Rotten Tomatoes Logo Do you want to see ‘The Lavender Hill Mob’?

The Lavender Hill Mob (1951)

My Rating

Movie Info

Charles Crichton directed this Ealing caper comedy, with a witty script by T.E.B. Clarke that won an Academy Award. Alec Guinness is Henry Holland, an unassuming transporter of gold bullion who, after working for twenty years with no rewards in sight for his faithful service to his company, decides to reward himself by stealing one million pounds worth of gold. Calling on his old friend Pendlebury (Stanley Holloway), a manufacturer of paperweights and an amateur sculptor, and a couple of Cockney

Unrated, 1 hr. 18 min.

Drama, Classics, Comedy

T.E.B. Clarke

Sep 10, 2002

Cast

All Critics (31) | Top Critics (2) | Fresh (28) | Rotten (1) | DVD (10)

Inventive, economic, masterly.

July 24, 2011 Full Review Source: Observer [UK] | Comment
Observer [UK]

You are left wanting more rather than thinking less would have been better.

July 22, 2011 Full Review Source: This is London | Comment
This is London

It's tremendously good fun, though lighter in tone than Ealing's two scabrous masterpieces Kind Hearts and Coronets and The Ladykillers...

July 21, 2011 Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | Comment
Guardian [UK]

Both a joyous comedy and a tense thriller. Indeed, its climactic car-chase sequence is easily as dramatic as any of those found in today's summer blockbusters.

July 21, 2011 Full Review Source: Daily Telegraph | Comment
Daily Telegraph

[A] superb and subtle crime-film spoof.

July 21, 2011 Full Review Source: Radio Times | Comment
Radio Times

Alec Guinness shines in this hilarious British comedy.

July 18, 2011 Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | Comment
Empire Magazine

Inflation may have dented the allure of its 1m bullion heist, but this 1951 Ealing comedy is still 24-carat gold.

July 6, 2011 Full Review Source: Total Film | Comment
Total Film

Alec Guinness received a well deserved Oscar nomination for this hilarious British comedy

April 16, 2011 Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | Comment

The real joy of the movie is less about the caper than these two invisible, workaday men discovering the thrills of attempting something extraordinary - even if it is felonious.

October 18, 2010 Full Review Source: Sarasota Herald-Tribune | Comment

The Cockney wit is outrageously funny.

August 4, 2007 Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | Comment
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

Charles Crichton's direction is subtle but inventive - check out the snaking, near-single-take opening in a Rio cabana - and the performances, writing and plotting are faultless.

June 24, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out | Comment

Fun, perfectly realized Ealing Studios outing

March 22, 2005 Comment
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for The Lavender Hill Mob

The Lavender Hill Mob, one of the Ealing Studios classics was definitely amusing and had a few hysterical moments, but I didn't love it. The humor was witty and drier than Kafka in the Sahara. The movie has a reputation of being an absolute laugh riot (at least from what I've heard) but I didn't feel like the movie

February 17, 2011
mjgildea

Super Reviewer

Brilliant Ealing comedy, this pitch-perfect crime caper stars Alec Guinness in one of his finest performances, a timid clerk who decides to claim himself a fortune with a motely crew including Ealing mainstay Stanley Holloway. The film is probably the template for all bungling crime films, but mercifully lacks the

October 23, 2006
guttersnipe28
Antony Stubbs

Super Reviewer

The Lavender Hill Mob Quotes

No quotes approved yet for The Lavender Hill Mob. Logged in users can submit quotes.

Latest News for The Lavender Hill Mob

What's Hot On RT

Critics Consensus
Critics Consensus

Journey 2 Not Worth the Trip

Luis Guzman
Luis Guzman

What are his 10 best movies ever?

<em>Amazing Spider-Man</em>
Amazing Spider-Man

See the all-new action-packed trailer!

The Avengers!
The Avengers!

Five new Marvelous pictures

Top Movie Quizzes

LEGO Mania: 2011 Best Picture Nominees
by natalie - 18,564 taken
created 12 months ago
How Much Do You Know About Leonardo DiCaprio?
by natalie - 44,423 taken
created 15 months ago
Pixar Movies!
by jdikwlzviv - 27,149 taken
created 15 months ago
The Wizards of Harry Potter
by jdikwlzviv - 27,648 taken
created 15 months ago

Foreign Titles

  • De l'or en barres (FR)
Help | About | Jobs | Newsletter | Critics Submission | API | Licensing | Blog | Developers | Mobile