Wonderful character development!

A Disappointing Continuation

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

In the late 1940s and 50s, Alec Guinness starred in a series of excellent British comedies ("Kind Hearts and Coronets", "The Man in the White Suit", "The Lady Killers", "The Horse's Mouth" etc), most of which were produced by Ealing Studios. One of the best of these was "The Lavender Hill Mob" (1951), written by T. E. B. Clarke and directed by Charles Crichton.The plot? Guinness plays Dutch, a Bank of England employee who supervises the smelting and transport of gold bullion. Dutch is an apparently quiet, honest and unassuming man, a persona he has spent years cultivating. Dutch's long-term project to cultivate an "air of respectability" is designed to provide cover for the theft of one million pounds worth of gold. To say anymore about the plot would be to ruin the fun. Suffice to say that Dutch's plan involves Eiffel Tower paperweights, the assistance of an artist, two thieves and lots of guts.The 1950s saw the release of a number of classic heist movies ("The Asphalt Jungle", "Rififi", "Bob the Gambler" "Gun Crazy", "The Killing" etc). "The Lavender Hill Mob" is as good as, if not better, than most of these films. It's also unique in that it boasts a thick vein of humour, quintessential English attitudes and the droll "ordinariness" of East London continually subverted. The result is a film which operates both as a slick heist thriller, and a parody of the genre.Before its degeneration, Ealing Studios produced a number of fine, class-conscious films, some of which mounted a serio-comic reconstruction of "post-war Britishness". Adored by a populace caught in the slackening grip of poverty/austerity, these films often saw ordinary men striving for their dreams, working together or standing up against abuse. In "The Lavender Hill Mob" we witness a group of lonely outcasts who live buttoned-up lives but who long for emancipation. Dutch himself, a frail bachelor who is admonished by his bosses for "lacking imagination or ambition", relies on dog-eared copies of detective fiction and naive, private dreams to sustain an anonymous existence. When he (symbolically?) teams up with a local artist, though, Dutch's dreams are given wings. He moves from anonymity to the most famous master thief in all of Europe.Late in his film, Crichton hits us with a moment of ecstasy, Dutch and his compatriots running down the spiral staircases of the Eiffel tower. But though symbolically "at the top of the world", Crichton is careful to emphasise that our once-repressed heroes are quite literally hurling their bodies down the very building that was responsible for their riches; it is precisely at this moment of ecstasy that our heroes' plans begin to unfurl. From this point onwards, Dutch finds himself pulled inexorably back toward containment. A pre-stardom Audrey Hepburn has a brief role.8.5/10 – Classic.

THE LAVENDER HILL MOB by KudosIt is very easy to live in the present and dismiss the past, ignored it if its not in 3DHD5.2 WS but certain aspects of films ride over their time, clever scripts, top notch acting and less reliance on FX means some films don't look dated, just look their time.LAVENDER HILL MOB is one of them, character based drama with a solid heist plot, it is oceans 11 with out the need to ramp up the action or acting, if you cant rely on flashy effects and big stunts then you are forced to get the other elements pin sharp and it does, you get hints of why Sid James became as big as he did and one very clever car chase but it is the two main leads that carry the plot and draw the viewer into rooting for them ….........even though they are the "bad guys", 90 mins of faultless acting and story telling This is only my second toe I have dipped into this era, but this and "I'm alright Jack" means I would be happy to take plunge and give some time to understanding the roots of modern cinema THE LAVENDER HILL MOB by Nigel HareSunday, the day of rest. Church in the morning followed by a roast dinner with lots of vegetables and fruit pie and custard to follow. The afternoon spent on the sofa watching old movies, while mother did the ironing. After a light tea, left over roast in sandwiches perhaps, its the bath before bed ready for another week. That was pretty much my life back in the early 70s.Today there isn't church, dinner is now in the evening and it's me doing the ironing. But ...the movie is still an old one, although it is a better description to call it ancient now. Alec Guinness (Old Ben in the first Stars Wars movies) is superb in this witty crime caper. Yes it's black and white and it doesn't have violent thugs, it has gentle middle class thieves who team up with likable trusting professional criminals to steal a million in gold. There aren't any high speed chases or double crosses, it's Ealing Studios Britain. What this fifties movie has is laughs: 'Dutch' scrambling around after being tied and blind folding after the theft, running down the spiral staircase to beat the lift descending down the Eiffel tower and the policeman singing 'Old Macdonald' verse about pigs among many. You will be fully entertained for 90 minutes if you give this movie ago.

Another awesome comedy from Ealing studios era. Movie is very simple crime comedy but the involvement of Alec Guinness leads it to an other level. He is a genius actor, there is no second thought about it. It is about some normal lawful folks with ambitions of better living. They are fed up with normal life and finally take a big step to change their life-style. The crime portion is not much of importance but the humor within it, behavior of characters and all the little things in the screenplay which makes it a remarkable one. Movie is very short in length and follows straight routine. It never stick to a particular point. It has lots of ironic things involved in it. And I just can't imagine a better ending. Stanley Halloway also delivers a good performance but the movie belongs to Guinness only. The best thing about this film is that it never looses its cool. And loved the dialogues. There is also Audrey Hepburn cameo in it.

Henry Holland is a milquetoast clerk in charge of gold bullion deliveries who harbours a secret dream to make off with a shipment. When by chance he meets Alfred Pendlebury, who owns a souvenir business with a small foundry, it seems providence has cast them together and the heist is on.One of Ealing Studios' most successful films - writer T.E.B. Clarke won an Oscar - this is a lovely, gentle reminder of a more innocent post-war age, where villains trusted each other with the loot and nobody got hurt. Its success for me is largely down to Guinness' mild-mannered charm as he alternates between meek predictability with his superiors and gleeful exuberance as his masterplan comes to fruition. The whimsy of scenes like the delirious whirling flight down the steps of the Eiffel Tower, where the camera seems to generate the giddy elated panic of the characters, are infectious and exhilarating and the story keeps us empathising with Holland right up to the amusing pathos of the ending. Everybody else is great too, and as with all of Ealing's work the quality of the filmmaking is top-notch. Douglas Slocombe's fluid camera-work is wonderful throughout, such as the big track-in on Holloway in the police station when he mistakenly thinks the game's up, and the clever editing by Seth Holt (who went on to edit and direct several interesting movies for Hammer Films) pulls all the comic potential out of the situations. There's also a great little score by Georges Auric. A great comic caper movie, beautifully directed by Crichton, who also made The Titfield Thunderbolt, A Fish Called Wanda and the very funny golfing episode in Dead Of Night. An interesting comic companion piece to the straight police drama The Blue Lamp, also written by Clarke. Look fast at the start for a very young Audrey Hepburn.