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The Lavender Hill Mob (1951)
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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writer:
T.E.B. Clarke (original screenplay)
Release Date:
10 September 1951 (Sweden)
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Tagline:
He stole $3,000,000 in gold and that's a lot of BULLion! more
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. full summary | add synopsis
Awards:
Won Oscar.
Another 2 wins
&
4 nominations
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NewsDesk:
(6 articles)
Retro Cafe: 'The Man in the White Suit'
(From CinemaSpy. 31 May 2009, 9:05 PM, PDT)
Ealing Studios Backed by Disney
(From WENN. 14 April 2003)
(From CinemaSpy. 31 May 2009, 9:05 PM, PDT)
Ealing Studios Backed by Disney
(From WENN. 14 April 2003)
User Comments:
Breaking the bank
more (38 total)
Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only) | Alec Guinness | ... | Holland |
 | Stanley Holloway | ... | Pendlebury |
| Sid James | ... | Lackery (as Sidney James) |
| Alfie Bass | ... | Shorty |
| 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 |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
UK:81 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (RCA Sound System)
Certification:
Iceland:L |
USA:Approved (MPAA rating: certificate #15054) |
UK:U (video rating) (1988) |
Finland:K-16 |
Sweden:15 |
UK:U
Filming Locations:
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
T.E.B. Clarke was originally meant to do a sequel to the popular police drama, The Blue Lamp (1950), but he quickly decided he'd much rather write a comedy instead.
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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.
more
Quotes:
Pendlebury:
Now it's all over, I suppose I may dare say it's been a most remarkable coup.
Shorty: The biggest job of its kind since One-Eyed Dobson got away with the GIs' pay packets. Two million dollars, Grosvenor Square, 'forty-five.
Henry Holland: That was before devaluation. And this is one million pounds.
Shorty: Oh, that's right. Blimey. We've got the record!
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Shorty: The biggest job of its kind since One-Eyed Dobson got away with the GIs' pay packets. Two million dollars, Grosvenor Square, 'forty-five.
Henry Holland: That was before devaluation. And this is one million pounds.
Shorty: Oh, that's right. Blimey. We've got the record!
more
Movie Connections:
Featured in "Best of British: Ealing Comedies (#5.12)" (1993)
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Soundtrack:
Music
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FAQ
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more (38 total)
Message Boards
Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for The Lavender Hill Mob (1951)| Recent Posts (updated daily) | User |
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| Movie location | billy-168 |
| The ending | spb_x99 |
| Audrey + Sir Alec | Master_of_the_Pride |
| Favourite Ealing? | HarryCC41 |
| Valerie Singleton | cgiovannone |
| Re-enacting scenes | carolsh |
Recommendations
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This is a comedy the talented Alec Guinnes did for the Ealing studio in the early part of his career. Of his Ealing days, he left us a legacy that is hard to surpass: "Kind Hearts and Coronets", "The Ladykillers" and this one, that comes to mind.
Directed by Charles Crichton and written by T.E. Clarke, this is a fun movie that in spite of the years since it was filmed, it still charms its audiences, young and old.
The background is a London, right after the war. The film is original in that it takes us all over the city to places that one can identify so clearly, even after more than 50 years! It speaks of how careful are the English not to destroy their monuments.
As the would be robbers, Henry "Dutch" Holland is a man with a plan. He recognizes in his neighbor of the Lavender Hill rooming house, Alfred Pendlebury, a kindred soul that will see his proposal of how to steal the precious gold bullion from the Bank of England. It's a big operation, yet, only four people are needed to carry on the job.
This is a comedy of errors, where the best laid plans go awry in the small details the gang hadn't planned. The sure thing becomes a dead giveaway to the authorities once Holland and Pendlebury decide to go after the souvenir one young student bought in Paris that is part of the loot. Prior to that, the scenes in Paris at the Eiffel Tower was an original sequence for a movie that relies on intelligence rather than in overblown special effects.
Alec Guinness is charming as the master mind behind the heist. Stanley Holloway, a great English actor is magnificent as the man with an artistic eye, who almost derails the operation. Sid James and Alfie Bass contribute to make the film the joy it is with their comic presence. In a small cameo that comes and goes so quickly, we watch a young and elegant Audrey Hepburn makes an graceful appearance.
This is a film for all Ealing fans of all ages.