Kind Hearts And Coronets
- 1949 film
Black Ealing comedy with eight classic characterisations by Alec Guinness as the noble victims of vengeance-seeking relative Dennis Price. Stars Dennis Price, Valerie Hobson, Joan Greenwood and Alec Guinness.
- Repeated Wednesday at 11am on Film4
Press clippings
Cinema and 4K Blu-ray releases for Ealing classic comedies
Ealing Studios classics The Lavender Hill Mob and Kind Hearts & Coronets will return to cinemas this year, and come to UHD Blu-ray for the first time as stunning new 4K restorations.
British Comedy Guide, 21st February 2024Join Lisa Armstrong to watch Kind Hearts & Coronets
The Telegraph virtual movie club is back for its third instalment, featuring Kind Hearts And Coronets.
On Tuesday 31 March at 5pm, The Telegraph's Head of Fashion Lisa Armstrong will be hosting this live blog for a communal re-watch of the black and white British comedy classic: one of Lisa's all-time favourite films.
Lisa Armstrong, The Telegraph, 30th March 2020Why Ealing's murderous comedy is the greatest UK film
For as long as I can remember, I have considered Kind Hearts and Coronets to be the greatest film in the history of British cinema.
Simon Heffer, The Telegraph, 30th June 2019Kind Hearts And Coronets gets stage adaptation by Stephen Fry
One of British cinema's most celebrated comedies, Kind Hearts And Coronets, has been adapted for the stage by Stephen Fry. Producers hope to open the play in the West End next year.
British Comedy Guide, 21st June 2019On the set of Kind Hearts and Coronets - in pictures
Released in 1949, Kind Hearts and Coronets remains one of the all time classics of British cinema. As a 4k restoration is released for its 70th anniversary, we see actors Dennis Price, Alec Guinness and Joan Greenwood and director Robert Hamer at work.
The Guardian, 6th June 2019Kind Hearts And Coronets gets 70th anniversary re-release
Classing Ealing Studios film Kind Hearts And Coronets is returning to cinemas in June, fully restored and remastered to mark its 70th anniversary this year. Blu-ray and DVD editions are also available to order.
British Comedy Guide, 30th April 2019Hamer's blade-sharp Ealing comedy is celebrated for Alec Guinness's multifaceted performance as all eight of the doomed D'Ascoynes, but there are other treasures: the suave malice of Dennis Price's draper's assistant-cum-serial killer, Mazzini, who decides to murder his way to the family dukedom; the portrayal of Edwardian England and its snobby mores; and the delicious glee with which the awful upper classes are dispatched (Mazzini would know how to deal with the Bullingdon crowd). A bitter and subversive tale.
Paul Howlett, The Guardian, 25th November 2015Kind Hearts and Coronets: Telegraph 1949 review
Kind Hearts and Coronets is considered one of the finest British post-war comedies. This Ealing Comedy masterpiece, which was digitally restored in 2011, starred Alec Guinness and was directed by Robert Hamer. The original Daily Telegraph review, published on June 27, 1949, was listed under the section 'Film Notes' and carried the simple byline 'R. P. M. G'. He saw the film in London's Leicester Square. The film's title derives from Tennyson's 1842 poem Lady "Clara Vere de Vere": "Kind hearts are more than coronets/And simple faith than Norman blood."
The Telegraph, 31st December 2013