Sir Alec Guinness. Young Peter Sellers. An Oscar-nominated screenplay by William Rose. An old British woman who foils them all. With all of these factors racing towards the finish line, one could imagine the hilarity that was to follow. Alas, after the first twenty minutes, it seemed to all come to a screeching halt. Yes, there were comic moments, genius creativity, and excitement in the air, but as a whole, “The Ladykillers” was more a hodgepodge of could-be-great ideas mixed together with poor execution and a misuse of the actors’ ability on-screen than a laugh-out-loud comedy. Yes, this was a “dark” comedy, and the ending solidifies that idea, but what was lacking within the story was the actual comedy itself. With such actors like Guinness, or Peter Sellers, or Danny Green; director Alexander MacKendrick had loads of opportunity to transform this film into a cult classic, to unleash the potential hidden within his players. Too bad he missed the opportunity. With a intriguing story, a fun old lady, and a misused cast, “The Ladykillers” may have been bold for the time, but today it just felt stale, slow, and misplaced. How could a film with so much potential fall so flat?
Our story begins promising; with a little old lady (Ms. Lopsided) talking to the police about how there weren’t aliens in her friend’s garden. As she travels home a looming figure follows her. MacKendrick does a great job of creating early tension, this unknown of who is going to arrive at the door or what the motives may be. As Guinness rings the bell, the shadow is revealed to have large fake teeth and a comb-over. This random act of costume design demonstrates the ability of comedy on both the part of the actor and the director. As Guinness swoops into his charming devilish self, the dynamic between him and the old lady becomes the crux of this film. MacKendrick must realize that the two have chemistry (or that the two were the obvious focus of the film) because he focuses his entire remainder of the film on these two alone, oddly leaving everyone else in the wake of unknown. As we are introduced to the rest of the string quartet, as audience members, we have hope that these actors will provide us with genuine laughs. Perhaps some comedic parody or defined character humor, but there is none. Sellers is left with a cardboard character worthy of mere facial expressions and overblown acting. He is wasted because MacKendrick is too focused on Guinness. The same can be said for everyone else in the background the focuses more on cliché than on actual substantial characters. Major Courtney, One Round, Harry, and Louis are lost within the scene, leaving the audience to care nothing for them, giving us a less-involved ending.
With our major actors in no position to lead, we are left with a story that remains the excitement of this film. The heist scene alone is worth watching this movie for 90ish minutes. To have early scenes (and scenes after) carry the same theme song throughout, but then have no music at all during the heist – only enhanced the experience. Again, MacKendrick had to have known that he had a great script, I just wish he could have managed his actors a bit more. The choreography for the heist, as well as the cinematography, was pure caper. It was executed as well as any Michael Mann film could have dreamed. Everything from the actual robbery all the way until Mrs. Lopsided’s role in the scheme was introduced was finely tuned. Even the escape, which kept me on my toes, seemed well developed and enjoyable – but then again, we seemed to come to another hodgepodge thematic and tone downfall. The introduction of the other old ladies was fun, but after that – when the group begins to implode, it just doesn’t feel right. I was ready for the dark comedy, but there are always two parts to this – both the darkness and the comedy – and “The Ladykillers” was lacking in the latter.
So, the mix of bad characters with substantial plot really made this should-have-been great film into just another decent 50s British film. If MacKendrick would have focused a bit more on the actors’ abilities than I think he would have had a solid film, but without it – it just felt disjoined, poorly edited, and a splattering of good points with bad. Overall, just a mediocre film.
VIDEO: Anchor Bay’s release of this film (which is not out of print) was pretty well developed. There wasn’t much in the way of special features, but the presentation was there. The sound, sight, and detail were captured well on DVD – I just wish the overall film would have felt the same way.
VISUAL: The colors made this film worth watching. The British in the 50s made very colorful film, and despite this being a dark comedy, the colors do play a substantial role. This DVD transfer demonstrates that by giving us darks and brightness when needed. Albeit that sometimes it does get too dark, but it heightens the experience.
SOUND: Another great transfer for this film. The trains sounded as crisp as the music that was being played in Mrs. Lopsided’s home. The inclusion of the music in some scenes and not the others made for intense viewing and a sense of familiarity.
EXTRAS: Your typical cast bios done via sheet method, some trailers and that is about it. There is a Blu version coming soon that I hope packs a bit more in it – perhaps some history on this film would help raise the score.
Overall, I just wasn’t as impressed as I wanted to be. It began with quite a bit of excitement and creativity, but by the end I just wanted it to be over. I wanted to get to know the other characters more; I wanted to see them evolve like I did the story. I had high hopes for Sellers, whom is merely a background character – demonstrating none of his ability. Guinness does shine, but he cannot carry this entire film. The old lady made me laugh, and while the reimagine is no better, I can see why the Cohen’s wanted to remake their version. That final scene with the old lady was phenomenal, but why couldn’t the rest of the film follow suit. Decent – but nothing worth keeping or watching again or again.
Found in my “Movie Mom’s Guide to Family Films”, this has been a great run with the “L”s. Everything has been fresh and new, enjoyable and fun. As I have one left, I look forward to my next letter “C” and what that may bring. Until then, I am giving “The Ladykillers” a pink mark. Worth a viewing, but nothing more. One more left – let’s see what Disney has to offer.
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