Director
Robert Hamer
Cast
Dennis Price, Alec Guinness, Valerie Hobson
104'
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1949
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Crime, Comedy
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Dialogue:
Italian, English
This comedy on the craving for social position and the art of murder has a brittle wit that came as a bit of a shock: such amoral lines were not generally spoken in 40s movies. The film is
heartless and that is the secret of its elegance. Ninth in line to inherit a dukedom, the young
hero eliminates the intervening eight - a snob, a general, a photographer, an admiral, a
suffragette, a clergyman, a banker, and the duke - all played by Alec Guinness. Secure in the
knowledge that Guinness will return in another form, the audience suffers no regret as each
abominable D'Ascoyne is coolly dispatched. And as the murderer takes us further into his
confidence with each foul deed, we positively look forward to his next success. (Pauline Kael)
Image gallery
![Cc2b07d7 b355 4e0d 9f81 8f40d957f084](https://filmfest.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.filmfestival.be%2Fvolumes%2Fgeneral%2Fcc2b07d7-b355-4e0d-9f81-8f40d957f084.jpeg%3Fv%3D1709295309?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=clip&q=80&w=600&s=b7c766fcfca0d74f404e109d3b654d60)
![Fc71d512 3f39 475b aa64 605addb1bbaa](https://filmfest.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.filmfestival.be%2Fvolumes%2Fgeneral%2Ffc71d512-3f39-475b-aa64-605addb1bbaa.jpeg%3Fv%3D1709295309?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=clip&q=80&w=600&s=47c980b3683b74f7fadbe1fe6de46a94)
Credits
Directors
Robert Hamer
Cast
Dennis Price, Alec Guinness, Valerie Hobson
Scenario
Robert Hamer, John Dighton
More info
Dialogue
Italian, English
Countries of production
United Kingdom
Screenplay based on
een verhaal van Roy Horniman
Year
1949