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.
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
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
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
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.
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 »
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
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
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
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 »
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 »
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.
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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.