Lavender Hill Mob (1951): Dir: Charles Crichton / Cast: Alec Guinness, Stanley Holloway, Sidney James, Alfie Bass, Marjorie Fielding: Hilarious account of amateur crime as a bank clerk sees an opportunity to steal gold bars and smuggle them out of the country as miniature Eifel Towers. When six of the miniatures are sold the duo struggle to retrieve them thus spinning everything out of whack. Clever right up to its conclusion, which gains the biggest laugh. Directed by Charles Crichton who takes what seems like a regular crime scheme and adds hilarious spins on it that pay off in its concluding laugh. Alec Guinness as the bank clerk steals the film with a wonderful clever comic performance that ranks amongst his finest. He narrates the film and details the operation and the crime until the ending places everything in perspective in one of the greatest comic payoffs that one could ask for. Stanley Holloway as his neighbour gets sucked into the scheme because one bad move deserves another, and both arrive at the same blatant lunacy. Sidney James and Alfie Bass are given roles as fellow crooks that are not quite as broad but they certainly play off two guys contacted to be part of a scheme that can see no right answer. The seemingly great plan doesn't go as planned and everything leads back to the beginning where all is not as it seems, but the narrator tells a great tale. Score: 9 / 10
Review of The Lavender Hill Mob
