The Lavender Hill Mob (1951)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Charles Crichton

Writer:

T.E.B. Clarke (writer)

Release Date:

10 September 1951 (Sweden)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime

Tagline:

He stole $3,000,000 in gold and that's a lot of BULLion!

Plot:

A meek bank clerk who oversees the shipment of bullion joins with an eccentric neighbor to steal gold bars and smuggle them out of the country as miniature Eifel Towers.

Plot Keywords:

Seine | Banker | South America | Armored Car | Hotel

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 2 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Alec Guinness	...	Henry Holland
Stanley Holloway	...	Alfred Pendlebury
Sid James	...	Lackery (as Sidney James)
Alfie Bass	...	Shorty Fisher
Marjorie Fielding	...	Mrs. Chalk
Edie Martin	...	Miss Evesham
John Salew	...	Parkin
Ronald Adam	...	Turner
Arthur Hambling	...	Wallis
Gibb McLaughlin	...	Godwin
John Gregson	...	Farrow
Clive Morton	...	Station Sergeant
Sydney Tafler	...	Clayton
Marie Burke	...	Senora Gallardo
Audrey Hepburn	...	Chiquita

Runtime:

UK:81 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English | French | Portuguese

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Iceland:L | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:U

Filming Locations:

Bank Underground Station, London, England, UK

Company:

Ealing Studios

Trivia:

"Of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these - it might have been" is a taken from 'Maud Muller', a poem by John Greenleaf Whittier.

Goofs:

Continuity: After the raid we see the maroon (dark colored) bullion van being driven into an abandoned warehouse to be emptied (33mins 10 secs into the movie). In the next short shot of the van parking, the van has now become a light colored van. After that we see the dark colored van again.

Quotes:

Henry Holland: Pendlebury.
Pendlebury: Yeah?
Henry Holland: Pendlebury.
Pendlebury: What?
Henry Holland: May I call you Alfred?
Pendlebury: Alfred? Call me Al. And I'll call you... Henry, isn't it.
Henry Holland: A name I never cared for.
Pendlebury: Hm?
Henry Holland: Mm. Call me Dutch.
Pendlebury: Dutch. Yes.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Just a Minute: (#2.2)" (1994)

Soundtrack:

Music

Small Ealing comedy that still delivers.

A banker decides to rob his own bank.

A classic small British film that punches above it weight. Good cast get their teeth in to an Oscar winning script. The kind of film they should show at films schools to show how good films are constructed and delivered. One of the top 100 comedy films ever made - although delivers small chuckles rather than out-and-out laughs.