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Alec Guinness, Stanley Holloway, Sidney James, Alfie Bass, Marjorie Fielding ... see more see more... , Edie Martin , Ronald Adam , John Salew , Arthur Hambling , Gibb McLaughlin , John Gregson , Clive Morton , Frederick Piper , Peter Bull , Patric Doonan , Marie Burke , Audrey Hepburn , Michael Trubshawe , Patrick Barr , Jacques B. Brunius , Jacques Cey , Cyril Chamberlain , David Davies , Eugene Deckers , Archie Duncan , Meredith Edwards , Fred Griffiths , Christopher Hewett , Moultrie Kelsall , Charles Lamb , Andrea Malandrinos , Arthur Mullard , Marie Ney , Tony Quinn , Sydney Tafler , John Warwick , Robert Shaw , Frank Forsyth , Paul Demel , Dorian Joe Clark , Ann Heffernan , William Fox

Charles Crichton directed this Ealing caper comedy, with a witty script by T.E.B. Clarke that won an Academy Award. Alec Guinness is Henry Holland, an unassuming transporter of gold bullion who, after... read more read more... working for twenty years with no rewards in sight for his faithful service to his company, decides to reward himself by stealing one million pounds worth of gold. Calling on his old friend Pendlebury (Stanley Holloway), a manufacturer of paperweights and an amateur sculptor, and a couple of Cockney crooks, Lackery (Sidney James) and Shorty (Alfie Bass), they conspire to lift a gold shipment. After absconding with the gold, Henry melts the gold into a collection of souvenir Eiffel Towers, which he then ships off to Paris. But chaos reigns when a group of English schoolgirls purchase the gold towers, and the gang now become embroiled in a wild goose chase to recover their stolen gold. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

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85% liked it

5,022 ratings

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100% liked it

27 critics

Unrated, 1 hr. 18 min.

Directed by: Charles Crichton

Release Date: June 26, 1951

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DVD Release Date: September 10, 2002

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Stats: 267 reviews

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The Lavender Hill Mob (1951) Alec Guinness in The Lavender Hill Mob Audrey Hepburn and Sir Alec Guiness in The Lavender Hill Mob (1951) Alec Guinness in The Lavender Hill Mob
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Flixster Reviews (267)

  • mjgildea
    February 18, 2011
    mjgildea
    The Lavender Hill Mob, one of the Ealing Studios classics was definitely amusing and had a few hysterical moments, but I didn't love it. The humor was witty and drier than Kafka in the Sahara. The movie has a reputation of being an absolute laugh riot (at least from what I've hea... read morerd) but I didn't feel like the movie lived up to that expectation. Alec Guinness was as always superb, but the movie was nothing to flip out over. The 30 seconds of a young Audrey Hepburn definitely helped though...
  • guttersnipe28
    October 25, 2010
    guttersnipe28
    Brilliant Ealing comedy, this pitch-perfect crime caper stars Alec Guinness in one of his finest performances, a timid clerk who decides to claim himself a fortune with a motely crew including Ealing mainstay Stanley Holloway. The film is probably the template for all bungling cr... read moreime films, but mercifully lacks the slapstick of its imitators. Pacy and highly comical, this is definately worth your while. Watch out as well for Audrey Hpburn's tiny role as Chiquita in the first scene as well!
  • bottcorecords1
    April 8, 2010
    bottcorecords1
    Alec Guinness' other heist-comedy ("The Ladykillers") might have a slight edge over this one, but funnily enough, I prefer the actual heist from this movie. Guinness is a mild-mannered bank supervisor who oversees the gold bullion shipments for the bank of England. When a frust... read morerated artist (who makes lead paperweight replicas of the eiffel tower to sell to tourists in Paris) moves into his building, he gets an idea on how to smuggle stolen bullion out of the country. With the help of two criminal-type accomplices, the heist is planned out and executed to perfection. The police are quite perplexed and unsuspecting of Guinness, until one exceptionally clever member of scotland yard begins to suspect him. There are a few madcap chases in the movie which incorporate screwball comedy elements, but mostly the film's comedy relies on sublty rather than broad strokes. Guinness is fine, as usual, but the film itself isn't life-altering or mind-blowing in any way. Oh, it's perfectly serviceable, especially if you're looking for a mildly amusing crime-comedy, but I certainly wouldnt' call it a must-see.
  • Dracula787
    June 29, 2008
    Dracula787
    An Ealing comedy that is part comedy and part conventional heist film. The idea is that a group of misfits decide to commit a robbery if only because they needed an adventure to get away from their mundane lives. The fact that the heist participants are generally good natured peo... read moreple is a big part of why the movie works, and Alec Guinness is as good as ever. Ultimately it's a pretty frivolous good time, but it works pretty well and was a lot of fun.
  • PinkMinkPrincess
    August 3, 2011
    PinkMinkPrincess
    Delightful Caper Film.Henry Holland (Alec Guiness)is the most responsible employee at a Gold Bullion Co.for Twenty Years . Being unappreciated, underpaid, & considered dull but trustworthy , he becomes fed up with this perception & hatches a plan ,along friend who manufactures s... read moreouvenirs,& a few well chosen others, to commit the perfect flawless robbery.It seems so out of Character, no one would ever suspect him, but things take a funny turn when Eiffel Towers made of Gold get into the hands of School Girls on Vacay, some very ironic chaos results.Apparently this is based on a true story.Very Entertaining English Style Humor about the Course of Crime that doesn't Run Smoothly, it's very much Murphy's Law for these Blunder Plunderers
  • HuskersNC949597
    April 1, 2010
    HuskersNC949597
    I must say it's a little misleading to list Audrey Hepburn in the cast, she has 1 line and about 15 seconds of screen time. Generally speaking, well worth 80 minutes of my time, it beats doing stuff. It got a little too cheeky and/or stale/predictable here and there (not often,... read more it's only 80 minutes after all), but it's always fun to watch Obi-Wan play some kind of mild-mannered weiner.
  • matricialynnicus
    August 26, 2008
    matricialynnicus
    This film was somewhat creative, but not particularly funny for a film that was supposed to be funny.
  • LaggiexArexThexy
    January 27, 2007
    LaggiexArexThexy
    omg, i thought this movie would just be another of those really long movies that put you to sleep by the end, but this was HILARIOUS!!! ALEX GUINESS WAS AMAZING!!!
  • madelineschulman
    November 11, 2006
    madelineschulman
    A charming old comedy which justifies my fond memories. It is less frenetic than modern movies, although the centerpiece is a chase after six golden Eiffel towers. It has a gentle spirit and wonderful acting.

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Critic Reviews

Philip French
July 24, 2011
Philip French, Observer [UK]

Inventive, economic, masterly. Full Review

Derek Malcolm
July 22, 2011
Derek Malcolm, This is London

You are left wanting more rather than thinking less would have been better. Full Review

Peter Bradshaw
July 21, 2011
Peter Bradshaw, Guardian [UK]

It's tremendously good fun, though lighter in tone than Ealing's two scabrous masterpieces Kind Hearts and Coronets and The Ladykillers... Full Review

Sukhdev Sandhu
July 21, 2011
Sukhdev Sandhu, Daily Telegraph

Both a joyous comedy and a tense thriller. Indeed, its climactic car-chase sequence is easily as dramatic as any of those found in today's summer blockbusters. Full Review

David Parkinson
July 21, 2011
David Parkinson, Radio Times

[A] superb and subtle crime-film spoof. Full Review

David Parkinson
July 18, 2011
David Parkinson, Empire Magazine

Alec Guinness shines in this hilarious British comedy. Full Review

Jamie Russell
July 6, 2011
Jamie Russell, Total Film

Inflation may have dented the allure of its 1m bullion heist, but this 1951 Ealing comedy is still 24-carat gold. Full Review

Emanuel Levy
April 16, 2011
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

Alec Guinness received a well deserved Oscar nomination for this hilarious British comedy Full Review

Christopher Lloyd
October 18, 2010
Christopher Lloyd, Sarasota Herald-Tribune

The real joy of the movie is less about the caper than these two invisible, workaday men discovering the thrills of attempting something extraordinary - even if it is felonious. Full Review

Dennis Schwartz
August 4, 2007
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews

The Cockney wit is outrageously funny. Full Review

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