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Kind Hearts and Coronets

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Kind Hearts and Coronets
Original British film poster
Directed byRobert Hamer
Screenplay byRobert Hamer
John Dighton
Produced byMichael Balcon
Michael Relph
StarringDennis Price
Valerie Hobson
Joan Greenwood
Alec Guinness
CinematographyDouglas Slocombe
Edited byPeter Tanner
Music byErnest Irving
Production
company
Distributed byGDF (UK)
Eagle-Lion Films (US)
Release dates
  • 21 June 1949 (1949-06-21) (UK)
  • 14 June 1950 (1950-06-14) (US)
Running time
106 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Kind Hearts and Coronets is a 1949 British black comedy film starring Dennis Price, Alec Guinness, Joan Greenwood and Valerie Hobson. Guinness famously plays eight members of the D'Ascoyne family. The plot is loosely based on the 1907 novel Israel Rank: The Autobiography of a Criminal by Roy Horniman,[1] with the screenplay written by Robert Hamer and John Dighton and the film directed by Hamer. The film's title derives from Tennyson's 1842 poem Lady Clara Vere de Vere: "Kind hearts are more than coronets, and simple faith than Norman blood."[2]

Kind Hearts and Coronets is listed in Time magazine's top 100[3] and the BFI Top 100 British films.[4]

In 2011, the film was digitally restored and re-released in selected British cinemas.[5]

Plot

In Edwardian Britain, Louis Mazzini (Dennis Price), tenth Duke of Chalfont, writes his memoirs while in prison awaiting his death by hanging the next morning. Most of the film consists of a flashback in which Louis narrates the events leading to his imprisonment.

After his mother elopes with an Italian opera singer (also played by Price), she is disowned by her aristocratic family, the D'Ascoynes, for marrying beneath her. The couple are poor but happy, until he dies upon seeing his newborn son for the first time. As a boy, Louis's only friends are a local doctor's children: a girl named Sibella (Joan Greenwood) and her brother. When Louis becomes a young man, his mother writes to Lord Ascoyne D'Ascoyne, a banker, for assistance in launching her son's career. Lord Ascoyne refuses to acknowledge their existence, and Louis is forced to accept employment as a draper's assistant. When Louis's mother dies, her last request – to be interred in the family vault – is denied. Louis vows to avenge her.

After Sibella ridicules his offer of marriage, Louis attends her wedding to Lionel (John Penrose), a former schoolmate with a wealthy father. He then has a chance encounter at his workplace with one of those in line for the family title of Duke of Chalfont: Ascoyne D'Ascoyne (Alec Guinness in the first of eight roles as the D'Ascoynes). An altercation results in Louis's dismissal from his job. Louis then decides to eliminate those who stand between him and the dukedom.

After causing the deaths of Ascoyne D'Ascoyne and his mistress in a boating incident, Louis writes a letter of condolence to his victim's father, Lord Ascoyne D'Ascoyne, who relents and employs him as a clerk in his private banking firm. Slowly becoming a man of means, Louis discreetly sees Sibella. He next decides to murder Henry D'Ascoyne, a keen amateur photographer, but is also charmed by Henry's wife, Edith (Valerie Hobson). After killing Henry by setting up an explosion in his darkroom, Louis attends the funeral and views for the first time the remaining D'Ascoynes, including Ethelred, the current (eighth) duke.

Louis poisons the Reverend Lord Henry D'Ascoyne, then meets with a now-bankrupt Lionel, who begs for an extension of his loan. Noting he would prefer that "someone else pay for Sibella's extravagances", Louis agrees. He then pierces the balloon from which suffragette Lady Agatha D'Ascoyne is dropping leaflets over London, remarking "I shot an arrow in the air. She fell to earth in Berkeley Square." (This is an allusion to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem 'The Arrow and the Song'.) Boer Wars veteran General Lord Rufus D'Ascoyne falls victim to a bomb Louis has concealed in a gift of caviar (an obscure reference to Shakepeare http://www.enotes.com/shakespeare-quotes/caviar-general), while Louis's quandary as to how to reach Admiral Lord Horatio D'Ascoyne is solved when he insists on going down with his ship after causing a collision.

When Edith agrees to marry Louis, they notify Ethelred. Ethelred invites Louis to the family estate, where he informs Louis that he intends to marry to produce an heir. A now anxious Louis quickly arranges a shooting "accident", but before murdering Ethelred tells him the reason for doing so. Lord Ascoyne D'Ascoyne, who has suffered a stroke, is spared Louis' attentions as he dies from the shock of learning that he has acceded to the dukedom, to Louis's somewhat relief. Louis becomes the tenth duke but his triumph is short-lived.

Lionel is found dead following Louis's rejecting his drunken plea for help to avoid bankruptcy. Louis is charged with his murder and tried by his peers in the House of Lords. Sibella perjures herself and incriminates him. Ironically, he is convicted of the one death of which he is entirely innocent, not even having wished it.

Louis is visited in prison by Sibella, who hints she could exonerate him if he would dispose of Edith and marry her. Louis indicates agreement, and moments before his hanging, Lionel's suicide note is conveniently produced. Upon his release, Louis finds both Edith and Sibella waiting for him. Pondering his dilemma, Louis quotes from The Beggar's Opera: "How happy could I be with either, Were t'other dear charmer away!" When a representative of Tit-Bits magazine interrupts his reflections to ask for the publication rights to his memoirs, Louis suddenly realises he has left his incriminating manuscript in his cell.

American version

To satisfy the Hays Office Production Code, the film was censored for the American market.[6] Ten seconds of footage was added to the ending, showing Louis's memoirs being discovered before he can retrieve them; which is implied in the original film in any case. The dialogue between Louis and Sibella was altered to downplay their adultery; derogatory lines about the Reverend were deleted; and in the nursery rhyme "Eeny, meeny, miny, moe", sailor replaced the word nigger. The American version is six minutes shorter than the British original.

Cast

Production

Guinness was originally offered only four D'Ascoyne parts, recollecting: "I read [the screenplay] on a beach in France, collapsed with laughter on the first page, and didn't even bother to get to the end of the script. I went straight back to the hotel and sent a telegram saying, ‘Why four parts? Why not eight!?'"[7]

The exterior location used for Chalfont, the family home of the d'Ascoynes, is Leeds Castle in Kent, England.[8] The interior was filmed at Ealing Studios. The village scenes in the film were filmed in the Kent village of Harrietsham.[9]

Reception

Bosley Crowther, critic for The New York Times, calls it a "delicious little satire on Edwardian manners and morals" in which "the sly and adroit Mr. Guinness plays eight Edwardian fuddy-duds with such devastating wit and variety that he naturally dominates the film."[10] Praise is also given to Price ("as able as Mr. Guinness in his single but most demanding role"), as well as Greenwood and Hobson ("provocative as women in his life").[10]

Roger Ebert lists Kind Hearts and Coronets among his "Great Movies",[11] stating "Price is impeccable as the murderer: Elegant, well-spoken, a student of demeanor", and notes that "murder, Louis demonstrates, ... can be most agreeably entertaining".[12]

Novel

Reviewer Simon Heffer notes the plot of the original Roy Horniman novel was darker (e.g., the murder of a child) and differed in several respects. A major difference was that the main character was the half-Jewish (as opposed to half-Italian) Israel Rank, and Heffer noted that "...his ruthless using of people (notably women) and his greedy pursuit of position all seem to conform to the stereotype that the anti-semite has of the Jew."[1]

Historical source

The death of Admiral Horatio D'Ascoyne was inspired by a true event: the collision between HMS Victoria and HMS Camperdown off Tripoli in 1893 because of an order given by Mediterranean Fleet Commander Vice Admiral Sir George Tryon.[13] The Victoria was sunk, losing over 300 men (including the admiral).

Radio adaptations

The film has been adapted for radio, including a version produced on BBC Radio 4 featuring Robert Powell and Timothy Bateson (first broadcast in 1990),[14] and another for BBC7 featuring Michael Kitchen as Mazzini and Harry Enfield as the D'Ascoyne family.

On 19 May 2012, BBC Radio 4 broadcast a sequel to the film called Kind Hearts and Coronets – Like Father, Like Daughter. In it, Unity Holland (played by Natalie Walter), the biological daughter of Louis and Sibella, is written out of the title by Lady Edith d'Ascoyne. Unity then murders the entire d'Ascoyne family, with all seven members played by Alistair McGowan.[15]

Broadway musical

In 2013, a Broadway musical version entitled A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, opened to rave reviews. Its source, Horniman's novel, was credited, but, due to a rights issue, the film wasn't. The show has all the victims played by the same actor, Jefferson Mays, as the film has every victim played by Alec Guinness. The musical won four Tony Awards, including Best Musical.

Digital restoration

The Criterion Collection released a two-disc set that featured both versions of the film.[16] UK distributor Optimum Releasing released a digitally restored version for both DVD and Blu-ray on 5 September 2011.[17]

References

  1. ^ a b Simon Heffer (December 2008). "Israel Rank Reviewed". UK: Faber. Cite error: The named reference "Heffer" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  2. ^ "The early poems", Tennyson, Online Literature.
  3. ^ Time, 12 February 2005.
  4. ^ BFI, UK.
  5. ^ Words from the wise, Empire online.
  6. ^ Slide, Anthony (1998). Banned in the USA: British Films in the United States and Their Censorship, 1933–1966. IB Tauris. p. 90. ISBN 1-86064-254-3. Retrieved 2 October 2008.
  7. ^ Raoul Hernandez (24 February 2006). "Kind Hearts and Coronets". The Austin Chronicle.
  8. ^ "Kind Hearts and Coronets". Movie locations.
  9. ^ Kent Film Office. "Kent Film Office Kind Hearts and Coronets Film Focus".
  10. ^ a b Bosley Crowther (15 June 1950). "Alec Guinness Plays 8 Roles in 'Kind Hearts and Coronets,' at Trans-Lux 60th Street at the Cinemet". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 February 2013.
  11. ^ Roger Ebert. "great movies". rogerebert.com. Retrieved 19 May 2012.
  12. ^ Roger Ebert (15 September 2002). "Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 19 May 2012.
  13. ^ Jasper Copping (12 January 2012). "Explorers raise hope of Nelson 'treasure trove' on Victorian shipwreck". The Telegraph. Retrieved 14 May 2012.
  14. ^ Programmes, UK: BBC.
  15. ^ "Saturday Drama: Kind Hearts and Coronets – Like Father, Like Daughter". BBC. Retrieved 20 May 2012.
  16. ^ Kind Hearts & Coronets, Criterion.
  17. ^ "Kind Hearts and Coronets DVD and Blu-ray releases". My Reviewer.

Bibliography

  • Israel Rank: The Autobiography of a Criminal, Faber Finds, 1907.
  • Vermilye, Jerry (1978), The Great British Films, Citadel Press, pp. 131–33, ISBN 0-8065-0661-X.

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to Kind Hearts and Coronets.
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