Alec Guinness

  • Jean Negulesco – The Mudlark (1950)

    1941-1950ClassicsDramaJean NegulescoUnited Kingdom

    Synopsis:
    In 1875 London, young Wheeler (who lives by scavenging) finds a cameo of Queen Victoria, which he thinks so beautiful, he risks his life to save it. Possessed of a desire to see the Queen, he slips past the Beefeaters and wanders about Windsor Castle, just when a state dinner is in preparation. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli is struggling hard to persuade the Queen to end her long seclusion.Read More »

  • Peter Glenville – The Prisoner (1955)

    Drama1951-1960Peter GlenvilleUnited Kingdom

    Quote:
    British theatrical director Peter Glenville made his film directorial debut with 1955’s The Prisoner (Glenville had previous helmed the London stage production of this Bridget Boland play). The film is based on the real-life travails of Hungarian Cardinal Mindszenty, who after suffering under Nazi persecution was imprisoned by the new Communist regime for remaining loyal to his religious convictions. Alec Guinness, his head shaved, plays an unnamed Cardinal in an unspecified Eastern European country who is clapped into jail. Here he is ordered by the politicos to issue a phony statement to his flock, one that will effectively end Catholicism in his country. Jack Hawkins plays the diabolically clever “Interrogator”, who is almost successful in convincing Guinness that his false statement will have a beneficial effect. The Prisoner fared better in its American release than it did in Europe, where it was branded both “pro-Communist” and “anti-Communist” by various single-issue pressure groups.Read More »

  • Charles Crichton – The Lavender Hill Mob (1951)

    1951-1960Charles CrichtonComedyCrimeUnited Kingdom

    Wikipedia wrote:
    The Lavender Hill Mob is a 1951 comedy film from Ealing Studios, written by T.E.B. Clarke, directed by Charles Crichton and starring Alec Guinness, Stanley Holloway and Sid James as gold bullion thieves. The title refers to Lavender Hill, a street in Battersea, a district of South London, in the postcode district SW11, near to Clapham Junction railway station.

    Audrey Hepburn made an early film appearance in a small role as Chiquita near the start of the film.Read More »

  • David Lean – Oliver Twist (1948) (HD)

    1941-1950CrimeDavid LeanDramaUnited Kingdom

    Quote:
    Based on the Charles Dickens novel Oliver Twist is about an orphan boy who runs away from a workhouse and meets a pickpocket on the streets of London. Oliver is taken in by the pickpocket and he joins a household of young boys who are trained to steal for their master. This version of Oliver Twist is topped by Alec Guinness’s masterly performance of arch-thug Fagin
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  • Robert Hamer – Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)

    1941-1950ComedyCrimeRobert HamerUnited Kingdom


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    Synopsis:
    Director Robert Hamer’s fiendishly funny Kind Hearts and Coronets stands as one of Ealing Studios’ greatest triumphs, and one of the most wickedly black comedies ever made. Dennis Price is sublime as an embittered young commoner determined to avenge his mother’s unjust disinheritance by ascending to her family’s dukedom. Unfortunately, eight relatives—all played by the incomparable Alec Guinness—must be eliminated before he can do so.Read More »

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