The Lavender Hill Mob
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| The Lavender Hill Mob | |
|---|---|
 DVD cover of The Lavender Hill Mob |
|
| Directed by | Charles Crichton |
| Produced by | Michael Balcon |
| Written by | T.E.B. Clarke |
| Starring | Alec Guinness Stanley Holloway Sid James |
| Music by | Georges Auric |
| Distributed by | GFD (UK theatrical) Universal Pictures (US theatrical) |
| Release date(s) | June 1951 (UK) October 15, 1951 (USA) |
| Running time | 81 min. |
| Language | English French Portuguese |
| IMDb profile | |
The Lavender Hill Mob is a 1951 comedy film from Ealing Studios. The movie was written by T.E.B. Clarke and directed by Charles Crichton. Alec Guinness and Stanley Holloway starred as gold thieves. The title refers to Lavender Hill, a street in Battersea, a district of South London, in the postcode area SW11, near to Clapham Junction railway station.
Contents |
[edit] Synopsis
Henry "Dutch" Holland (Guinness) is a timid bank clerk in London who has been in charge of gold bullion deliveries for many years. He discovers that he is about to be moved to a new department.
Within a week, he plans the robbery of the weekly gold delivery, with the assistance of fellow lodger Mr Pendlebury (Holloway). They blackmail two petty crooks, Lackery Smith (Sidney James) and Shorty (Alfie Bass) into helping them carry out the robbery.
The plan is to melt the gold in Pendlebury's foundry and export it to France disguised as miniature souvenir Eiffel Towers. But the plan goes wrong when one of the towers goes astray and is recognised by the police. After a high-speed multiple car chase through London, Holland escapes to South America, whilst Pendlebury is arrested. In the opening scene of the film, Holland is being arrested by British police for extradition to Britain. It is not made clear what happens to Smith and Shorty.
[edit] Cast
- Alec Guinness as Henry Holland
- Stanley Holloway as Alfred Pendlebury
- Sid James as Lackery
- Alfie Bass as Shorty Fisher
- Marjorie Fielding as Mrs. Chalk
- Audrey Hepburn as Chiquita
[edit] Casting
Audrey Hepburn makes an early film appearance in a small role near the start of the film. Reportedly, she was supposed to have had a major part in the film, but other commitments prevented this, so Guinness lobbied for her to be given a walk-on part. Although she speaks briefly to Guiness's character, what she says is virtually unintelligible. This was the first film featuring Hepburn to be given major distribution in the United States (most of her other early roles were in movies that were only distributed in Great Britain or Europe).
Robert Shaw, later famous for his roles in such films as Jaws and From Russia With Love, makes his film debut in a wordless role as a chemist in the police exhibition sequence.
[edit] Awards
The film won the Academy Award for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay. Guinness was nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role.
The film also won the BAFTA Award for Best British Film.
[edit] External links
| Preceded by The Blue Lamp |
BAFTA Award for Best British Film 1952 |
Succeeded by The Sound Barrier |
