Movie Review: The Ladykillers (1955)

We were looking for something to watch last night so I asked Jay to pick a movie off my list. He suggested The Ladykillers (1955) adding, “The last time I saw this movie, you weren’t even born yet” – a brutal reminder that there are thirteen years between us. Jay continued by saying that he could have only been about ten when he first saw The Ladykillers which, he said, proved how good the movie is because getting a kid that age to sit through anything, much less a heist movie, is damn near impossible.

Though… to be fair, calling The Ladykillers a heist movie does it a disservice. It does center around a robbery, but the robbery takes place very early on and the majority of the movie deals instead with the fallout. It’s either a comedy with sinister undertones or a humorous crime drama. Either way, it works.

Except the whole getting-anywhere-near-a-horse thing. ‘Cause, you know… death.

This one really is a who’s who of 1950’s British cinema, including an uncredited cameo from ‘Allo ‘Allo’s Monsieur Alfonse (Kenneth Connor) as a frazzled taxi driver. The main baddie, Alec Guinness’s Professor Marcus, was unrecognizable with his wispy hair and fake teeth. I swear Guinness looked older in this than he did twenty-two years later in Star Wars: A New Hope! And not forgetting, of course, Pink Panther’s Peter Sellers and Herbert Lom starring in their first feature film together.

While there are some brilliant actors in The Ladykillers (and I adore Mrs. Wilberforce’s dottery chaos,) my favourite of all is Danny Green’s One-Round, the too-big, bumbling, surprisingly sweet criminal who flat-out refuses to kill “Mrs. Lopsided” but is happy enough to kill anyone who hurts her. Probably because he reminds me of my own too-big, bumbling, oh so sweet Khaaaan.

Having seen it, I can see why Jay enjoyed it as a kid. It’s light-hearted enough to keep youngsters entertained with silly expressions and a little slapstick, but is entertaining enough, with a strong plot and likeable characters that draws in adults too. Although it’s obviously dated (but not in that “Remember, it was a different time” way that makes me want to throw things,) I’d still consider it a good family movie for a lazy Sunday afternoon.