Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)

 Robert Hamer's "Kind Hearts and Coronets"


The 1949 British comedy "Kind Hearts and Coronets" is perhaps most notable for the innumerable characters that iconic actor Alec Guinness played. However, beyond that simple factoid, the film stands as one of the greatest British films of the decade, on top of being incredibly cheeky. 

The film centers on the son of a woman disowned by her aristocratic family. He is currently 7th in line for the throne and after his mother's death, he seeks to avenge her by eliminating the successors to the throne in front of him. One by one, he visits them and through various means, murders them off until he becomes the sole successor. However, his scheme hits a bit of a snap along the way.

I found the film to be rather humorous. On top of that, I noticed its major themes centering on class suppression bubbling up through the form of quiet rebellion. Although the protagonist is technically a 'royal' himself, he seems to represent the oppressed masses enacting their revenge against their aristocratic elite. It's a film muddled in class dynamics done with the upmost British sensibility.



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