The Lavender Hill Mob

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The Lavender Hill Mob

Released Sep 10, 1951

1h 18m

Comedy

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100%

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72 Reviews

86%

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5,000+ Ratings

A meek clerk (Alec Guinness), his buddy (Stanley Holloway) and crooks melt hijacked Bank of England gold into Eiffel Tower souvenirs.

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Critics Consensus

Fiendishly funny and clever, The Lavender Hill Mob is a top hat Ealing Studios effort.

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Wendy Ide

Times (UK)

... A wonderfully disreputable little farce.

Apr 22, 2024

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Richard L. Coe

Washington Post

Alec Guinness is delightfully dry as the thinking worm and Stanley Holloway a perfect foil as the blustery geegaw manufacturer.

Apr 18, 2024

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Gavin Lambert

Sight & Sound

The ingenious starting point of T.E.B. Clarke's script of The Lavender Hill Mob provides some episodes of original and diverting comedy, and allows Alec Guinness and Stanley Holloway to develop two characterizations in lively contrast.

Apr 18, 2024

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Joseph Tomastik

Loud and Clear Reviews

It’s a very breezy, casually funny caper that revels in how paper-thin the characters’ motivations are.

Rated: 3.5/5

Dec 8, 2024

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Alex Heeney

Seventh Row

Like a lesser Kind Hearts and Coronets, The Lavendar Hill Mob is lightly class-conscious about the desperation for money in post-war Britain, relies heavily on the immensely talented Guinness’s performance, is queer-coded, and a highly amusing caper.

Rated: 3/5

Oct 5, 2024

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Sara Hamilton

Photoplay

A British riot.

Apr 18, 2024

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Louise C

A most enjoyable classic, viewed multiple times.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

04/20/25

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Davide l

Not a masterpiece but almost and a great caper, a good bit of fun.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

04/13/24

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Paul G

The high rating is lost on me. It's an okay film but nothing special. Its not that funny if its supposed to be a comedy. Alec is okay in it but there are many better films he is in. Meh, okay but nothing special.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

01/24/24

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Alec B

A delightful heist comedy. As the complications pile up Guinness and Holloway's frantic energy becomes infectious.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

01/08/24

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isla s

This is an amusing English 'bumbling caper' type of a comedy crime film classic, from the famous Ealing Studios. It features cheery characters, including the rather mild-mannered Henry Holland, who supervises the delivery of gold bullion and whom, for whatever reason, mildly reminded me of Dr Strangelove(!) although he's played by Alec Guinness and not Peter Sellers. I think it's due to the egg-shaped glasses and smirky type smile perhaps?. In any case, the (somewhat) simplicity (and lack of bloody violence) is quite charming in a way - it's hardly a gritty modern film but then that might well appeal to some. I found it amusing hearing the very genteel sounding, 'proper'/professional 'BBC English' dialogue spoken by a narrator not shown on screen. I suppose there tends to be a certain satisfaction in seeing crafty criminals manage to outsmart the more than comfortably well off. Sid James plays the more typical head henchman/shady type out of the group. The scenes showing an elderly lady letting the criminals into her house made me smile - of course, it reminded me 'The Ladykillers'. The last quarter of the film I found particularly amusing but overall its certainly an enjoyable and sometimes amusing watch, a classic comedy by all accounts and I would recommend it, yes.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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Audience Member

It's a fun caper but not quite sure where the supposed comedy reveals itself. Watchable in any case.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/28/23

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Charles Crichton

Director

Alec Guinness

Henry Holland

Stanley Holloway

Alfred Pendlebury

Sid James

Lackery Wood

Alfie Bass

Shorty

Marjorie Fielding

Mrs. Chalk

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Synopsis

A meek clerk (Alec Guinness), his buddy (Stanley Holloway) and crooks melt hijacked Bank of England gold into Eiffel Tower souvenirs.

Director: Charles Crichton
Producer: Michael Balcon
Screenwriter: T.E.B. Clarke
Production Co: Ealing Studios, J. Arthur Rank Films [gb]
Genre: Comedy
Original Language: British English
Release Date (Theaters): Sep 10, 1951, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 1, 2010
Box Office (Gross USA): $15.4K
Runtime: 1h 18m

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