The Ladykillers: The StudioCanal Collection
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Certificate: PG
Running Time: 87 Mins
Retail Price: £24.99
Release Date: 15/02/2010
Content Type: Movie
Synopsis:
The Ladykillers, director Alexander Mackendrick's third Ealing farce, is the final comedy produced by the famous British studio and one of its most celebrated. Like the equally applauded Kind Hearts And Coronets, the film is more sophisticated and blacker in tone than typically lighthearted Ealing fare (such as Mackendrick's Whiskey Galore!). Alec Guinness stars as the superbly shifty, toothily threatening Professor Marcus, the leader of a crime ring planning a heist.
Marcus rents rooms from a sweet, eccentric old lady, Mrs. Wilberforce (Katie Johnson), in her crooked London house. The professor and his co-conspirators, blowhard Major Courtney (Cecil Parker), creepily suave Louis (Herbert Lom), chubby Harry (Peter Sellers), and muscleman One-Round (Danny Green), pose as an unlikely string quartet using the rooms for rehearsal. Dodging Mrs. Wilberforce's constant interruptions, the hoods hit upon the idea to use her in the daring daylight robbery (filmed in and around London's King's Cross station). When the old girl discovers the truth, Marcus and company cannot persuade her to stay buttoned up about it and thus decide to do her in. Accompanied by a noirish cacophony of screeching trains, parrots, and little old ladies at afternoon tea, a series of unlikely events builds to the hilarious, surprising finale.
Special Features:
Filmed interviews with: Allan Scott, Terence Davies and Ronald Harwood
Audio Commentary with Philip Kemp: Mackendrick/Ladykillers expert
Interview with James Mangold - BD live option only
Forever Ealing Documentary
Introduction to The LadyKillers by Terry Gilliam
HD Trailer
Video Tracks:
1080p Full Frame 1.33:1
Audio Tracks:
DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono English
DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono Spanish
DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono French
DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono German
Subtitle Tracks:
French
Spanish
German
Italian
Danish
Dutch
Finnish
Norwegian
Swedish
Japanese
Directed By:
Alexander Mackendrick
Written By:
William Rose
Starring:
Alec Guinness
Cecil Parker
Herbert Lom
Peter Sellers
Danny Green
Katie Johnson
Jack Warner
Philip Stainton
Frankie Howerd
Fred Griffiths
Kenneth Connor
Soundtrack By:
Tristram Cary
Music From:
Tristram Cary
Director of Photography:
Otto Heller
Editor:
Jack Harris
Production Designer:
Anthony Mendleson
Visual Effects:
Sydney Pearson
Producer:
Seth Holt
Distributor:
Optimum Home Entertainment
StudioCanal Collection
Your Opinions and Comments
"To be honest the quality isn't that good... but when you consider the film is over 60 years old you can almost forgive that. It was a low budget film and so unlike a Hollywood extravaganza or a bid budget effect you can imagine the actual 'clean up' of the picture quality was either impossible or was thought unnecessary.
I found the quality of the picture to be great for what it was and there were no points where it became unwatchable and I guess that is what counts."