Kind Hearts and Coronets

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)