Classic 40s Movie: “Kind Hearts and Coronets”

September is Classic 40s Movie month. Today’s guest post comes from James Calder.

Title: Kind Hearts and Coronets

Year: 1949

Writers: Robert Hamer and John Dighton (screenplay), Roy Horniman (novel, Israel Rank)

Lead Actors: Dennis Price, Alec Guinness, Joan Greenwood, Valerie Hobson

Director: Robert Hamer

Plot Summary: Louis Mazzini, a distant poor relative of the Duke of Chalfont, plots to inherit the title by murdering the eight other heirs who stand ahead of him in the line of succession.

Why I Think This Is A Classic 40s Movie

Made in the 1940s, set in 1900 and still resonant in 2015, thanks in no small part to the sharpest of screenplays and one of the greatest voiceovers in cinema history, Kind Hearts and Coronets is the darkest of the Ealing comedies and certainly the wittiest.

This tale of exquisitely exacted revenge was artfully adapted by Hamer and Dighton from Roy Horniman’s 1907 novel Israel Rank. As well as completely reworking the ending and introducing the humor and pace that keeps the film skipping along, Hamer and Dighton gave the scheming Louis just the two love-interests to contend with rather than the novel’s three, ultimately fashioning a dilemma that maintains the momentum right through to the final twist in the tail.

It is a simply yet beautifully structured film. The motives for Mazzini’s revenge are laid out in the opening scenes, which are driven along by Price’s superbly delivered voiceover, with his tastefully executed killing spree occupying the bulk of the story, and his subsequent arrest for a murder he did not commit setting up the denouement.

A tale of vengeance and ambition that audiences have been able to relate to ever since, Kind Hearts and Coronets remains a classic to this day thanks to its wonderful performances, enduring wit and its economy, with not a word or gesture going to waste.

My Favorite Moment In The Movie

The scene where Louis lures an unsuspecting Ethelred D’Ascoyne, the incumbent Duke of Chalfont, into a mantrap and then nonchalantly lights up a cigarette before telling his stricken prey what he’s going to do to him and why. It’s the crowning moment of the aggrieved Louis’ killing spree and he’s determined to savor it. Hearing make him his case in such compelling terms, it’s impossible not to identify with him.

My Favorite Dialogue In the Movie

A swooning Sibella presents herself at Louis’ bachelor pad determined to become the Duchess of Chalfont only to find her intended husband one step ahead of her theatrically delivered plan.

Arguably it is a scene that is best enjoyed by listening to it, such is the quality of Price’s diction and delivery as he swings from feigned interest to mild anger and on to an almost patronizing disdain for his visitor. The blunt announcement of his future plans with Mrs D’Ascoyne is a dagger blow to the hopelessly outmaneuvered Sibella.

SIBELLA: Louis, I’m sorry to worry you when you must be so busy, but I have a piece of important news. Bad news. I thought you ought to know it at once. Lionel has found out about us. About me coming here.
LOUIS: Really?
SIBELLA: Yes.
LOUIS: Oh.
SIBELLA: I had the most dreadful scene with him last night.
LOUIS: Well, I suppose even Lionel isn’t stupid enough to be deceived forever.
SIBELLA: You won’t take it so calmly when you hear. He’s going to start divorce proceedings.
LOUIS: How very unsophisticated of him.
SIBELLA: There’s only one possible way out that I can see.
LOUIS: And that is?
SIBELLA: Lionel is still in love with me. My happiness is all he cares about. He might do the gentlemanly thing and let me divorce him.
LOUIS: If?
SIBELLA: If I were in a position to explain to him that otherwise he will be jeopardizing the social position not only of the future Duke but also the future Duchess of Chalfont.
LOUIS: I see. You’re a clever little thing, Sibella, but not quite clever enough.
SIBELLA: What do you mean?
LOUIS: I mean that not only do I know that you’re blackmailing me―an ugly word but the only appropriate one―but I also know that you’re bluffing me.
SIBELLA: Call my bluff and see.
LOUIS: I will. Let me explain. It must have seemed to you that you hold a very strong hand, but―a very important “but”―it so happens that I hold a card which you did not even know to be in the pack.
SIBELLA: Who’s bluffing now?
LOUIS: It so happens that I was with Lionel less than an hour ago. And it was transparently clear from his demeanor and conversation that he had not the faintest suspicion that you and I had any relationship other than that of―as he would probably put it―old pals who used to roast chestnuts together round the jolly old nursery fire. So, while thanking you for the honor that you’ve done me, I must decline your offer because I have other arrangements which make it impossible for me to accept it.
SIBELLA: Namely?
LOUIS: I’m shortly going to announce my engagement to Mrs D’Ascoyne.
SIBELLA: May I say that I think you’ve behaved despicably?
LOUIS: Has it ever occurred to you, Sibella, that we serve each other right, you and I?
SIBELLA: Would it be asking too much of your manners to escort me to the door?

Key Things You Should Look For When Watching This Movie

Louis’ motives for bumping off his aristocratic relatives, which are crucial to the audience siding with him.

The foreshadowing provided by the shots of the nape of Louis’ neck.

Louis’ effortlessly acidic one-liners and observations on life, love and his victims, which crucially lighten the tone and still have the power to make audiences laugh.

The beautiful lighting and unfussy direction, creating an environment in which Hamer and Dighton’s barbed script can flourish.

The cool, assured and artful manner in which Louis dispatches his victims, or “obstacles” as he takes to calling them. Compare his polished working methods to Lionel’s desperate, drunken lunge at him with a ceremonial dagger.

The cat-and-mouse game played by Louis and Edwardian femme fatale Sibella and the implications of his relationship with irreproachable Mrs D’Ascoyne, a sub-plot that bubbles away before rising to the surface when Louis’ wicked plan nears fruition.

Dennis Price’s performance as the impeccably mannered yet ruthlessly calculating Louis. In delivering a masterclass in the art of serial killing at its most decorous, he makes every gesture and every inflection count.

Alec Guinness’s masterful portrayal of the eight unfortunate D’Ascoynes, an early indication of the range that would earn him so many leading roles. Originally slated to play just four of the parts, Guinness liked the script so much he volunteered for the lot.

Thanks, James! To show our gratitude for your guest post, here’s a dash of creative juju for you. Whoosh!

We already have a set of classic 50s movies, 60s Movies, 70s movies, 80s Movies and 90s Movies. This month, we’re working on 40s movies. And thanks to the GITS community, we’ve got 30 movies in the works, one for each day of the month!

Those who I put in bold have already sent me their posts. If you haven’t sent yours to me, please do so as soon as you can! I’m closing out the series this week!

Act of Violence — Eric Rodriguez
Arsenic and Old Lace — Gisela Wehrl
Bicycle Thieves — Megaen Kelly
Brief Encounter — Emily Bonkoski
Casablanca — Paul Graunke
Double Indemnity — Susan Winchell
Five Graves to Cairo — Jeff Gibson
Foreign Correspondent — Doc Kane
Here Comes Mr. Jordan — Wayne Kline
His Girl Friday — John Henderson
It’s a Wonderful Life — David Laudenslager
Kind Hearts and Coronets — James Calder
Key Largo — Will King
Laura — Melinda Mahaffey Icden
Les enfants du paradis — Brendan Howley
Mrs. Miniver — Traci Nell Peterson
Notorious — Christine Henton
Now Voyager — Melissa Privette
Out of the Past — Brantley Aufill
Rope — Lance Morgan
Stray Dog — Megaen Kelly
The Bank Dick — Bob Saenz
The Best Years of Their Lives — Shaun Parker
The Big Sleep — Ipsita Barik
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir — Annie Wood
The Long Voyage Home — Vincent Martini
The Lost Weekend — Liz Warner
The Maltese Falcon — Roy Gordon
The Ox-Bow Incident — Clay Mitchell
The Philadelphia Story — Kristen Demaline
The Sin of Harold Diddlebock — David Joyner
The Third Man — Harry Cooke
To Have and Have Not — Felicity Flesher

Thanks to everyone who steps up for this ongoing project!

For the original post explaining the series, go here.

For all of the 40s movies featured in the series, go here.

Click REPLY and see you in comments about today’s classic 40s movie!