The Lavender Hill Mob

A film review by Christopher Null - Copyright © 2005 Filmcritic.com

This Ealing Studios crime caper/comedy is one of the studio's best, with Alec Guinness the nebbish, unlikely leader of a plan to steal a truckload of gold from the Bank of England, then smuggle it out of the country by melting it into Eiffel Tower statuettes. Naturally, something goes wrong (namely, a clerk at the Tower obliviously begins selling the statues to tourists), which sends the film into one of the funniest chase sequences in film history. Watch for two cameos: One by an Ealing production truck (at the end) and one by Audrey Hepburn (at the beginning).

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Rating

4.0 out of 5 Stars

Cast and Crew

  • Director: Charles Crichton
  • Producer: Michael Balcon
  • Screenwriter: T.E.B. Clarke
  • Stars: Alec Guinness, Stanley Holloway, Sid James, Alfie Bass, Marjorie Fielding
  • MPAA Rating: NR