1 00:00:12,280 --> 00:00:15,399 With so little time remaining to complete my story, 2 00:00:15,400 --> 00:00:17,839 it is difficult to choose where to begin it. 3 00:00:17,840 --> 00:00:19,679 Perhaps I should begin at the beginning. 4 00:00:19,680 --> 00:00:21,760 (BABY CRYING) I was a healthy baby... 5 00:00:22,600 --> 00:00:25,559 ...born of an English mother and Italian father... 6 00:00:25,560 --> 00:00:27,159 (CHOKES) 7 00:00:27,160 --> 00:00:30,919 who succumbed to a heart attack at the moment of first setting eyes on me. 8 00:00:30,920 --> 00:00:33,079 In the circumstances, it will be understood 9 00:00:33,080 --> 00:00:35,079 that I have but slight memory of him. 10 00:00:35,080 --> 00:00:37,559 The little I know comes from what Mama told me. 11 00:00:37,560 --> 00:00:39,600 (SOFT PIANO MUSIC) 12 00:00:42,480 --> 00:00:45,559 Kind Hearts And Coronets is one of a kind, 13 00:00:45,560 --> 00:00:50,119 a superb pitch-black comedy about gentile serial killing. 14 00:00:50,120 --> 00:00:53,199 It was made at the great Ealing Studios, 15 00:00:53,200 --> 00:00:55,039 but don't let that fool you. 16 00:00:55,040 --> 00:01:00,079 Robert Hammer's bespoke fable has a style entirely its own. 17 00:01:00,080 --> 00:01:01,640 There was the duke. 18 00:01:05,640 --> 00:01:08,480 There was my employer, Lord Ascoyne D'Ascoyne. 19 00:01:10,560 --> 00:01:13,040 There was Admiral Horatio D'Ascoyne. 20 00:01:16,160 --> 00:01:18,399 There was General Lord Rufus D'Ascoyne. 21 00:01:18,400 --> 00:01:20,440 (SNORING) 22 00:01:21,920 --> 00:01:23,919 There was Lady Agatha D'Ascoyne. 23 00:01:23,920 --> 00:01:25,759 Shh. 24 00:01:25,760 --> 00:01:28,279 Would you say that Kind Hearts And Coronets is one of, 25 00:01:28,280 --> 00:01:31,159 if not the greatest British comedy ever made? 26 00:01:31,160 --> 00:01:36,359 I think in terms of modernity, in terms of laughs, 27 00:01:36,360 --> 00:01:41,919 in terms of survivability, I would argue that it's if not the first, 28 00:01:41,920 --> 00:01:44,359 then it's the top two of British comedies. 29 00:01:44,360 --> 00:01:45,999 I think it stands up against 30 00:01:46,000 --> 00:01:48,599 almost anything else that's been made since. 31 00:01:48,600 --> 00:01:52,079 When researching for this programme, I looked at a lot of bloggers, 32 00:01:52,080 --> 00:01:54,519 young, teenage, Gen Z bloggers, 33 00:01:54,520 --> 00:01:57,239 who were coming to this film for the first time in the 2020s, 34 00:01:57,240 --> 00:01:59,319 saying where has this film come from? 35 00:01:59,320 --> 00:02:01,479 And not being able to believe it was made in the 1940s. 36 00:02:01,480 --> 00:02:05,599 This is such a sharp, funny, contemporary film. 37 00:02:05,600 --> 00:02:07,839 So I would say yes, essentially. 38 00:02:07,840 --> 00:02:09,880 (SINGING OPERA) 39 00:02:44,560 --> 00:02:46,919 This is the tale of Louis Mazzini, 40 00:02:46,920 --> 00:02:50,519 long lost heir to the great D'Ascoyne dukedom, 41 00:02:50,520 --> 00:02:55,599 played with exquisite poise by the criminally neglected Dennis Price. 42 00:02:55,600 --> 00:03:00,479 The measure of his performance defines the entire film. 43 00:03:00,480 --> 00:03:03,719 On one level, the plot is about revenge, 44 00:03:03,720 --> 00:03:07,479 Louis' intricate plan to claim his inheritance 45 00:03:07,480 --> 00:03:10,839 by removing the eight D'Ascoynes in his way, 46 00:03:10,840 --> 00:03:14,119 all of whom happened to be played by Alec Guinness. 47 00:03:14,120 --> 00:03:17,239 The Duke, the Reverend, the Banker, 48 00:03:17,240 --> 00:03:21,239 the Admiral, the General, the Suffragette, 49 00:03:21,240 --> 00:03:25,079 the amateur photographer, and the insufferable young snob 50 00:03:25,080 --> 00:03:28,319 who plunges to his death off Maidenhead Weir. 51 00:03:28,320 --> 00:03:31,879 But there is so much more to Kind Hearts And Coronets 52 00:03:31,880 --> 00:03:34,399 than the graceful art of assassination. 53 00:03:34,400 --> 00:03:37,439 This is a film about the rituals of society, 54 00:03:37,440 --> 00:03:41,559 and how we are all deep down playing a part. 55 00:03:41,560 --> 00:03:44,919 I think Kind Hearts And Coronets is one of the greatest British comedies. 56 00:03:44,920 --> 00:03:48,799 You know, people sometimes talk after 70 years of a film 57 00:03:48,800 --> 00:03:51,559 being considered so popular, being liked so much, 58 00:03:51,560 --> 00:03:53,999 that maybe, you know, it's over-rated. 59 00:03:54,000 --> 00:03:56,199 That's just not true of this movie. 60 00:03:56,200 --> 00:03:59,559 And I think anyone new that you show it to who hasn't seen it before, 61 00:03:59,560 --> 00:04:02,519 is still struck by the modernity and the humour of it. 62 00:04:02,520 --> 00:04:04,919 Kind Hearts And Coronets is not just 63 00:04:04,920 --> 00:04:07,279 one of the greatest British comedies ever made, 64 00:04:07,280 --> 00:04:09,920 it's one of the greatest comedies ever made. 65 00:04:10,760 --> 00:04:14,760 It has just about everything in it that you need for... 66 00:04:15,880 --> 00:04:18,439 ...laughs, for something to think about, 67 00:04:18,440 --> 00:04:20,559 for social comment, 68 00:04:20,560 --> 00:04:26,159 and the way it's actually structured and put together, is perfect. 69 00:04:26,160 --> 00:04:28,319 There isn't a false note in it. 70 00:04:28,320 --> 00:04:32,519 And I think that that in terms of any film, is extremely rare. 71 00:04:32,520 --> 00:04:36,399 There isn't a millimetre of celluloid wasted in it. 72 00:04:36,400 --> 00:04:41,559 The casting is absolutely perfect, could be cast in heaven, almost. 73 00:04:41,560 --> 00:04:44,199 The dialogue is exceptional, 74 00:04:44,200 --> 00:04:48,839 and the way it looks, I think, is... 75 00:04:48,840 --> 00:04:52,559 perfectly attuned to its themes. 76 00:04:52,560 --> 00:04:56,159 While set in a pristine Edwardian Britain, 77 00:04:56,160 --> 00:04:59,879 the film turns its cynical eye on the fading aristocracy 78 00:04:59,880 --> 00:05:02,519 of 1949 when it was released. 79 00:05:02,520 --> 00:05:08,039 Unusually, it is the middle class sizing up their so-called betters. 80 00:05:08,040 --> 00:05:12,799 So what is it that audiences love in amorality? 81 00:05:12,800 --> 00:05:15,519 What is it that draws us in to, as you say, 82 00:05:15,520 --> 00:05:18,319 essentially a very bleak story, 83 00:05:18,320 --> 00:05:21,119 but an enormously loveable one? 84 00:05:21,120 --> 00:05:24,319 I think firstly, it's because it's incredibly funny. 85 00:05:24,320 --> 00:05:26,919 If someone makes you laugh, you'll forgive a lot of things. 86 00:05:26,920 --> 00:05:29,839 Admittedly, it's a bit of a stretch to say if someone makes you laugh, 87 00:05:29,840 --> 00:05:31,559 you'll allow them to get away with murder. 88 00:05:31,560 --> 00:05:34,199 So it's very, very funny, but it has to be more than that. 89 00:05:34,200 --> 00:05:37,159 There is the initial, there is the basic casting balance, 90 00:05:37,160 --> 00:05:40,279 and the cruelty of the D'Ascoynes, which set up... 91 00:05:40,280 --> 00:05:42,399 we don't ever have any sympathy for the D'Ascoynes. 92 00:05:42,400 --> 00:05:44,519 They've not done anything decent. 93 00:05:44,520 --> 00:05:47,119 So OK, we'll cut him some slack on that. 94 00:05:47,120 --> 00:05:50,599 He's also incredibly clever with his murders. He does... 95 00:05:50,600 --> 00:05:52,399 He takes his time. He does it properly. 96 00:05:52,400 --> 00:05:54,399 He doesn't just turn up and biff them over the head 97 00:05:54,400 --> 00:05:57,559 with a bit of wood, you know, it's... these are classic 98 00:05:57,560 --> 00:06:00,039 British country house murders. 99 00:06:00,040 --> 00:06:03,159 And you know, we admire the art and the skill. 100 00:06:03,160 --> 00:06:05,799 He's putting all the work into the job that he's doing. 101 00:06:05,800 --> 00:06:09,519 So he's funny, he's skilful, he's good looking, he's charming. 102 00:06:09,520 --> 00:06:11,839 He is on our side, 103 00:06:11,840 --> 00:06:15,359 and we don't in any way sympathise with his enemy. 104 00:06:15,360 --> 00:06:18,639 And so I think we fall for him very quickly. 105 00:06:18,640 --> 00:06:21,279 I think it's easy for a few of those to slip 106 00:06:21,280 --> 00:06:23,399 and this to become quite a difficult film, 107 00:06:23,400 --> 00:06:25,479 there have been films about people working their way 108 00:06:25,480 --> 00:06:28,399 through the deaths of a family, where you don't have any sympathy 109 00:06:28,400 --> 00:06:31,759 for the leading character and the films are left very empty as a result. 110 00:06:31,760 --> 00:06:34,039 So it has to have all those ingredients. 111 00:06:34,040 --> 00:06:37,279 Everything has to be right. And we do love an amoral villain, 112 00:06:37,280 --> 00:06:40,599 but not... not without qualification. 113 00:06:40,600 --> 00:06:42,599 There is also a love triangle afoot. 114 00:06:42,600 --> 00:06:47,199 Between murders, Louis is caught with contrasting female foils. 115 00:06:47,200 --> 00:06:51,279 On one side are the foibles of Joan Greenwood's Sibella, 116 00:06:51,280 --> 00:06:53,239 whose heartless social climbing 117 00:06:53,240 --> 00:06:56,079 is only outdone by the volume of her hats. 118 00:06:56,080 --> 00:06:59,679 On the other side, is Valerie Hobson's noble Edith, 119 00:06:59,680 --> 00:07:02,599 stalwart widow of Henry D'Ascoyne, 120 00:07:02,600 --> 00:07:06,479 who bears a striking resemblance to Louis' dead mother. 121 00:07:06,480 --> 00:07:10,159 Mrs D'Ascoyne was beautiful, but what a prig she was. 122 00:07:10,160 --> 00:07:12,840 I wondered how to ingratiate myself with her... 123 00:07:13,920 --> 00:07:17,199 ...and decided to attack on her own ground and with her own weapons. 124 00:07:17,200 --> 00:07:20,999 On top of all this wonderful satire and all the sort of murders and everything, 125 00:07:21,000 --> 00:07:22,919 there is also a love triangle going on. 126 00:07:22,920 --> 00:07:26,199 I mean, it is a bit... This is a film of many layers. 127 00:07:26,200 --> 00:07:29,839 The fascinating thing about this, again, it's all about contrasts. 128 00:07:29,840 --> 00:07:34,679 Sibella is a sort of wild sort of romantic, 129 00:07:34,680 --> 00:07:39,319 slightly mercenary, and very, very sexy creature. 130 00:07:39,320 --> 00:07:43,679 Rejects the proposal of marriage by Louis, 131 00:07:43,680 --> 00:07:47,519 because he's not rich enough and then marries one of his friends, 132 00:07:47,520 --> 00:07:49,519 who has got a very rich father. 133 00:07:49,520 --> 00:07:55,279 Edith, at the time that he's actually killing her husband, 134 00:07:55,280 --> 00:07:59,799 he was struck by her dignity and poise. 135 00:07:59,800 --> 00:08:03,199 She is a bit of a prig, she's anti-alcohol, 136 00:08:03,200 --> 00:08:05,599 she is very, very reserved, 137 00:08:05,600 --> 00:08:11,439 but she is extraordinarily sort of beautiful and dignified. 138 00:08:11,440 --> 00:08:16,999 And I think that to go from one kind of woman to the other, 139 00:08:17,000 --> 00:08:21,719 is a fascinating sort of see-saw process because, in a way, 140 00:08:21,720 --> 00:08:27,440 that is also part of Mazzini's revenge. 141 00:08:28,440 --> 00:08:31,240 Now let me have a look at the beautiful Mrs Holland. 142 00:08:32,040 --> 00:08:34,440 No, I think I prefer Miss Howard. So do I. 143 00:08:36,080 --> 00:08:39,159 Louis, it's very wrong of me to visit you here. 144 00:08:39,160 --> 00:08:42,640 - Why? - A married woman calling on a bachelor? 145 00:08:43,680 --> 00:08:46,119 A dangerous bachelor. 146 00:08:46,120 --> 00:08:49,560 In his apartments. I, dangerous? 147 00:08:52,040 --> 00:08:54,759 These things only become wrong if people know about them. 148 00:08:54,760 --> 00:08:57,639 This is a very discreet apartment. That's why I chose it. 149 00:08:57,640 --> 00:09:00,400 So that young women could call on you with safety. 150 00:09:02,280 --> 00:09:04,239 So that one young woman could. 151 00:09:04,240 --> 00:09:06,919 The innuendo, particularly, is interesting. 152 00:09:06,920 --> 00:09:09,839 And this film is in 1949 and it's kind of amazing to me 153 00:09:09,840 --> 00:09:12,359 how much it gets away with on the strength of 154 00:09:12,360 --> 00:09:14,479 it doesn't really show you that much, 155 00:09:14,480 --> 00:09:17,159 but verbally, if you're reading between the lines 156 00:09:17,160 --> 00:09:19,239 and you're inferring what's being said, 157 00:09:19,240 --> 00:09:21,679 particularly with the Joan Greenwood character, Sibella, 158 00:09:21,680 --> 00:09:24,599 and there the kind of implications of adultery 159 00:09:24,600 --> 00:09:28,160 between she and the Dennis Price character... 160 00:09:29,080 --> 00:09:32,919 ...it's kind of amazing it got away with that kind of implication. 161 00:09:32,920 --> 00:09:35,679 And the film is very much about sexual repression, 162 00:09:35,680 --> 00:09:38,839 and this kind of undertone 163 00:09:38,840 --> 00:09:43,599 of British life where of all the aspirational things about class, 164 00:09:43,600 --> 00:09:48,239 one of them was perhaps the acquisition of wealth 165 00:09:48,240 --> 00:09:50,719 in order to achieve not just a prosperous marriage, 166 00:09:50,720 --> 00:09:54,039 but the woman you wanted, or the sexual aims that you had. 167 00:09:54,040 --> 00:09:57,199 And so there is a kind of seedy undertone to the film, 168 00:09:57,200 --> 00:10:01,399 which does feel quite, you know, quietly sexual. 169 00:10:01,400 --> 00:10:05,639 The film was released in 1949 and people have returned from the Second World War, 170 00:10:05,640 --> 00:10:08,439 and you have had this generation of British men 171 00:10:08,440 --> 00:10:11,199 who fought alongside the aristocracy, 172 00:10:11,200 --> 00:10:13,559 the elite, and found them wanting. You know, in a way, 173 00:10:13,560 --> 00:10:16,839 that election, the post-war election, was about the class 174 00:10:16,840 --> 00:10:19,559 that took us into the war, and who led us badly. 175 00:10:19,560 --> 00:10:21,599 My grandfather's friend once said when he joined up 176 00:10:21,600 --> 00:10:23,999 at the beginning of the Second World War in 1939, 177 00:10:24,000 --> 00:10:26,159 one of the questions was which school did you go to? 178 00:10:26,160 --> 00:10:29,759 And that was basically how you became an officer, was based on your education. 179 00:10:29,760 --> 00:10:33,399 So he, Dennis Price, in many ways, represents us. 180 00:10:33,400 --> 00:10:36,399 He represents a group of people who cannot believe 181 00:10:36,400 --> 00:10:39,279 that these idiots are in charge and would happily tear them down. 182 00:10:39,280 --> 00:10:42,559 You know, we don't have any lingering respect 183 00:10:42,560 --> 00:10:44,599 or noblesse oblige for these people, 184 00:10:44,600 --> 00:10:47,079 you know, no-one has any sympathy for the rights 185 00:10:47,080 --> 00:10:49,599 of the aristocracy when they're watching this film in 1949. 186 00:10:49,600 --> 00:10:53,439 That idea, if it existed in Britain, has long gone. 187 00:10:53,440 --> 00:10:57,639 Above all, it is a film about a radically unconventional tone, 188 00:10:57,640 --> 00:11:01,039 one which is best described as demonically subtle, 189 00:11:01,040 --> 00:11:03,319 and very, very British. 190 00:11:03,320 --> 00:11:05,600 (DRAMATIC MUSIC) 191 00:11:09,840 --> 00:11:11,679 I'm sorry about the girl, 192 00:11:11,680 --> 00:11:14,759 but found some relief in the reflection that she had presumably, 193 00:11:14,760 --> 00:11:18,320 during the weekend, already undergone a fate worse than death. 194 00:11:34,000 --> 00:11:36,239 Perhaps I should begin at the beginning. 195 00:11:36,240 --> 00:11:38,320 (BABY CRYING) I was a healthy baby... 196 00:11:39,160 --> 00:11:42,159 ...born of an English mother and Italian father... 197 00:11:42,160 --> 00:11:43,799 (CHOKES) 198 00:11:43,800 --> 00:11:47,400 ...who succumbed to a heart attack at the moment of first setting eyes on me. 199 00:11:53,400 --> 00:11:58,239 The story originates in a strange book by the forgotten author, Roy Horniman. 200 00:11:58,240 --> 00:12:03,319 Published in 1907, Israel Rank: The Autobiography Of A Criminal, 201 00:12:03,320 --> 00:12:08,919 is a satire on the upper classes, in which murder is a comic device. 202 00:12:08,920 --> 00:12:12,079 Post war sensitivities to anti-Semitism 203 00:12:12,080 --> 00:12:15,119 persuaded Ealing Studios to change 204 00:12:15,120 --> 00:12:17,639 the central character from half Jewish, 205 00:12:17,640 --> 00:12:19,760 to a man of Italian ancestry. 206 00:12:20,720 --> 00:12:23,799 So this novel, Israel Rank: The Autobiography Of A Criminal, 207 00:12:23,800 --> 00:12:25,639 came out in 1907, 208 00:12:25,640 --> 00:12:29,999 and it was not a super popular or a famous novel, 209 00:12:30,000 --> 00:12:32,759 but it was reprinted around 1946. 210 00:12:32,760 --> 00:12:36,959 And the story is sort of a lively, witty, sardonic 211 00:12:36,960 --> 00:12:41,039 kind of almost epigrammatic tale of a serial murderer 212 00:12:41,040 --> 00:12:45,799 who sees a devious way to the aristocracy 213 00:12:45,800 --> 00:12:48,919 by killing off a bunch of distant family members, 214 00:12:48,920 --> 00:12:51,079 part of the same aristocratic family. 215 00:12:51,080 --> 00:12:54,519 And the film is very much loyal 216 00:12:54,520 --> 00:12:57,479 to the basic story of the novel, 217 00:12:57,480 --> 00:13:02,479 and takes on a similarly kind of sardonic, cocked eyebrow overtone. 218 00:13:02,480 --> 00:13:07,079 If you read it, you will find that the actual structure and story 219 00:13:07,080 --> 00:13:10,919 is almost identical to Kind Hearts And Coronets, 220 00:13:10,920 --> 00:13:12,919 except that the film has been... 221 00:13:12,920 --> 00:13:15,119 the script of the film has been refined 222 00:13:15,120 --> 00:13:18,079 in a way that the novel isn't. 223 00:13:18,080 --> 00:13:19,599 Fascinatingly, 224 00:13:19,600 --> 00:13:23,919 Horniman was an enormous fan of Oscar Wilde, 225 00:13:23,920 --> 00:13:27,719 and so all those kind of asterisms and epigrams 226 00:13:27,720 --> 00:13:30,679 within the actual book, 227 00:13:30,680 --> 00:13:35,839 sort of make perfect sense in terms of when you're writing a screenplay. 228 00:13:35,840 --> 00:13:38,319 So let's talk a little bit about the background. 229 00:13:38,320 --> 00:13:40,399 It is, in fact, based on a novel, isn't it? 230 00:13:40,400 --> 00:13:43,239 But a novel that disappeared without a trace for a while. 231 00:13:43,240 --> 00:13:45,199 Yes. It's based on a novel called 232 00:13:45,200 --> 00:13:48,119 Israel Rank: The Autobiography Of A Criminal. 233 00:13:48,120 --> 00:13:51,839 And Israel Rank is a character some people have argued 234 00:13:51,840 --> 00:13:54,799 is loosely based on the politician Disraeli. 235 00:13:54,800 --> 00:13:56,479 It was an Edwardian novel. 236 00:13:56,480 --> 00:14:00,399 It's very funny, it's very much in the style of Oscar Wilde. 237 00:14:00,400 --> 00:14:03,639 It in itself is ripping off an Oscar Wilde novel called 238 00:14:03,640 --> 00:14:05,799 The Crimes of Lord Arthur Saville, 239 00:14:05,800 --> 00:14:08,599 and which in itself is ripping off Crime and Punishment. 240 00:14:08,600 --> 00:14:11,239 This is one of the beautiful things about Kind Hearts And Coronets, 241 00:14:11,240 --> 00:14:14,919 is every time you think you've reached what's under the surface, 242 00:14:14,920 --> 00:14:17,039 you find there's yet another layer. 243 00:14:17,040 --> 00:14:20,119 So we keep going down and down and down with our references 244 00:14:20,120 --> 00:14:21,960 just with this one novel. 245 00:14:23,000 --> 00:14:25,719 How different Kind Hearts And Coronets is 246 00:14:25,720 --> 00:14:28,439 from the house style of Ealing Studios. 247 00:14:28,440 --> 00:14:31,679 There is none of the cheerful socialism 248 00:14:31,680 --> 00:14:34,559 of Passport To Pimlico, or Whiskey Galore!, 249 00:14:34,560 --> 00:14:37,999 released in the same glorious year of 1949. 250 00:14:38,000 --> 00:14:41,719 The prim Edwardian setting is light years 251 00:14:41,720 --> 00:14:44,680 from the studio's typical post-war realism. 252 00:14:46,240 --> 00:14:49,919 Head of the studio, Michael Balcon, had serious misgivings 253 00:14:49,920 --> 00:14:53,759 about a comedy of mass murder, but let himself be swayed 254 00:14:53,760 --> 00:14:55,959 by his panel of in-house writers. 255 00:14:55,960 --> 00:14:58,000 (OWL HOOTING) 256 00:15:00,320 --> 00:15:02,679 It took a mere three minutes to substitute petrol 257 00:15:02,680 --> 00:15:05,159 for the paraffin in the dark room lamp. 258 00:15:05,160 --> 00:15:08,359 And I then repaired to a meadow and took a few hours' sleep 259 00:15:08,360 --> 00:15:12,400 while awaiting the hour at which I could reasonably arrive at the house. 260 00:15:13,360 --> 00:15:16,119 The day dragged by in an agony of suspense for me. 261 00:15:16,120 --> 00:15:18,520 Henry took photograph after photograph... 262 00:15:19,440 --> 00:15:23,240 ...but seemed to have no urge whatever to follow it up with a visit to the dark room. 263 00:15:26,240 --> 00:15:28,039 Bravo Edith! 264 00:15:28,040 --> 00:15:31,000 I began to fear that he had suddenly taken the pledge. 265 00:15:32,840 --> 00:15:36,359 Guided by Dennis Price's composed voice-over, 266 00:15:36,360 --> 00:15:38,639 we follow Louis' determination 267 00:15:38,640 --> 00:15:41,719 to avenge his mother's ignominious death. 268 00:15:41,720 --> 00:15:44,199 Having been cast out of the D'Ascoyne family 269 00:15:44,200 --> 00:15:46,359 for marrying an Italian opera singer, 270 00:15:46,360 --> 00:15:49,879 she was eventually struck down by a Croydon tram. 271 00:15:49,880 --> 00:15:53,319 Louis sets about climbing the social ladder 272 00:15:53,320 --> 00:15:56,880 by bumping off the conceited D'Ascoynes on the rungs above. 273 00:15:57,720 --> 00:16:01,679 These twits are so arrogantly certain of their station, 274 00:16:01,680 --> 00:16:03,639 they never see it coming. 275 00:16:03,640 --> 00:16:07,319 The title Kind Hearts And Coronets comes from a line in a poem 276 00:16:07,320 --> 00:16:11,159 by Lord Alfred Tennyson, called Lady Clara Vere De Vere, 277 00:16:11,160 --> 00:16:15,879 and it is about a duchess who is so cruel to a potential... 278 00:16:15,880 --> 00:16:19,399 lower-class lover that he ends up taking his own life. 279 00:16:19,400 --> 00:16:23,239 And so it is very much almost a moralistic poem 280 00:16:23,240 --> 00:16:27,679 about the vagaries of class, inter-class love, 281 00:16:27,680 --> 00:16:31,959 and the kind of cruelty that we wreak upon each other 282 00:16:31,960 --> 00:16:35,719 in the name of maintaining sort of order within the classes. 283 00:16:35,720 --> 00:16:38,479 But I have often felt that the attitude of my husband's family 284 00:16:38,480 --> 00:16:40,559 has failed to move with the times. 285 00:16:40,560 --> 00:16:42,879 That they think too much of the rights of nobility 286 00:16:42,880 --> 00:16:45,119 and too little of its duties. 287 00:16:45,120 --> 00:16:47,359 The very honesty of your behaviour would appear to me 288 00:16:47,360 --> 00:16:49,479 to prove them wrong. 289 00:16:49,480 --> 00:16:52,559 Was Lord Tennyson far from the mark when he wrote 290 00:16:52,560 --> 00:16:57,120 "kind hearts are more than coronets and simple faith the Norman blood"? 291 00:16:58,160 --> 00:16:59,680 I hope you will stay to lunch. 292 00:17:01,240 --> 00:17:04,439 In that case, I should be delighted and honoured. 293 00:17:04,440 --> 00:17:07,439 I am personation of a man of sterling character 294 00:17:07,440 --> 00:17:11,239 with such a resounding success that Mrs D'Ascoyne invited me to spend 295 00:17:11,240 --> 00:17:13,359 the following Saturday to Monday with them. 296 00:17:13,360 --> 00:17:16,279 So in many respects, this was a highly unlikely film 297 00:17:16,280 --> 00:17:18,439 for Ealing Studios to be making. 298 00:17:18,440 --> 00:17:21,719 Yes. Ealing Studios, at this point at the end of the Second World War, 299 00:17:21,720 --> 00:17:23,759 were making a very particular kind of comedy 300 00:17:23,760 --> 00:17:26,919 and that comedy was a community usually... 301 00:17:26,920 --> 00:17:30,679 isolated in some cases for various reasons, or socially distinct, 302 00:17:30,680 --> 00:17:35,359 gathered together to overcome outdated or outmoded bureaucracy. 303 00:17:35,360 --> 00:17:39,199 It's the idea of the bacchanal where good sense prevails, 304 00:17:39,200 --> 00:17:43,079 that people pulling together bring around the right, decent thing 305 00:17:43,080 --> 00:17:46,599 with some larks along the way and thumb their noses at authority. 306 00:17:46,600 --> 00:17:48,879 In this case, there is an authority figure 307 00:17:48,880 --> 00:17:51,519 and there is an individual who is excluded from that, 308 00:17:51,520 --> 00:17:55,239 but there's no community in this, there is no community at all. 309 00:17:55,240 --> 00:17:58,000 It is an entirely transgressive film. 310 00:17:59,320 --> 00:18:02,279 No-one in this film has any moral compass 311 00:18:02,280 --> 00:18:04,839 that you would want to set your own by. 312 00:18:04,840 --> 00:18:08,359 It absolutely does not have any of the kind of... 313 00:18:08,360 --> 00:18:12,319 well, the decent British spirit will win through in the end. 314 00:18:12,320 --> 00:18:14,879 If it wasn't for the fact that it's so funny 315 00:18:14,880 --> 00:18:17,479 and so charmingly put together, 316 00:18:17,480 --> 00:18:20,160 it's actually an incredibly bleak story. 317 00:18:21,200 --> 00:18:24,159 The choice of Robert Hammer to direct was crucial. 318 00:18:24,160 --> 00:18:28,239 The Cambridge-educated former economist had worked his way up 319 00:18:28,240 --> 00:18:30,959 to the rank of director via the editing room. 320 00:18:30,960 --> 00:18:35,039 In 1948, he was riding high at Ealing 321 00:18:35,040 --> 00:18:37,919 but liked to play the discontented artist, 322 00:18:37,920 --> 00:18:41,559 drawn to the drink which would curtain a great talent. 323 00:18:41,560 --> 00:18:45,919 There is an element of self portrait in cynical Louis. 324 00:18:45,920 --> 00:18:50,599 Hammer took a meticulously matter of fact approach to script, 325 00:18:50,600 --> 00:18:52,719 editing, and performance. 326 00:18:52,720 --> 00:18:55,239 Indeed, his approach to the film 327 00:18:55,240 --> 00:18:58,680 was as ingenious as Louis' approach to murder. 328 00:18:59,960 --> 00:19:03,479 These people whom I had studied until I knew their names 329 00:19:03,480 --> 00:19:05,799 and histories as well as I knew my own, 330 00:19:05,800 --> 00:19:08,839 the more they became monsters of arrogance and cruelty, 331 00:19:08,840 --> 00:19:12,800 whose only function in the world was to deprive me of my birthright. 332 00:19:15,400 --> 00:19:18,200 I had seen Chalfont only as Mama had painted it. 333 00:19:22,800 --> 00:19:25,999 To pass in through that magnificent gateway 334 00:19:26,000 --> 00:19:28,759 on visitors' day at a cost of sixpence 335 00:19:28,760 --> 00:19:32,839 was a humiliating experience, but I forced myself to undergo it. 336 00:19:32,840 --> 00:19:36,600 I wanted a closer view of the target at which I had determined to aim. 337 00:19:38,200 --> 00:19:42,119 One of the reasons that it appealed to Robert Hammer, the director, 338 00:19:42,120 --> 00:19:44,559 was precisely because of the language. 339 00:19:44,560 --> 00:19:48,239 He loved the English language, he loved the idea of this sort of 340 00:19:48,240 --> 00:19:51,039 slightly decadent articulacy. 341 00:19:51,040 --> 00:19:54,479 And he could see, certainly in the actual story, 342 00:19:54,480 --> 00:19:57,879 the possibility of a really fine film. 343 00:19:57,880 --> 00:20:02,879 It did take quite a lot of persuasion of Michael Balcon, 344 00:20:02,880 --> 00:20:04,999 who was the head of Ealing Studios, 345 00:20:05,000 --> 00:20:07,919 to actually agree to the film being made 346 00:20:07,920 --> 00:20:11,239 because it is, after all, a black comedy 347 00:20:11,240 --> 00:20:16,719 about a man who murders six or, in fact, seven people. 348 00:20:16,720 --> 00:20:20,239 And that was just a little bit too much for him. 349 00:20:20,240 --> 00:20:22,519 So a young playwright and budding screenwriter, 350 00:20:22,520 --> 00:20:25,399 who knew Michael Balcon, called Michael Pertwee, 351 00:20:25,400 --> 00:20:28,879 actually found this book on a bookshelf in a shop, 352 00:20:28,880 --> 00:20:30,839 that had recently been reprinted, 353 00:20:30,840 --> 00:20:33,439 and he liked it and he showed it to Michael Balcon, 354 00:20:33,440 --> 00:20:36,039 who was the head honcho at Ealing Studios, 355 00:20:36,040 --> 00:20:39,239 and who, you know, the entire creative process of anything 356 00:20:39,240 --> 00:20:42,479 that was coming out at that time, in that heyday, was down to him. 357 00:20:42,480 --> 00:20:46,999 He decided to let Pertwee sort of workshop a screenplay 358 00:20:47,000 --> 00:20:50,519 and adaptation with director Robert Hammer. 359 00:20:50,520 --> 00:20:54,239 Unfortunately, Robert Hammer and Pertwee did not get along at all. 360 00:20:54,240 --> 00:20:57,119 Pertwee later said that Hammer started to twitch the moment 361 00:20:57,120 --> 00:21:00,319 they were in the room together, they just had a clash of personalities. 362 00:21:00,320 --> 00:21:03,119 And eventually Pertwee would leave the project, 363 00:21:03,120 --> 00:21:06,799 which is unfortunate given that he had discovered the source material, 364 00:21:06,800 --> 00:21:09,479 and didn't end up getting any credit on the screenplay. 365 00:21:09,480 --> 00:21:12,479 But this did mean that it brought in room for John Dighton, 366 00:21:12,480 --> 00:21:14,919 and between him and Robert Hammer, 367 00:21:14,920 --> 00:21:18,079 they then hashed out this remarkable screenplay, 368 00:21:18,080 --> 00:21:21,519 and this remarkable adaptation, which has quite a few changes from the novel, 369 00:21:21,520 --> 00:21:24,079 that became Kind Hearts And Coronets. 370 00:21:24,080 --> 00:21:26,879 Inspired by Charlie Chaplin's Monsieur Verdoux, 371 00:21:26,880 --> 00:21:28,719 the point is not to shock, 372 00:21:28,720 --> 00:21:31,839 but to escape the moral conventions of story-telling. 373 00:21:31,840 --> 00:21:34,959 Hammer's weapon of choice is language. 374 00:21:34,960 --> 00:21:39,439 The film bubbles with innuendo, both murderous and sexual. 375 00:21:39,440 --> 00:21:41,439 It is all irony, 376 00:21:41,440 --> 00:21:44,959 framed from the prison where the anti-hero awaits execution 377 00:21:44,960 --> 00:21:48,080 for the one murder he did not commit. 378 00:21:48,960 --> 00:21:52,399 A brief history of the events leading thereto, 379 00:21:52,400 --> 00:21:54,999 written on the eve of his execution, 380 00:21:55,000 --> 00:21:58,720 by Louis D'Ascoyne Mazzini, Tenth Due of Chalfont... 381 00:21:59,680 --> 00:22:02,159 ...who ventures to hope that it may prove not uninteresting 382 00:22:02,160 --> 00:22:05,000 to those who remain to read it. 383 00:22:13,000 --> 00:22:14,999 I decided to proceed methodically 384 00:22:15,000 --> 00:22:17,719 with the elimination of the remaining minor obstacles. 385 00:22:17,720 --> 00:22:20,479 Lady Agatha D'Ascoyne was a pioneer 386 00:22:20,480 --> 00:22:22,760 in the campaign for women's suffrage... 387 00:22:28,600 --> 00:22:31,279 ...with the inconvenient consequence that her public appearances 388 00:22:31,280 --> 00:22:34,839 were invariably made under the watchful eyes of the Metropolitan Police. 389 00:22:34,840 --> 00:22:37,239 When she was not making public appearances, 390 00:22:37,240 --> 00:22:40,199 she was in prison and still more inaccessible. 391 00:22:40,200 --> 00:22:43,559 In fact, before I could learn of a favourable opportunity, 392 00:22:43,560 --> 00:22:46,400 I had to join the movement myself. 393 00:22:52,400 --> 00:22:54,919 The precise ironic tone would be impossible 394 00:22:54,920 --> 00:22:58,399 without a pitch-perfect performance from Dennis Price. 395 00:22:58,400 --> 00:23:02,199 As with Hammer, there was an element of self portrait. 396 00:23:02,200 --> 00:23:06,439 Price was the son of a Brigadier General, and mentored by Noel Coward, 397 00:23:06,440 --> 00:23:10,959 whose loquacious disdain is a clear inspiration for Louis. 398 00:23:10,960 --> 00:23:13,839 Price is the source of the film's composure, 399 00:23:13,840 --> 00:23:17,519 the idea that it must keep a straight face throughout, 400 00:23:17,520 --> 00:23:20,919 a comedy that never admits to a single joke, 401 00:23:20,920 --> 00:23:24,759 giving a whole new meaning to the term dead pan. 402 00:23:24,760 --> 00:23:26,679 So let's talk a bit about Dennis Price. 403 00:23:26,680 --> 00:23:29,159 I mean, he is just extraordinary in the film, 404 00:23:29,160 --> 00:23:31,479 and it's not just a performance. 405 00:23:31,480 --> 00:23:35,039 In a sense, he is the entire tone of voice of the comedy, 406 00:23:35,040 --> 00:23:38,359 it's a voice-over as well as acting in the scenes. 407 00:23:38,360 --> 00:23:40,199 But as you are saying, 408 00:23:40,200 --> 00:23:44,239 it's a sensibility he kind of extends to the piece. 409 00:23:44,240 --> 00:23:47,279 Yes, Dennis Price has... 410 00:23:47,280 --> 00:23:51,199 I mean, for a start, his performance has this very complex 411 00:23:51,200 --> 00:23:54,199 set of shades and tones as he goes through the film. 412 00:23:54,200 --> 00:23:56,119 But his voice-over is consistent. 413 00:23:56,120 --> 00:23:58,199 His voice-over is the voice-over of the man 414 00:23:58,200 --> 00:24:00,999 who is writing his memoirs the night before he dies. 415 00:24:01,000 --> 00:24:05,760 And he is very, very witty, very, very dry, very... 416 00:24:06,760 --> 00:24:10,919 ...skilful in his language and his tone, very condescending, 417 00:24:10,920 --> 00:24:13,439 absolutely hilarious with his wry asides. 418 00:24:13,440 --> 00:24:16,239 There is one point where the very first murder he commits is, 419 00:24:16,240 --> 00:24:18,599 he sends one of the D'Ascoynes over a weir, 420 00:24:18,600 --> 00:24:20,959 with a girl he's having an affair with, 421 00:24:20,960 --> 00:24:25,279 and he says afterwards, "I had to give myself a moment's thought about the girl, but then I reasoned, well, 422 00:24:25,280 --> 00:24:28,519 at the weekend she had already suffered a fate worse than death." 423 00:24:28,520 --> 00:24:32,439 There is no question about it that Dennis Price, this is his... 424 00:24:32,440 --> 00:24:34,999 the performance of his career. 425 00:24:35,000 --> 00:24:38,839 I am always amazed that for someone who was, 426 00:24:38,840 --> 00:24:41,959 you know, on the up and up, he was a good character actor, 427 00:24:41,960 --> 00:24:43,799 he was always playing cads and things. 428 00:24:43,800 --> 00:24:47,479 In fact, the same year he played Byron in Bad Lord Byron, 429 00:24:47,480 --> 00:24:49,399 which was an utter flop. 430 00:24:49,400 --> 00:24:52,879 This, of course, is the sort of major stepping stone for him, 431 00:24:52,880 --> 00:24:56,159 and he should, as a result of his performance 432 00:24:56,160 --> 00:24:57,639 in Kind Hearts And Coronets, 433 00:24:57,640 --> 00:25:02,080 have become a major leading man in British cinema. 434 00:25:02,880 --> 00:25:06,719 It didn't do that for him, and I have always wondered why. 435 00:25:06,720 --> 00:25:11,159 However, what he does in this film is absolutely incredible 436 00:25:11,160 --> 00:25:13,639 because not only is he... 437 00:25:13,640 --> 00:25:17,399 destined to sort of try and... 438 00:25:17,400 --> 00:25:23,199 work out a series of murders that will go undetected, 439 00:25:23,200 --> 00:25:26,159 he must do that in a way that is, of course, funny 440 00:25:26,160 --> 00:25:29,159 at the same time he is giving this voice-over. 441 00:25:29,160 --> 00:25:34,399 He is actually delivering his memoirs to us, the audience. 442 00:25:34,400 --> 00:25:36,799 So he is the link to everything. 443 00:25:36,800 --> 00:25:39,239 He is sort of the story-teller, 444 00:25:39,240 --> 00:25:41,879 he is the confessional, 445 00:25:41,880 --> 00:25:44,959 and at the same time, he does this in the spirit 446 00:25:44,960 --> 00:25:49,680 of wonderful irony with this sort of slightly sardonic note. 447 00:25:53,360 --> 00:25:56,200 You look more lovely today than I have ever seen you. 448 00:25:59,640 --> 00:26:02,240 You're a lucky man, Lionel, take my word for it. 449 00:26:07,560 --> 00:26:10,479 I couldn't help feeling that even Sibella's capacity for lying 450 00:26:10,480 --> 00:26:12,439 was going to be taxed to the utmost. 451 00:26:12,440 --> 00:26:15,439 The two female leads are beautifully opposite. 452 00:26:15,440 --> 00:26:19,999 With impeccable timing, and that husky, teasing, seductive voice, 453 00:26:20,000 --> 00:26:22,719 Joan Greenwood was a comedy great. 454 00:26:22,720 --> 00:26:25,399 Sibella plays the pouting child, 455 00:26:25,400 --> 00:26:28,639 but is as intent on social betterment as Louis. 456 00:26:28,640 --> 00:26:33,039 The unrufflable Edith suggests a rare point of decency 457 00:26:33,040 --> 00:26:34,879 amid the black comedy, 458 00:26:34,880 --> 00:26:37,519 but in the hands of the magnificent Valerie Hobson, 459 00:26:37,520 --> 00:26:39,519 she's as warm as a statue, 460 00:26:39,520 --> 00:26:42,759 fixed to her own relentless code of conduct. 461 00:26:42,760 --> 00:26:45,479 So Joan Greenwood as Sibella is this middle-class woman 462 00:26:45,480 --> 00:26:47,799 who's been raised with Louis Mazzini, 463 00:26:47,800 --> 00:26:50,879 and they clearly have a lot of chemistry and they've had an affair, 464 00:26:50,880 --> 00:26:53,759 but she wants to marry someone who is wealthy. 465 00:26:53,760 --> 00:26:56,719 She comes from a middle-class background and she's very aspirational. 466 00:26:56,720 --> 00:27:00,199 She doesn't really believe that he is going to achieve dukedom in any way. 467 00:27:00,200 --> 00:27:03,319 And so their relationship remains coloured 468 00:27:03,320 --> 00:27:07,199 by the fact that they both actually are quite devious people, 469 00:27:07,200 --> 00:27:10,919 and both have their own aims and their own goals, 470 00:27:10,920 --> 00:27:13,319 which don't really involve marrying each other, 471 00:27:13,320 --> 00:27:16,799 or legitimising their relationship in any real way. 472 00:27:16,800 --> 00:27:19,999 It doesn't mean that they aren't incredibly attracted to each other at times, 473 00:27:20,000 --> 00:27:22,679 which creates a really great kind of tension 474 00:27:22,680 --> 00:27:24,639 and chemistry between them. 475 00:27:24,640 --> 00:27:27,639 Valerie Hobson was a very beautiful actress 476 00:27:27,640 --> 00:27:31,079 who had a really incredible sort of run of roles in the '40s, 477 00:27:31,080 --> 00:27:34,959 including as Estella, the adult Estella, in Great Expectations. 478 00:27:34,960 --> 00:27:38,919 But what in that film is sort of an icy suspicious attitude 479 00:27:38,920 --> 00:27:42,119 towards men, here is slightly softened. 480 00:27:42,120 --> 00:27:46,119 She's quite warm in this film, and she's a lot more trusting, 481 00:27:46,120 --> 00:27:49,039 certainly, of men, which is not necessarily to her benefit 482 00:27:49,040 --> 00:27:51,879 because the man that she's trusting is Louis Mazzini, 483 00:27:51,880 --> 00:27:55,199 and in fact, she is the widow of one of his victims. 484 00:27:55,200 --> 00:27:59,079 So the fact that he then is pursuing her as his possible, 485 00:27:59,080 --> 00:28:02,399 you know, bride to be, is incredibly dark, 486 00:28:02,400 --> 00:28:06,559 and she is probably, I guess you might argue, the only... 487 00:28:06,560 --> 00:28:08,999 likeable character in the film, 488 00:28:09,000 --> 00:28:11,599 like, truly likeable in the sense of being like a decent person. 489 00:28:11,600 --> 00:28:14,639 It doesn't mean you don't enjoy what's happening with the other characters, 490 00:28:14,640 --> 00:28:17,200 but she is, you know, she means well. 491 00:28:18,440 --> 00:28:20,679 The filmmaker's most delicious concept 492 00:28:20,680 --> 00:28:22,679 was to cast the great Alec Guinness, 493 00:28:22,680 --> 00:28:25,519 only in his 30s, as the D'Ascoynes. 494 00:28:25,520 --> 00:28:28,879 He was holidaying in the south of France when the script came through, 495 00:28:28,880 --> 00:28:30,839 and had only one request - 496 00:28:30,840 --> 00:28:35,079 rather than play the four parts as suggested, why not six? 497 00:28:35,080 --> 00:28:39,799 He ended up embodying eight doomed D'Ascoynes with complete conviction. 498 00:28:39,800 --> 00:28:42,759 From the bumbling relic, Lord Reverend Henry, 499 00:28:42,760 --> 00:28:44,959 who swigs poisoned port, 500 00:28:44,960 --> 00:28:49,719 to the suffragette, Lady Agatha, shot down in a hot air balloon. 501 00:28:49,720 --> 00:28:52,039 In another ironic ploy, 502 00:28:52,040 --> 00:28:56,159 it is essential that we still identify each one as Guinness. 503 00:28:56,160 --> 00:29:01,880 At that moment, the concealed enemy emerged from behind the kopje. 504 00:29:02,760 --> 00:29:07,239 I held our guns' fire until we could see the whites of their eyes, 505 00:29:07,240 --> 00:29:10,600 then I gave the order - fire! 506 00:29:11,880 --> 00:29:13,279 Boom, boom, boom... 507 00:29:13,280 --> 00:29:15,279 Now let's talk about Alec Guinness, 508 00:29:15,280 --> 00:29:18,959 and, you know, what he gave to the film 509 00:29:18,960 --> 00:29:20,639 in playing eight different parts. 510 00:29:20,640 --> 00:29:24,359 You can count ten if you count portraits and sort of sculptures, 511 00:29:24,360 --> 00:29:26,479 but it's eight performances. 512 00:29:26,480 --> 00:29:28,079 Why do that? 513 00:29:28,080 --> 00:29:29,799 How well was it done, 514 00:29:29,800 --> 00:29:32,799 and what does it kind of have to say within the film? 515 00:29:32,800 --> 00:29:37,119 When we look at the decision, it becomes critical to the film. 516 00:29:37,120 --> 00:29:42,119 And I think it moves the film into the work of genius that it is, 517 00:29:42,120 --> 00:29:46,119 not because, not just, not just because Alec Guinness is superb 518 00:29:46,120 --> 00:29:48,399 in all of those parts. Not just because he has the talent 519 00:29:48,400 --> 00:29:51,239 to, with a simple nuance and simple body language, 520 00:29:51,240 --> 00:29:54,279 convey an entirely different person from the same bloodline. 521 00:29:54,280 --> 00:29:56,839 It's a bravura performance. 522 00:29:56,840 --> 00:29:59,559 But also because having him play all of those parts, 523 00:29:59,560 --> 00:30:04,479 it opens up a series of things that the film can do. 524 00:30:04,480 --> 00:30:07,199 For a start, as an unreliable narrator, 525 00:30:07,200 --> 00:30:11,559 Louis sees the D'Ascoynes as his enemy 526 00:30:11,560 --> 00:30:15,359 and he blends them all together as the obstacles to his success. 527 00:30:15,360 --> 00:30:18,159 So the idea that, for him, they all have exactly the same face 528 00:30:18,160 --> 00:30:20,399 becomes a psychological trick, in a way. 529 00:30:20,400 --> 00:30:23,519 He doesn't see their humanity, he just sees they are all like Alec Guinness, 530 00:30:23,520 --> 00:30:25,359 they all look the same, they all are the same, 531 00:30:25,360 --> 00:30:27,479 get them out of the way, get them out of the way. 532 00:30:27,480 --> 00:30:30,999 It's also a reference, perhaps, on the idea that the aristocracy are inbred 533 00:30:31,000 --> 00:30:34,599 and so they all grow to look alike, the fact that all these faces are the same, 534 00:30:34,600 --> 00:30:37,799 is also an incredibly convenient piece of filmmaking shorthand. 535 00:30:37,800 --> 00:30:42,039 We actually need to spend no time learning about the characters 536 00:30:42,040 --> 00:30:43,919 that we are presented with. 537 00:30:43,920 --> 00:30:46,239 In particular, there's a rapid sequence of deaths, 538 00:30:46,240 --> 00:30:49,319 where the suffragette, Agatha, 539 00:30:49,320 --> 00:30:52,919 the Admiral Horatio, and the bumptious colonel 540 00:30:52,920 --> 00:30:54,839 who insists on telling his war stories, 541 00:30:54,840 --> 00:30:56,599 are all killed very, very quickly. 542 00:30:56,600 --> 00:30:59,999 A bomb, an arrow in her... her balloon... 543 00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:03,519 "I shot an arrow in the air, she fell to Earth in Berkeley Square, 544 00:31:03,520 --> 00:31:05,199 and the Admiral going down with his ship. 545 00:31:05,200 --> 00:31:07,479 We don't need to learn anything. 546 00:31:07,480 --> 00:31:10,039 All we need to do is watch them die because we know all about them 547 00:31:10,040 --> 00:31:12,479 because they are Alec Guinness. So it's very swift, 548 00:31:12,480 --> 00:31:14,759 very economical, very funny. 549 00:31:14,760 --> 00:31:18,359 Roger Ebert once said about Alec Guinness that the reason 550 00:31:18,360 --> 00:31:21,759 that he was so convincing in the eight different roles 551 00:31:21,760 --> 00:31:25,599 of the D'Ascoyne family, was that he was such an Everyman. 552 00:31:25,600 --> 00:31:29,279 He was the kind of actor who even when he was very famous, 553 00:31:29,280 --> 00:31:31,559 wasn't really recognised on the street in the same way 554 00:31:31,560 --> 00:31:34,919 that other actors of his ilk, you know, Laurence Olivier, might be. 555 00:31:34,920 --> 00:31:37,079 And so that quality kind of allowed him 556 00:31:37,080 --> 00:31:39,959 to strangely disappear into these roles. 557 00:31:39,960 --> 00:31:43,199 Kind Hearts And Coronets is about the essence of acting. 558 00:31:43,200 --> 00:31:45,599 Each character is playing a part, 559 00:31:45,600 --> 00:31:50,079 one set by social class or their own wicked aspirations. 560 00:31:50,080 --> 00:31:52,479 Manners are a disguise. 561 00:31:52,480 --> 00:31:56,599 Hammer went in search of what he called strange human patterns. 562 00:31:56,600 --> 00:32:00,319 Louis' cool, ethical code judges people 563 00:32:00,320 --> 00:32:03,839 not as good or bad, but as interesting or dull. 564 00:32:03,840 --> 00:32:07,959 The wonderfully superficial Edwardian setting was created 565 00:32:07,960 --> 00:32:12,559 through a mix of sound stages and locations that reflect character. 566 00:32:12,560 --> 00:32:17,599 In contrast to the grand D'Ascoyne seat captured at Leeds Castle 567 00:32:17,600 --> 00:32:20,359 in Kent and the surrounding villages, 568 00:32:20,360 --> 00:32:24,759 Louis struggles to escape the growing phenomenon of the suburbs 569 00:32:24,760 --> 00:32:26,799 with their gauche professionals. 570 00:32:26,800 --> 00:32:30,639 It is a very good film about an evolving British society. 571 00:32:30,640 --> 00:32:35,559 The film to a certain extent, not only shows the class structures 572 00:32:35,560 --> 00:32:39,279 in place in Britain at that time, 573 00:32:39,280 --> 00:32:45,159 but also I think, the new, the rise of the merchant class. 574 00:32:45,160 --> 00:32:51,199 And so there were people who aspired 575 00:32:51,200 --> 00:32:53,959 if not to the aristocracy, 576 00:32:53,960 --> 00:32:58,399 then certainly they had a sense that they wanted to better themselves. 577 00:32:58,400 --> 00:33:00,359 This was a kind of a new idea. 578 00:33:00,360 --> 00:33:04,039 This was the sort of way out of serfdom, 579 00:33:04,040 --> 00:33:08,799 or if you want to call it that, and it was increasingly happening. 580 00:33:08,800 --> 00:33:11,559 Of course, the nobles resented that. 581 00:33:11,560 --> 00:33:13,319 They wanted to be in control all the time. 582 00:33:13,320 --> 00:33:16,119 They wanted to keep the old guard, 583 00:33:16,120 --> 00:33:19,559 they were incredibly conservative (small c) in their ways. 584 00:33:19,560 --> 00:33:24,279 And so what it does is it reflects a certain change in social attitude, 585 00:33:24,280 --> 00:33:27,559 which has, you know, continued right up until through the war, 586 00:33:27,560 --> 00:33:29,199 and especially after the war. 587 00:33:29,200 --> 00:33:32,599 And this film, of course, came out in 1949, 588 00:33:32,600 --> 00:33:37,239 very interestingly, when the House of Lords, 589 00:33:37,240 --> 00:33:42,039 which is where Mazzini is actually on trial, 590 00:33:42,040 --> 00:33:44,799 because if you are a duke or a peer, 591 00:33:44,800 --> 00:33:48,399 you can opt to be tried in the House of Lords, 592 00:33:48,400 --> 00:33:51,759 as opposed to central criminal court, like the Old Bailey. 593 00:33:51,760 --> 00:33:57,319 That privilege was abolished in the same year, 1949. 594 00:33:57,320 --> 00:33:59,919 Now there is no connection between the film and that, 595 00:33:59,920 --> 00:34:02,639 but I think that it's a fantastically interesting 596 00:34:02,640 --> 00:34:05,319 coincidence that that should have occurred. 597 00:34:05,320 --> 00:34:09,079 What works so beautifully is the marriage of plot and style. 598 00:34:09,080 --> 00:34:13,079 The film consciously leans into artifice and theatricality. 599 00:34:13,080 --> 00:34:15,879 Every scene is staged for effect. 600 00:34:15,880 --> 00:34:18,759 The image undermines what is being said. 601 00:34:18,760 --> 00:34:21,599 The director is always one step ahead of you, 602 00:34:21,600 --> 00:34:23,919 even the title is ironic. 603 00:34:23,920 --> 00:34:27,879 Kind Hearts And Coronets was taken from the Tennyson poem, 604 00:34:27,880 --> 00:34:29,919 Lady Clara Vere de Vere, 605 00:34:29,920 --> 00:34:34,799 the message being that true nobility lies not in social status, 606 00:34:34,800 --> 00:34:38,840 but in human goodness, which is in short supply in these circles. 607 00:34:40,960 --> 00:34:43,760 May I say that I think you have behaved despicably. 608 00:34:46,360 --> 00:34:50,680 Has it ever occurred to you, Sibella, that we serve each other right, you and I? 609 00:35:03,160 --> 00:35:06,159 But the night has gone by and nothing has happened. 610 00:35:06,160 --> 00:35:08,519 It is now but a few minutes to eight, 611 00:35:08,520 --> 00:35:12,399 and I realise that Sibella came yesterday merely to tantalise, 612 00:35:12,400 --> 00:35:15,399 to raise my hopes in order to dash them again. 613 00:35:15,400 --> 00:35:17,440 How unlike me not to have guessed. 614 00:35:18,640 --> 00:35:22,120 But after all, how very like Sibella. 615 00:35:33,400 --> 00:35:36,159 A written memoir in visual form, 616 00:35:36,160 --> 00:35:39,879 Kind Hearts And Coronets is the most literary of British comedies. 617 00:35:39,880 --> 00:35:43,119 Here are the satirical barbs of Oscar Wilde, 618 00:35:43,120 --> 00:35:45,559 Evelyn Waugh, and even Jane Austen. 619 00:35:45,560 --> 00:35:49,759 The shooting script had no word on how a scene was to be filmed or cut. 620 00:35:49,760 --> 00:35:53,639 All of that was devised as Hammer rehearsed with his actors. 621 00:35:53,640 --> 00:35:55,999 But it was still dazzlingly complex. 622 00:35:56,000 --> 00:36:00,119 The story is a Russian doll of flashbacks within flashbacks. 623 00:36:00,120 --> 00:36:02,999 Even the costumes have a narrative. 624 00:36:03,000 --> 00:36:06,879 From the growing finery of Louis' dandyish suits 625 00:36:06,880 --> 00:36:10,599 to Sibella's increasingly formidable millinery, 626 00:36:10,600 --> 00:36:14,159 an expression of her own desire to get ahead. 627 00:36:14,160 --> 00:36:18,679 And there's something strikingly modern about the literariness. 628 00:36:18,680 --> 00:36:23,679 I mean, you've talked about Oscar Wilde and all the kind of references. 629 00:36:23,680 --> 00:36:26,599 But that was an unusual game for a film to be playing. 630 00:36:26,600 --> 00:36:30,079 It's very normal in modern times for someone to openly admit 631 00:36:30,080 --> 00:36:32,319 that it's calling all these different things. 632 00:36:32,320 --> 00:36:35,759 But that's going on here. You can think of Oscar Wilde, Evelyn Waugh... 633 00:36:35,760 --> 00:36:39,039 - Samuel Johnson. - Samuel Johnson, Jane Austen to an extent, 634 00:36:39,040 --> 00:36:41,999 and obviously Shakespeare and Charles Dickens. 635 00:36:42,000 --> 00:36:44,679 And the title which is... And of course the title, yes. 636 00:36:44,680 --> 00:36:49,199 So it's got this incredibly quality of self awareness, 637 00:36:49,200 --> 00:36:54,199 and sophistication, which in itself is almost like an ironic game. 638 00:36:54,200 --> 00:36:57,039 Ironic game, but it doesn't talk down to its audience. 639 00:36:57,040 --> 00:36:59,359 At no point does it seek to explain that. 640 00:36:59,360 --> 00:37:01,399 You come along with the joke. 641 00:37:01,400 --> 00:37:05,399 So the references are this is a smart, funny film, 642 00:37:05,400 --> 00:37:08,319 with literary references and you'll get them. 643 00:37:08,320 --> 00:37:11,639 No-one has to step aside and point out this is what we're talking to. 644 00:37:11,640 --> 00:37:13,759 We're not talking about Samuel Johnson here, 645 00:37:13,760 --> 00:37:15,959 we're talking about a poem by Tennyson. 646 00:37:15,960 --> 00:37:18,799 It's just assumed. You know, there's no pandering. 647 00:37:18,800 --> 00:37:23,799 So the whole thing is artfully constructed in much the way 648 00:37:23,800 --> 00:37:26,199 that a Jane Austen novel would, these set pieces 649 00:37:26,200 --> 00:37:28,159 and this kind of comedy of manners. 650 00:37:28,160 --> 00:37:31,959 It's got the wordplay of Wilde. You know, it's got... 651 00:37:31,960 --> 00:37:35,919 There's even something like Conan Doyle's murder mystery in it. 652 00:37:35,920 --> 00:37:39,599 There's references to so many different parts of British literature, 653 00:37:39,600 --> 00:37:41,439 and, really, Hammer was saying this. 654 00:37:41,440 --> 00:37:43,719 He wanted to include the language that he loves 655 00:37:43,720 --> 00:37:46,599 as much as he could throughout every part of the film. 656 00:37:46,600 --> 00:37:49,999 Kind Hearts And Coronets is a dazzling accomplishment. 657 00:37:50,000 --> 00:37:53,359 Even if the American Production Code required an additional scene 658 00:37:53,360 --> 00:37:56,399 to be inserted into the ambiguous ending. 659 00:37:56,400 --> 00:38:00,239 Michael Balcon who had been so disapproving at first, 660 00:38:00,240 --> 00:38:03,040 considered it his favourite Ealing production. 661 00:38:03,880 --> 00:38:07,039 But it is so much more than another Ealing Comedy. 662 00:38:07,040 --> 00:38:10,960 It is a masterpiece that encourages endless readings. 663 00:38:11,800 --> 00:38:15,039 The reason that Kind Hearts And Coronets is actually unique 664 00:38:15,040 --> 00:38:17,679 as a work of art, and is a work of art, 665 00:38:17,680 --> 00:38:19,999 is because of all the elements that coalesced 666 00:38:20,000 --> 00:38:21,799 at the time that it was made. 667 00:38:21,800 --> 00:38:26,240 I don't think there is any other film that exists that has... 668 00:38:27,240 --> 00:38:29,719 ...delivered so perfectly 669 00:38:29,720 --> 00:38:32,199 and so perfectly poised, 670 00:38:32,200 --> 00:38:35,799 a story that could have been a thriller, 671 00:38:35,800 --> 00:38:38,039 or it could have been a satire, 672 00:38:38,040 --> 00:38:41,120 or it could have been a sort of dark romance. 673 00:38:41,960 --> 00:38:44,239 But this is all three. 674 00:38:44,240 --> 00:38:47,280 This is all three welded seamlessly together. 675 00:38:50,040 --> 00:38:53,159 We used to get a lot of this stuff in the Crimea. 676 00:38:53,160 --> 00:38:56,440 One thing the Ruskies do really well. 677 00:38:59,920 --> 00:39:01,920 Not an atom of him was left. 678 00:39:04,280 --> 00:39:06,159 I think there are two reasons, really, 679 00:39:06,160 --> 00:39:08,199 why the film doesn't feel in bad taste. 680 00:39:08,200 --> 00:39:09,839 One is just the sense of humour. 681 00:39:09,840 --> 00:39:11,959 It's always kind of winking and nodding. 682 00:39:11,960 --> 00:39:14,719 It's always got its tongue in cheek, and the deaths are, 683 00:39:14,720 --> 00:39:17,599 they're violent, but they're quite cartoonish. 684 00:39:17,600 --> 00:39:22,039 The characters feel, you know, the aristocratic characters 685 00:39:22,040 --> 00:39:23,799 do not feel particularly sympathetic. 686 00:39:23,800 --> 00:39:26,359 They are all quite annoying and mannered. 687 00:39:26,360 --> 00:39:28,559 Of course, Guinness is doing an incredible job 688 00:39:28,560 --> 00:39:29,999 of breeding life into them. 689 00:39:30,000 --> 00:39:32,479 The one likeable character, 690 00:39:32,480 --> 00:39:36,239 the one who initially hires Louis Mazzini 691 00:39:36,240 --> 00:39:40,039 and who Mazzini later expresses regret about possibly having to kill, 692 00:39:40,040 --> 00:39:42,799 and he feels lucky that he doesn't have to kill him 693 00:39:42,800 --> 00:39:44,999 because he drops dead of shock, 694 00:39:45,000 --> 00:39:47,039 There is this sense that 695 00:39:47,040 --> 00:39:49,759 you're not completely on the side of Mazzini, either. 696 00:39:49,760 --> 00:39:52,279 This is someone who, you know, he might be likeable 697 00:39:52,280 --> 00:39:55,159 and he might be a cad, but he is someone who is capable 698 00:39:55,160 --> 00:39:57,879 of real cold callous calculation 699 00:39:57,880 --> 00:40:00,279 and that he doesn't even bat an eyelid at the idea 700 00:40:00,280 --> 00:40:04,159 that he is more than happy to treat people as collateral damage. 701 00:40:04,160 --> 00:40:07,319 You can find the film's influence within the Ealing stable. 702 00:40:07,320 --> 00:40:10,559 The Ladykillers, satisfyingly inverts the idea 703 00:40:10,560 --> 00:40:13,559 with a prim old lady killing off a gang of crooks, 704 00:40:13,560 --> 00:40:16,359 led by a heavily disguised Alec Guinness. 705 00:40:16,360 --> 00:40:18,639 That film featured Peter Sellers, 706 00:40:18,640 --> 00:40:21,479 who paid homage to Kind Hearts And Coronets, 707 00:40:21,480 --> 00:40:24,319 with his multiple roles in Dr Strangelove, 708 00:40:24,320 --> 00:40:27,359 a habit he continued throughout his career. 709 00:40:27,360 --> 00:40:30,879 Such buoyant cynicism and precision filmmaking 710 00:40:30,880 --> 00:40:34,759 inspired everyone from Martin Scorsese to the Coen Brothers. 711 00:40:34,760 --> 00:40:39,119 Kind Hearts And Coronets creates the idea of the great movie voice-over, 712 00:40:39,120 --> 00:40:41,519 the voice-over that dictates the tone, 713 00:40:41,520 --> 00:40:45,239 and Scorsese watched it avidly for Goodfellas. 714 00:40:45,240 --> 00:40:50,959 He wanted to understand how that tone of voice can shape an entire film. 715 00:40:50,960 --> 00:40:53,559 So you know, this prim British film 716 00:40:53,560 --> 00:40:55,959 has influenced extraordinarily large amounts of things. 717 00:40:55,960 --> 00:40:59,759 When you look at Peter Sellers, who borrowed the idea 718 00:40:59,760 --> 00:41:02,439 of the multiple parts that he does in Doctor Strangelove 719 00:41:02,440 --> 00:41:05,679 and on into his career, he took it from Kind Hearts And Coronets. 720 00:41:05,680 --> 00:41:08,279 I mean, I love the Goodfellas reference 721 00:41:08,280 --> 00:41:12,919 because I think of Louis Mazzini, 722 00:41:12,920 --> 00:41:17,839 the half Italian operator killing his way to the top 723 00:41:17,840 --> 00:41:20,439 and compare it with Goodfellas, 724 00:41:20,440 --> 00:41:22,639 and you think, well, how different actually are those- 725 00:41:22,640 --> 00:41:25,159 Well, Henry Hill... He's half Italian as well. 726 00:41:25,160 --> 00:41:27,399 Absolutely. There's so many similarities. 727 00:41:27,400 --> 00:41:30,759 I love the fact that Scorsese was inspired by Kind Hearts And Coronets 728 00:41:30,760 --> 00:41:32,879 to create Henry Hill and his voice-over. 729 00:41:32,880 --> 00:41:34,879 Obviously, very different ending. 730 00:41:34,880 --> 00:41:36,799 No ambiguity in Henry Hill's ending. 731 00:41:36,800 --> 00:41:41,119 But there's so many people who've referenced it. 732 00:41:41,120 --> 00:41:44,399 If you go through the list of TV series or films 733 00:41:44,400 --> 00:41:46,679 that have quoted from it or alluded to it, 734 00:41:46,680 --> 00:41:48,559 or have remade certain aspects of it 735 00:41:48,560 --> 00:41:50,599 or done certain styles of it, 736 00:41:50,600 --> 00:41:53,239 I mean the idea of just working your way 737 00:41:53,240 --> 00:41:55,799 through a series of murders to get what you want, 738 00:41:55,800 --> 00:41:59,719 it is the template of this kind of killing. 739 00:41:59,720 --> 00:42:03,919 And no-one, I would say, has quite equalled it. 740 00:42:03,920 --> 00:42:06,319 I think of all the people who have echoed it, 741 00:42:06,320 --> 00:42:08,599 who have homaged it, who have noted it, 742 00:42:08,600 --> 00:42:12,319 who have tried to toy with it and, you know, 743 00:42:12,320 --> 00:42:15,479 maybe even tried to, "Oh, we'll make this a little bit funnier, 744 00:42:15,480 --> 00:42:17,319 we'll do it in a more contemporary style." 745 00:42:17,320 --> 00:42:21,319 No-one has come close to this unique piece of filmmaking, 746 00:42:21,320 --> 00:42:24,199 this piece of filmmaking where you have this director 747 00:42:24,200 --> 00:42:27,919 who is, as it turns out, at the peak of his career, 748 00:42:27,920 --> 00:42:30,959 the last great thing he's going to make, 749 00:42:30,960 --> 00:42:34,039 and possibly without doubt, the greatest piece of work he was going to make. 750 00:42:34,040 --> 00:42:38,679 To some degree, Dennis Price never quite achieved this level. 751 00:42:38,680 --> 00:42:42,519 I mean, so many people working on this film were delivering 752 00:42:42,520 --> 00:42:45,879 their best ever performance, or their best ever contribution, 753 00:42:45,880 --> 00:42:47,759 or creating something new. 754 00:42:47,760 --> 00:42:49,799 What makes Kind Hearts And Coronets 755 00:42:49,800 --> 00:42:52,119 perhaps the greatest of all British comedies 756 00:42:52,120 --> 00:42:56,479 is that it has greater purpose than simply sardonic daring. 757 00:42:56,480 --> 00:43:00,039 Robert Hammer's film holds up a non-flattering mirror 758 00:43:00,040 --> 00:43:03,879 to Britishness and human nature as a whole. 759 00:43:03,880 --> 00:43:07,559 But in its ultimate irony, it is a celebration 760 00:43:07,560 --> 00:43:10,239 of the endless peculiarity, 761 00:43:10,240 --> 00:43:14,280 originality, and joy of being alive. 762 00:43:15,440 --> 00:43:17,440 (PEOPLE CHEERING) 763 00:43:42,160 --> 00:43:48,160 Subtitles by Sky Access Services www.skyaccessibility.sky