Henry Holland is an unassuming bank employee, dealing with gold bullion every day. With his friend Pendlebury, he comes up with a plan to steal the gold through Pendlebury's souvenir business, they recruit habitual criminals Lackery and Shorty for the job but encounter a number of unexpected obstacles.
by Kim Newman |
Published on
Release Date:
21 Jun 1951
Running Time:
18 minutes
Certificate:
U
Original Title:
Lavender Hill Mob, The
Mild-mannered bank clerk Alec Guinness gets together with best mate Stanley Holloway and colourful rogues Sid James and Alfie Bass to execute an armoured car robbery, then smuggle the gold out of the country by melting it down into souvenir models of the Eiffel Tower and despatching them to France.
Directed by Charles Crichton and written by T.E.B. Clarke (who won an Oscar for his efforts), this is a gently amoral comedy thriller, depicting the drab office worker's rebellion against the grey 1950s in terms of daring larceny without malice, but hinting ever so subtly at the real madness underlying such adventures in criminality. In a wonderful cast (Audrey Hepburn has a tiny bit part).
Guinness is masterful as the apparently unassuming Mr. Holland, who shyly confesses to his partners in crime that he'd like them to call him "Dutch".
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