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Kind Hearts and Coronets Details

FULL SYNOPSIS

Alec Guinness gets to die eight times, playing a line of successors to a dukedom, in the Ealing black comedy Kind Hearts and Coronets. Louis Mazzini (Dennis Price) is ninth in line to inherit the dukedom from the aristocratic D'Ascoyne family. Louis vows to kill all eight people who stand between him and the duke's title. Aside from two cases of natural causes, Louis works through the list, eliminating rivals (all played by Guinness). Along the way he romances Sibella (Joan Greenwood), a childhood friend who ends up marrying a dullard, and Edith (Valerie Hobson), the beautiful widow of one of his victims with whom he plans to share his title. But just when Louis is ready to assume the D'Ascoyne mantle, a bizarre irony strikes. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

  • Release date:June 14, 1950

Awards

Awarded by
Nominee
Category
Year
Status
National Board of Review Alec Guinness Best Actor 1950 Winner

Cast

Dennis Price
as Louis Mazzini
Alec Guinness
as Admiral d'Ascoyne
Alec Guinness
as Ascoyne d'Ascoyne
Alec Guinness
as Canon d'Ascoyne
Alec Guinness
as Duke of Chalfont
Alec Guinness
as Gen. d'Ascoyne
Alec Guinness
as Henry d'Ascoyne
Alec Guinness
as Lady Agatha d'Ascoyne
Alec Guinness
as Lord d'Ascoyne
Valerie Hobson
as Edith D'Ascoyne
Joan Greenwood
as Sibella
Miles Malleson
as Hangman
Arthur Lowe
as The Reporter
Clive Morton
as Prison Governor
John Penrose
as Lionel
John Salew
as Mr. Perkins
Cecil Ramage
as Crown Counsel
Anne Valery
as The Girl in the Punt
Richard Wattis
Hugh Griffith
as Lord High Steward
Barbara Leake
as The Schoolmistress

Crew

Robert Hamer
Director
Michael Balcon
Producer
John Dighton
Screenwriter
Robert Hamer
Screenwriter
Douglas Slocombe
Cinematographer
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Featured Music
Peter Tanner
Editor
William Kellner
Art Director
Michael Relph
Associate Producer
Anthony Mendleson
Costume Designer
Syd Pearson
Special Effects
Norman Priggen
First Assistant Director
Jeff Seaholme
Camera Operator
Harry Frampton
Makeup
Ernest Taylor
Makeup
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