The Ladykillers, 1955.
Directed by Alexander Mackendrick.
Starring Alec Guinness, Cecil Parker, Herbert Lom, Peter Sellers, Danny Green, Jack Warner, Frankie Howerd, and Katie Johnson.
SYNOPSIS:
The Ealing Studios classic The Ladykillers arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. This disc features the same 4K restoration done by Studio Canal in 2020 (it’s excellent, of course), one new bonus feature that will be sure to pique the curiosity of American sports fans, and a smattering of legacy extras.
One of the things I enjoy about writing these reviews is the opportunity to expand my film knowledge and learn about pockets of the industry that I’ve heard about but hadn’t been exposed to yet. Case in point: this review of the 1955 film The Ladykillers.
Starring Alec Guinness (yes, Obi Wan himself, or Prince Faisal, if you prefer) and a supporting cast that included Peter Sellers in his first major film role and elderly actress Katie Johnson in one of her last, this is a film that many describe as a comedy but is really more of a comedic thriller.
Guinness plays “Professor” Marcus, who rents a room from dear old widowed Mrs. Wilberforce (Johnson). I used quotes around “professor” because he is a con man, and Mrs. Wilberforce is so happy to have company in her large home that she trusts him right away.
Marcus claims to be an academic of the musical sort, and soon his gang joins him, all of them lugging instrument cases to the delight of Mrs. Wilberforce, who hopes they will put on a concert for her. Marcus sells the con by playing music loudly on a record player, but it has the unintended side effect of making his host even more insistent that the group play for her and her friends.
The gang is there to steal a case full of money due to arrive by train soon, and Marcus enlists Mrs. Wilberforce in being the unwitting carrier of the “lolly,” as they call it. They monitor her movements, but she throws a wrench in their plans when she takes a detour on the way home.
And even after they finally get their hands on the money, a mishap on the way out the door reveals the cash to Mrs. Wilberforce. Marcus decides that they must deal with her in some way, since she could tell the police who they are, but none of them have the stomach to off a sweet old lady.
Soon, a game ensues in which the members of the gang bicker with each other over what to do while each of them also secretly tries to figure out how they might be the only one to escape with the loot.
There are plenty of amusing moments in The Ladykillers, but they’re not of the madcap, “laugh your head off” variety. Instead, they’re mostly designed to elicit a chuckle, which is a very British way of making a comedy and one that’s fine with me.
The film was released by Ealing Studios, which was a heavy hitter in the British film scene during much of the previous century and still exists today. In addition to a fine 4K remaster used for this disc, along with the option to watch the movie in 1.66:1 or 1.37:1 aspect ratio, we get a nice chunk of bonus features, along with something new.
The new extra is a commentary track with film historians David Del Valle and Dan Marino. If you’re an NFL fan, you may do a double-take when reading the latter name: yes, he’s the son of the Hall of Fame Miami Dolphins quarterback, and apparently he decided to devote his life to something other than sports, which, honestly, was probably a good decision.
Unfortunately, the track is a bit haphazard. Del Valle and Marino sound like they had just sat down to watch and discuss the movie together, and they often lapse into the cardinal commentary sin of describing what’s happening onscreen without giving any insight into the action. It’s not an awful track, though, and it’s certainly worth the time of fans of the film.
The rest of the extras are of the legacy variety. Unfortunately, you don’t get everything included on previous discs, especially the 2020 one from Studio Canal, but what’s here is still worthy of the purchase. Here’s what you get:
• Commentary track with film historian Philip Kemp: This is a track that’s more in line with the kind of scholarly discussions that I really enjoy. Kemp sounds like he came prepared to talk about the movie. He might be reading a script that he wrote, but that’s okay with me.
• Forever Ealing (49:37): This is a great 2002 documentary narrated by Daniel Day-Lewis and featuring Martin Scorsese, John Landis, Terry Gilliam, and the stars of many of Ealing’s mid-century movies. As I said at the beginning, I like to expand my film knowledge whenever I can, so I love meaty documentaries like this one.
• Interviews with producer Allan Scott, screenwriter Ronald Harwood, and director Terence Davies (31:26 total): This is a batch of separate discussions about The Ladykillers, its director, Alexander Mackendrick, and Ealing Studios.
• Cleaning Up The Ladykillers (6:07): This is a before-and-after comparison of the restoration work done by Studio Canal in 2020. The film didn’t look that bad previously, but there was a fair amount of dirt and other muck that had to be digitally cleaned to restore its full Technicolor glory. Side note: The Ladykillers was the last three-strip Technicolor film made in the UK.
The theatrical trailer rounds out the platter.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Brad Cook
