The Ladykillers is a 1955 British black comedy crime film directed by Alexander Mackendrick for Ealing Studios. It stars Alec Guinness, Cecil Parker, Herbert Lom, Peter Sellers, Danny Green, Jack Warner, and Katie Johnson as the old lady, Mrs. Wilberforce.

William Rose wrote the screenplay,

Robinson was the first major film role for Peter Sellers; he would later appear with Lom in five of The Pink Panther films.

Sellers and Guinness would appear together again in Murder by Death (1976).

Production

The Ladykillers was the last Technicolor three-strip movie filmed in the UK, although The Feminine Touch was the last feature to be filmed in this process and released three months later, in 1956.

<blockquote>"When Alec, as the Professor, is killed by a railway signal falling onto his head, the production crew made sure that this would not in fact happen by placing a metal pin half an inch above the level of Alec's head. Lines were drawn in chalk to mark where he should stand for the shot. When it came to the take, however, the signal sheared the metal pin and tore the back of Alec's jacket. He had been standing an inch or two in front of the chalk mark – a mistake that saved his life." – Piers Paul Read</blockquote>

William Rose left the production midway, following arguments with director Alexander Mackendrick and associate producer Seth Holt, leaving them to complete the script from his notes.

Awards and nominations

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"

|-

! Award

! Category

! Nominee(s)

! Result

|-

| Academy Awards

| Best Screenplay – Original

| William Rose

|

|-

| rowspan="4"| British Academy Film Awards

| Best Film from any Source

| rowspan="2"| The Ladykillers

|

|-

| Best British Film

|

|-

| Best British Actress

| Katie Johnson

|

|-

| Best British Screenplay

| William Rose

|

|}

Reception

Box office

According to the National Film Finance Corporation, the film made a comfortable profit. It was the last financially successful Ealing film made under its association with Rank.

Critical response

The film received critical acclaim from critics. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a rare approval rating of 100% based on 35 reviews, with an average score of 8.7/10. The website's consensus reads, "The Ladykillers is a macabre slow-burn with quirky performances of even quirkier characters." On Metacritic, the film received a score of 91 based on 7 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".

The British Film Institute ranked The Ladykillers the 13th greatest British film of all time. In 2017 a poll of 150 actors, directors, writers, producers and critics for Time Out magazine saw it ranked the 29th best British film ever.

Reputation

In 2000, readers of Total Film magazine voted The Ladykillers the 36th greatest comedy film of all time, and The Guardian labelled it the 5th greatest comedy of all time in 2010.

Adaptations

thumb|upright|[[The Ladykillers (play)|The Ladykillers playing at the Gielgud Theatre in the West End, December 2011.]]

  • In 1966, the film was adapted into an opera by the Czech composer Ilja Hurník under the name The Lady and the Robbers (Dáma a lupiči), which was premiered in Brno in October 1973.
  • In 1969, the film was adapted into Egyptian film "Thieves But Funny" (original name: لصوص ولكن ظرفاء) starring Ahmed Mazhar and Adel Emam.
  • On 13 January 1996, an adaptation for radio of the film, by Bruce Bedford, was first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 starring Edward Petherbridge and Margot Boyd.
  • In 2004, the Coen brothers directed an American remake of the film, starring Tom Hanks, Irma P. Hall, Marlon Wayans, J. K. Simmons, Tzi Ma and Ryan Hurst. The setting of the film is moved from London to Saucier, Mississippi, home of a riverboat casino.
  • In 2011, the film was adapted as the play The Ladykillers by Graham Linehan. It premiered at the Liverpool Playhouse in November that year before transferring to the Gielgud Theatre in London with Peter Capaldi as Professor Marcus.
  • In 2013, the play was revived at the London Vaudeville Theatre and subsequently toured the UK and Ireland. This revived production featured a new cast.
  • In June 2019, the play had its North American premiere at the Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada with Damien Atkins as Professor Marcus and Chick Reid as Mrs. Wilberforce.

See also

  • BFI Top 100 British films
  • The Pardoner's Tale

References

  • – https://cdn.theguardian.tv/mainwebsite/2015/10/28/151028Ladykillers_desk.mp4 https://cdn.theguardian.tv/3gp/small/2015/10/28/151028Ladykillers_small.3gp --> video
  • Then and now photographs of locations Martin Underwood, January 2014
  • 'The Ladykillers' Locations at Reelstreets.com
  • 'The Ladykillers' locations documentary at YouTube