Disgusted by the taste left over from reading the American Film Institute's list of the top 100 films of all time - a collection so disreputable and poorly conceived that one would assume that FOR THE LOVE OF BENJI and EARTHBOUND were close contenders I naturally assumed that if America couldn't get a "best of" list right, well naturally nobody could. Then one day I was looking at a "best of" list compiled by those no good redcoats on the other side of the Atlantic, from an institution called the BFI (which I immediately took to mean Big Flatulent Idiots). In perusing the parchment this information lay on, I prepared my hand for the swift tear necessary to turn it into its righteous function of toilet paper... when I noticed that the motion pictures it spoke of were, dare I say, good. Dare I say I did, and upon a second skim I realized that with minor exceptions (FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL, etc.) I realized I could finally believe in somebody and that somebody was the British Film Institute... which really isn't somebody; it's more of a collection of some bodies.
At number six on this dandy of a list was a film I had never heard of before called KIND HEARTS AND CORONETS featuring a rather well known actor by the name of Alec Guinness - like most people, I know of him from THE HORSE'S MOUTH but my Uncle Merle assures me that he was in a very popular space opera. (I can only assume it was SPACEBALLS.) When I arrived at my Uncle Merle's apartment with the new Anchor Bay Entertainment DVD release of KIND HEARTS AND CORONETS he made quick mention of its non-porn aspect and punched me in the stomach. I rebutted this approach with something I picked up from JASON X and lopped his head off with a machete. (I don't know if it was the severing of the vocal chords or the refrigerator door muffling his gabbing, but the house has never been so peaceful.)
KIND HEARTS AND CORONETS is the story of one Louis Mazzini (Dennis Price) who lost his place as the rightful heir to the d'Ascoyne family due to his mother's marriage to a poor Italian singer. Sadly for Mazzini, his father, upon first laying eyes on his young child, passed away, leaving his poor mother in a state of poverty so great she was forced to take on a lodger. As the years passed poor Mazzini's mother tried and tried again to make contact with her family but her every request was refused. Upon her death her one wish, to be buried in the family plot, was denied and Mazzini decided that the only way to get proper justice for his mother's suffering was to become the Duke. Of course he'll have to kill the nine persons entitled to the position before him, but you know, what the hell.
A truly macabre piece of black comedy, this is one of the rare films in which you root for nobody and still walk away with a smile on your face and skip in your step. Every single person Mazzini is out to off is practically the personification of horrible, or as the British say, 'orrible violent, loud, boring, inconsiderate, brash and so much more. The d'Ascoyne family is no group any non-blood relative would ever wish to lay claim to. At the center of this group, playing all the main d'Ascoynes with the exception of Mazzini's mother, is Alec Guinness who, truth be told, puts Peter Sellers to shame in the multiple role department (Mike Myers doesn't even place). Mr. Guinness proves himself an actor of the utmost skill as he manages to create eight distinctly different, yet similar, personalities, only three of which could be categorized as broad caricature... and those die the quickest deaths thank God for murder.
Dennis Price as Louis Mazzini is no slouch in the multiple roles department either, playing both Louis, his father and Louis as a visiting bishop with a fair degree of skill. Still, it is as the smug, cold-hearted killer Louis that he truly shines. He manages to make a thoroughly despicable character engaging enough to hold audience interest.
The two women in Louis' life, Sibella (Joan Greenwood) and Edith (Valerie Hobson), are opposite sides of the same coin, one the obsessed opportunist and the other the obsessed prohibitionist. Ms. Greenwood as Sibella manages to make every scene she's in glow with her overt deviousness and coy ways, while Ms. Hobson is suitably dull as the prudish Edith.
As directed and co-written, with John Dighton, by Robert Hamer, KIND HEARTS AND CORONETS operates on a pitch-black level, becoming, amongst other things, an absurd comedy of manners. That Mazzini, in his quest to dispatch the repulsive d'Ascoynes, becomes like them himself is just one of many nice touches.
Released by Anchor Bay Entertainment, KIND HEARTS AND CORONETS is low on extras, featuring only the theatrical trailer and an Alec Guinness bio. However, to quibble over the lack of a commentary track featuring a "cinema scholar" or a variety of documentaries overly praising the film is to ignore the best part of this DVD release: the quality of the print. KIND HEARTS AND CORONETS looks incredible! Throw away that murky VHS copy and pick up this gem immediately. The clarity of the image and the practically debris-free print will cause your eyes to water. A phenomenal job from Anchor Bay.
KIND HEARTS AND CORONETS is being sold separately or in an "Alec Guinness Collection" box set that includes THE MAN IN THE WHITE SUIT, THE LAVENDER HILL MOB, THE LADYKILLERS and, only with the set, THE CAPTAIN'S PARADISE. These represent the high watermarks of Guinness' work with Ealing Studios. All are considered amongst the finest British comedies of their time, if not all time, and they'll get no argument here.
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