MOVIEmeter
SEE RANK
Down 1,416 this week

The Ladykillers (1955)

7.8
Your rating:
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 -/10 X  
Ratings: 7.8/10 from 19,715 users  
Reviews: 125 user | 68 critic

Five diverse oddball criminal types planning a bank robbery rent rooms on a cul-de-sac from an octogenarian widow under the pretext that they are classical musicians.

Writer:

(story)
0Check in
0Share...

Watch Now

From $2.99 on Amazon Video

ON DISC

Celebrate IMDb's 25th Anniversary with Photos We Love

IMDb turns 25 on October 17! To celebrate, we put together a gallery of some of our favorite movie, TV, and event photos from the last 25 years.

See the Photos We Love

User Lists

Related lists from IMDb users

a list of 31 titles
created 12 Sep 2011
 
a list of 33 titles
created 06 Mar 2012
 
a list of 24 titles
created 10 months ago
 
a list of 39 titles
created 2 months ago
 
a list of 29 titles
created 1 month ago
 

Related Items

Search for "The Ladykillers" on Amazon.com

Connect with IMDb


Share this Rating

Title: The Ladykillers (1955)

The Ladykillers (1955) on IMDb 7.8/10

Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below.

Take The Quiz!

Test your knowledge of The Ladykillers.

User Polls

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 2 wins & 2 nominations. See more awards »

Videos

Photos

Learn more

People who liked this also liked... 

Comedy | Crime
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.8/10 X  

A meek bank clerk who oversees the shipment of bullion joins with an eccentric neighbor to steal gold bars and smuggle them out of the country as miniature Eiffel Towers.

Director: Charles Crichton
Stars: Alec Guinness, Stanley Holloway, Sidney James
Comedy | Sci-Fi | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.4/10 X  

An altruistic chemist invents a fabric that resists wear and stain as boon to humanity but both capital and labor realize it must be suppressed for economic reasons.

Director: Alexander Mackendrick
Stars: Alec Guinness, Joan Greenwood, Cecil Parker
Comedy | Crime
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8.2/10 X  

A distant poor relative of the Duke of D'Ascoyne plots to inherit the title by murdering the eight other heirs who stand ahead of him in the line of succession.

Director: Robert Hamer
Stars: Dennis Price, Alec Guinness, Valerie Hobson
Comedy | Crime | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.2/10 X  

An eccentric, if not charming Southern professor and his crew pose as a classical ensemble in order to rob a casino, all under the nose of his unsuspecting but sharp old landlady.

Directors: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
Stars: Tom Hanks, Marlon Wayans, Irma P. Hall
Whisky Galore (1949)
Comedy | Crime
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.4/10 X  

Scottish islanders try to plunder 50,000 cases of whisky from a stranded ship.

Director: Alexander Mackendrick
Stars: Basil Radford, Joan Greenwood, Catherine Lacey
Comedy
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.2/10 X  

Residents of a part of London declare independence, when they discover an old treaty. This leads to the need for a 'Passport to Pimlico'.

Director: Henry Cornelius
Stars: Stanley Holloway, Betty Warren, Barbara Murray
Comedy | Mystery
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.6/10 X  

When rich M. Ballon's spanish driver is found shot dead, Inspector Jacques Clouseau is the first official on the scene. All evidence suggests Maria Gambrelli, the maid, to be the murderer. ... See full summary »

Director: Blake Edwards
Stars: Peter Sellers, Elke Sommer, George Sanders
Comedy
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.9/10 X  

A very British comedy about a blackmailer and his victims.

Director: Mario Zampi
Stars: Terry-Thomas, Peter Sellers, Peggy Mount
Drama | Film-Noir
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8.2/10 X  

Powerful but unethical Broadway columnist J.J. Hunsecker coerces unscrupulous press agent Sidney Falco into breaking up his sister's romance with a jazz musician.

Director: Alexander Mackendrick
Stars: Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis, Susan Harrison
Comedy
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.4/10 X  

A naive aristocrat in search of a career becomes caught up in the struggles between his profit-minded uncle and an aggressive labour union.

Director: John Boulting
Stars: Ian Carmichael, Terry-Thomas, Peter Sellers
Comedy | Crime | Mystery
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.1/10 X  

Inspector Clouseau is put on the case when the Pink Panther diamond is stolen, with the Phantom's trademark glove the only clue.

Director: Blake Edwards
Stars: Peter Sellers, Christopher Plummer, Catherine Schell
Comedy | Crime
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.9/10 X  

The crooks in London know how it works. No one carries guns and no one resists the police. Then a new gang appears that go one better. They dress as police and steal from the crooks. This ... See full summary »

Director: Cliff Owen
Stars: Peter Sellers, Lionel Jeffries, Bernard Cribbins
Edit

Cast

Complete credited cast:
...
Cecil Parker ...
Claude (a.k.a. 'Major Courtney')
...
Louis (a.k.a. 'Mr. Harvey')
...
Danny Green ...
Jack Warner ...
The Superintendent
...
Philip Stainton ...
The Sergeant
Frankie Howerd ...
The Barrow Boy
Edit

Storyline

A gang planning a 'job' find themselves living with a little old lady, who thinks they are musicians. When the gang set out to kill Mrs Wilberforce, they run into one problem after another, and they get what they deserve. Written by Rob Hartill

Plot Summary | Add Synopsis

Taglines:

Meet "The Unholy Five"...The Most Befuddled Set of Assorted Thugs That Ever Fouled Up a Million Dollar Bank Robbery!! See more »

Genres:

Comedy | Crime

Certificate:

See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

 »
Edit

Details

Country:

Language:

Release Date:

24 February 1956 (Belgium)  »

Also Known As:

The Lady Killers  »

Company Credits

Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

(RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

(colour) (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1
See  »
Edit

Did You Know?

Trivia

The robbery at the beginning of the film took place in Cheney Street near its junction with Battle Bridge Road, immediately to the west of Kings Cross station. See more »

Goofs

The famous minuet heard frequently in the film (supposedly being rehearsed by the crooks) is from Luigi Boccherini's Quintet in E Major, Op.11, No. 5. Most string quintets (Mozart, Brahms, Mendelssohn, etc.) add a second viola to the conventional string quartet (two violins, viola, cello), and are referred to as "viola quintets." Boccherini, himself a cellist, wrote most of his 100+ string quintets for a combination of two violins, viola, and two cellos, or "cello quintet." The crooks in The Ladykillers -- posing as a viola quintet -- display the wrong combination of instruments for performing the Boccherini minuet, but this may have been intended as a mistake on the part of the crooks rather than the filmmakers. See more »

Quotes

One-Round: [looking blankly at his cello] Are we supposed to make noises with these things? What kind o' noises?
Louis: Who is she?
Professor Marcus: Not "noises," One-Round, *music*!
Louis: I said what does she mean, you...
[Professor Marcus shushes him and turns on the record, dancing a bit to the music]
See more »

Crazy Credits

During the opening credits, roses are shown, to highlight the fact that William Rose wrote the screenplay. See more »

Connections

Referenced in The 50 Greatest Comedy Films (2006) See more »

Soundtracks

Minuet in E major
(uncredited)
Written by Luigi Boccherini, arranged for string ensemble
[playing on the phonograph whenever the robbers are pretending to be practicing]
See more »

Frequently Asked Questions

See more (Spoiler Alert!) »

User Reviews

 
Superlative
17 August 2002 | by (Deming, New Mexico, USA) – See all my reviews

I won't go on about this, but I think this is one of the funniest comedies I've ever watched. So did my ten-year-old, with whom I've watched it many times on tape. I say "one of the funniest" deliberately because this is about as good as it gets, and other comedies have reached that same asymptotic height -- "Dr. Strangelove," for instance, or "Some Like it Hot," -- but none have, or is ever likely to, exceed it.

Most of what can be said about this Ealing Comedy has already been said and I won't repeat it. I will add, however, one generally overlooked point. The principal cockatoo, "General Gordon," sees Professor Marcus's shadow on the door and squawks "SOS" in Morse code. One of the scenes I find most amusing, in a film filled with amusing scenes, is when Peter Sellers returns to the old house to find his four thuggish friends trapped in a room full of chirping old ladies in lavender and frothy lace. The thieves hold a cup of tea in one hand and a pastry in the other, except for Guiness who is draped scowling over a player piano that is tinkling out "Silver Threads Among the Gold."

If you feel yourself falling into a funk, this is the one to watch. Well, okay, it's the one to watch anyway. A non pareil, light years better than my spelling of French.


35 of 39 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you?

Message Boards

Recent Posts
I knew this new Ladykillers was a remake!! dominb01
Alistair Sim bradallengm
Favourite Sellers Film Olga_baikova
What's the Music?? Not Boccherini Op11/no5 but............???? gentlemedusa1
Weird cut in the film... JamesTCT
Free DVD copy kerravon
Discuss The Ladykillers (1955) on the IMDb message boards »

Contribute to This Page

Create a character page for:
?