant to adraper. When his mother dies, her last request to be interred in the familyburial vault at Chalfont Castle, is denied. Louis proposes marriage to Sibella, but she ridicules him, and marries Lionel Holland, a former school friend of her brother who has a rich father. Soon after this, Louis quarrels with a customer, Ascoyne D'Ascoyne, the banker's arrogant only child, who has him dismissed from his job.
Louis resolves to kill Ascoyne D'Ascoyne and the other seven family members ahead of him in theorder of succession to the dukedom. After arranging a fatal boating accident for Ascoyne D'Ascoyne and hismistress, Louis writes a letter of condolence to his victim's father, Lord Ascoyne D'Ascoyne, who employs him as a clerk. Upon his later promotion, Louis takes abachelor flat inSt James's, London, for assignations with Sibella, who is unhappy in her marriage to the dull Lionel.
Louis next targets Henry D'Ascoyne, a keen amateur photographer. He meets Henry and is charmed by his wife, Edith. He substitutespetrol forparaffin in the lamp in Henry'sdarkroom, with fatal results. Louis decides that Edith is fit to be his duchess. The Reverend Lord Henry D'Ascoyne is the next victim and Louis, posing as theBishop of Matabeleland, poisons Lord Henry's after-dinnerport. From the window of his flat, Louis then uses a bow and arrow to shoot down theballoon from which thesuffragette Lady Agatha D'Ascoyne is dropping leaflets over London. Admiral Lord Horatio D'Ascoyne presents a challenge, as he rarely sets foot on land. However, by chance he conveniently insists ongoing down with his ship after causing a collision at sea. Louis next sends General Lord Rufus D'Ascoyne a jar ofcaviar which contains a bomb.
When Edith agrees to marry Louis, they notify Ethelred, the childless, widowed eighth duke. He invites them to spend a few days at Chalfont Castle. When Ethelred casually informs Louis that he intends to remarry in order to produce an heir, Louis arranges a hunting "accident". Before shooting the duke, he reveals his motive. Lord Ascoyne D'Ascoyne dies from the shock of learning that he has become the ninth duke, sparing Louis from having to murder his kindly employer. Louis inherits the dukedom, but his triumph proves short-lived.
Sibella's husband, Lionel, had made a drunken plea to Louis for financial help to avoid bankruptcy, but Louis turned him down. Lionel is later found dead and aScotland Yard detective arrests Louis on suspicion of murder. Louis elects to betried by his peers in theHouse of Lords.[n 1] During the trial, Louis and Edith are married. Sibella falsely testifies that Lionel was about to seek a divorce and name Louis asco-respondent. Ironically, Louis is convicted of a murder he had never even contemplated.
Louis is visited by Sibella, who observes that the discovery of Lionel'ssuicide note and Edith's death would free Louis and enable them to marry, a proposal to which he agrees. Moments before his hanging, the discovery of the note secures his release. Louis finds both Edith and Sibella waiting for him outside the prison, but is undecided which to choose. When a reporter tells him thatTit-Bits magazine wishes to publish his memoirs, Louis suddenly remembers that he has left them behind in his cell (thereby providing the authorities with a completeconfession).
In 1947Michael Pertwee, a scriptwriter atEaling Studios, suggested an adaptation of a 1907Roy Horniman novel,Israel Rank: The Autobiography of a Criminal.[2] The writerSimon Heffer observes that the plot of the source novel was dark in places—it includes the murder of a child—and differed in several respects from the resulting film. A major difference was that the main character was the half-Jewish (as opposed to half-Italian) Israel Rank, and Heffer writes that Mazzini's "ruthless using of people (notably women) and his greedy pursuit of position all seem to conform to the stereotype that theanti-semite has of the Jew".[3]
The change from Israel Rank to Louis Mazzini was brought about by the "post-war sensitivity about anti-Semitism", and the moral stance of the films produced by Ealing.[4] According to theBritish Film Institute (BFI), the novel is "self-consciously in the tradition" ofOscar Wilde, which is reflected in thesnobbery anddandyism portrayed in the film.[5]
The head of Ealing Studios,Michael Balcon, was initially unconvinced by the idea of the film, stating that "I'm not going to make a comedy about eight murders"; the studio's creative staff persuaded him to reconsider.[6] Balcon, who produced the film, choseRobert Hamer as director and warned him that "You are trying to sell that most unsaleable commodity to the British – irony. Good luck to you."[7] Hamer disliked Pertwee, who withdrew from the project, leaving the scriptwriting to Hamer andJohn Dighton.[8] Hamer saw the potential of the story and later wrote:
What were the possibilities which thus presented themselves? Firstly, in that of making a film not noticeably similar to any previously made in the English language. Secondly, that of using this English language ... in a more varied and, to me, more interesting way than I had previously had the chance of doing in a film. Thirdly, that of making a picture which paid no regard whatever to established, although not practised, moral convention.[9]
The film was produced at the same time as two otherEaling comedies,Passport to Pimlico andWhisky Galore!; all three were released into British cinemas over two months.[10][n 2] The film's title was taken from the 1842 poem "Lady Clara Vere de Vere" byAlfred, Lord Tennyson. The fullcouplet reads
Kind hearts are more than coronets,
And simple faith than Norman blood.[12]
Alec Guinness was originally offered only four D'Ascoyne parts, recollecting "I read [the screenplay] on a beach in France, collapsed with laughter on the first page, and didn't even bother to get to the end of the script. I went straight back to the hotel and sent a telegram saying, 'Why four parts? Why not eight!?'"[13]
Production began on 1 September 1948.[14] Exterior filming was undertaken in the Kent villages ofHarrietsham andBoughton Monchelsea.Leeds Castle, also inKent, was used for Chalfont, the family home of the D'Ascoynes.[15][16] Additional filming was undertaken at Ealing Studios.[14][n 3]
The costumes were designed byAnthony Mendleson, who matched Louis's rise through the social ranks with his changing costumes. When employed as a shop assistant, Louis's suit was ill-fitting and drab; he is later seen in tailored suits with satin lapels, wearing abrocade dressing gown and waiting for his execution in a quilted-collar velvet jacket. Mendleson later recounted that to dress Guinness in his many roles, the costumes were of less importance than make-up and the actor's nuances.[17]
In one shot Guinness appears as six of his characters at once in a single frame. This was accomplished bymasking the lens. The film was re-exposed several times with Guinness in different positions over several days.Douglas Slocombe, the cinematographer in charge of the effect, recalled sleeping in the studio to make sure nobody touched the camera.[18]
The death of Admiral Horatio D'Ascoyne was inspired by thecollision betweenHMSVictoria andHMSCamperdown offTripoli in 1893 because of an order given by Vice-Admiral SirGeorge Tryon.Victoria was sunk with the loss of over 350 men.[19]
While filming the scene Hamer asked Guinness if he could hold his pose—a salute, facing the camera while the water rose around him—so that the water went over his head; Hamer wanted to show the admiral's cap floating on the surface. Guinness agreed, telling Hamer that as he practisedyoga, he could hold his breath for four minutes. Guinness was attached to the deck by wires to keep him steady and the shot was taken; when Hamer called "cut", the crew began packing up and forgot to release Guinness until four minutes after the scene ended.[20]
The music of the film, played by thePhilharmonia Orchestra, is conducted by theatre and film conductor and arrangerErnest Irving who "plunders the works ofW.A. Mozart to winning effect; the elegance, refinement, and inherent propriety" of the pieces used offering both a metaphor of an ordered society and a "counterpoint for murder most foul".[21]
TheBritish Film Institute seeKind Hearts and Coronets as "less sentimental" than many of the other Ealing films. Along withThe Man in the White Suit (1951) andThe Ladykillers (1955),Kind Hearts and Coronets "unleash[es] transgressivenightmares, fables of subversive, maverick masculine obsession and action, where the repressed and vengeful bubble up to the surface and lead to a resolutions which were only just contained in the moral strictures permissible in (Balcon's) Ealing cinema at the time".[22]
The film historianSarah Street identifies the theme of sexual repression running through the film, shown with Louis's relationship with the manipulative Sibella.[23] The historianRoss McKibbin sees the film as a "sustained satire" in its portrayal of theupper classes, partly because of the intended absurdity of the D'Ascoyne family being portrayed by Guinness.[24] "Lady Clara Vere de Vere", the poem from which the film's title derived, concerns class tensions surrounding love between classes.[25]
Kind Hearts and Coronets premiered in London on 13 June 1949.[26] In France, the film was released in 1950, selling 1,310,205 tickets.[27] When the film was released in the US in 1950, it was edited to satisfy theHays Code. A new ending was added, showing Louis's memoirs being discovered before he can retrieve them; the dialogue between Louis and Sibella was altered to play down their adultery; derogatory lines aimed at the Reverend Henry D'Ascoyne were deleted; and in the nursery rhyme "Eeny, meeny, miny, moe", "sailor" replaced the word "nigger". The American version is six minutes shorter than the British original.[28]
Kind Hearts and Coronets received a warm reception from the critics.[29] Although they thought the film slightly too long, the critic forThe Manchester Guardian thought that overall it was very enjoyable "because of the light satirical touch with which mass-murder is handled, ... words are so seldom treated with any respect in the cinema".[30]Bosley Crowther, the critic forThe New York Times, called the film a "delicious little satire on Edwardian manners and morals",[31] while the unnamed reviewer forTime called it "one of the best films of the year".[29]
Several reviewers, includingC. A. Lejeune ofThe Observer, praised Guinness's nine roles.[32] The unknown reviewer fromThe Monthly Film Bulletin wrote that Guinness played his roles "with intelligence and restraint and show[ed] his power as a character actor",[33] while Crowther considered that Guinness acted with "such devastating wit and variety that he naturally dominates the film".[31] Price's performance was appreciated by a number of critics, includingThe Monthly Film Bulletin, who considered he gave a "brilliant performance",[33] andRichard L. Coe, the critic forThe Washington Post thought Price was "splendid";[34] Crowther wrote that Price was "as able as Mr. Guinness in his single but most demanding role".[31] Lejeune inThe Observer dissented, and thought he "seems pitifully outclassed every time he comes up against a Guinness" character.[32]
Kind Hearts and Coronets was nominated for theBritish Academy Film Award forBest British Film, alongsidePassport to Pimlico andWhisky Galore!, although they lost toThe Third Man (1949).[35] The film was screened as one of Britain's entries to the10th Venice International Film Festival;William Kellner won an award for Best Production Design.[36]
According to Michael Newton, writing for the BFI,Kind Hearts and Coronets has retained the high regard of film historians. In 1964The Spectator called it "the most confident comedy ever to come out of a British studio",[37] and the actorPeter Ustinov considered it the "most perfect achievement" of Ealing Studios, "a film of exquisite construction and literary quality".[38]Kind Hearts and Coronets is listed inTime's top 100 and also at number six in theBFI Top 100 British films.[39][40] Thirteen critics and directors voted forKind Hearts and Coronets in the 2012 BFI poll of The Greatest Films of All Time, includingTerence Davies,Peter Bradshaw andPhilip French.[41]
The film has been adapted for radio three times. In March 1965, theBBC Home Service broadcast an adaptation by Gilbert Travers-Thomas, with Dennis Price reprising his role as Louis D'Ascoyne Mazzini.[42]BBC Radio 4 produced a new adaptation in 1980 featuringRobert Powell as the entire D'Ascoyne clan, including Louis, andTimothy Bateson as the hangman,[43] and another in 1996 featuringMichael Kitchen as Mazzini andHarry Enfield as the D'Ascoyne family.[44]
In May 2012,BBC Radio 4 broadcast a sequel to the film calledKind Hearts and Coronets – Like Father, Like Daughter, written byDavid Spicer. In it, Unity Holland, the illegitimate daughter of Louis and Sibella, is written out of the title by Edith Duchess of Chalfont. Unity then murders the entire D'Ascoyne family, with all seven members played byAlistair McGowan.[45]
In September 2004, it was announced that a musical adaption was to be workshopped featuringRaúl Esparza,Rebecca Luker, Nancy Anderson andSean Allan Krill. The workshop had music and lyrics bySteven Lutvak with the book and lyrics by Robert L. Freedman.[46] The musical was produced under the titleA Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder and opened in 2013 at theWalter Kerr Theatre on Broadway. The show has all the victims played by the same actor, in the original companyJefferson Mays. Though the plot remains essentially the same, most of the names are different: half-Italian Louis Mazzini becomes half-Castilian Montague "Monty" Navarro, the D'Ascoynes become the D'Ysquiths and Henry's wife Edith becomes Henry's sister Phoebe.[47][48] The musical won fourTony Awards, includingBest Musical.[49]
In July 1975EMI Films announced they would film a remake starringDick Emery but this did not happen.[50]
In May 2024,A24 announced they would distribute the filmHow to Make A Killing, whose original screenplay was heavily inspired byKind Hearts and Coronets. Written and directed byJohn Patton Ford, and starringGlen Powell,Ed Harris, andMargaret Qualley, production began in June 2024 with principal photography taking place in South Africa.[51][52]
TheCriterion Collection released a two-DVD disc set. Disc one featured the standard version of the film released in the UK and, as a bonus feature, includes the final scene with the American ending. Disc two includes a 75-minutesBBCOmnibus documentary "Made in Ealing", plus a 68-minute talk-show appearance with Guinness on the BBC'sParkinson television programme.[53] The British distributorOptimum Releasing released a digitally restored version for both DVD andBlu-ray in September 2011.[54]
To mark the film's 70th anniversary in June 2019, a new 4k restoration scanned from the 35 mm nitrate original negative was released by Studiocanal in British cinemas, along with DVD and Blu-Ray versions.[55]
