The Ladykillers (1955)
- Starring:
- Alec Guinness, Cecil Parker, (more)
- Director(s):
- Alexander MacKendrick
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My RatingSynopsis of The Ladykillers
Music professor Alec Guinness rents a London flat from sweet old lady Katie Johnson. He tells her that, from time to time, several other musicians will visit in order to rehearse. In truth, Guinness can't play a note, nor can his visitors: he's a criminal mastermind, holding court over a gang of thieves, including the likes of punkish Peter Sellers, homicidal Herbert Lom and punchdrunk Danny Green. The gang uses Guinness' flat as headquarters as they conceive a daring 60,000 pound robbery. After pulling off the job, the gang stuffs the loot in a railway station locker. To avoid detection, Guinness convinces the ever-trusting Johnson to pick up the money. Through a series of comic complications, Johnson returns home with a police escort, with neither the woman nor the bobbies suspecting that she's carrying a fortune in her suitcase. Mistakenly believing that Johnson has ratted on them, the gang reluctantly plans to eliminate her. The Ladykillers won an Oscar nomination for William Rose's screenplay, and a BFA award for veteran character actress Johnson. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Theatrical Feature Running Time:
- 91 mins
Complete Cast of The Ladykillers
- Alec Guinness - Professor Marcus
- Herbert Lom - Louis Harvey
- Katie Johnson - Mrs. Louisa Alexandra Wilberforce
- Jack Warner - Police Superintendent
- Philip Stainton - Sergeant
- Kenneth Connor - The Cab Driver
- Helen Burls - Hypatia
- Leonard Sharp - Pavement Artist
- Edie Martin - Lettice
- Cecil Parker - Maj. Courteney
- Peter Sellers - Harry Robinson
- Danny Green - One-Round
- Frankie Howerd - Barrow Boy
- Fred Griffiths - Junk Man
- Harold Goodwin - Parcels Clerk
- Ewan Roberts - Constable
- Stratford Johns - Security Guard
- Jack Melford - Detective
- Director(s):
- Alexander MacKendrick
- Writer(s):
- William Rose
- Producer(s):
- Michael Balcon
- 1955 - British Academy of Film and Television Arts - Best Screenplay
- 1955 - British Academy of Film and Television Arts - Best British Actress
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