Reviews

A piece of froth from post war Britain. Its chief interest nowadays is that it is so evocative of the gentitlity and manners which used to be an integral part of British life and now isn't. It is never a good idea for a successful series to grow self-indulgent as the Neagle/Wilcox series was by this time. At one stage Wilding describes the leading lady as "putting one in mind of Anna Neagle" and elsewhere Graves is divested of a "Michael Wilding Fan Club" card by the policeman. However it is well photographed, the dance numbers still stand up well and all in all it is a nice way to pass a couple of hours.

This film should be studied by all who seek info on a type of film popular for a while in 50's and 60's Britain. Although obviously of limited budget, it fielded an unusually fine cast including several stalwarts and many actors and actresses - Hazel Court, Donald Pleasance, Harry H Corbett who went on to greater things and starred the extremely underrated Terence Morgan,three years before he became known as TV's "Sir Francis Drake". The film is also something of an historical document, bringing back a time when nightclubs were uncommon, close and intimate and hoping to cater for a select clientelle instead of loud and bleary as they are now. The plot has holes in it but the acting is of a high standard which more than redeems the film.

At the time it was made, one of the aims behind Kind Hearts and Coronets was to showcase the English language. I know of no other film which does this so well. It is this plus the superb performances which make the film, like a good book, worth returning to again and again. It is one of my two favourite films (the other being the 1960 version of "Inherit the Wind" - which also features superb dialogue. It will remain required viewing for any student, not only of the cinema, but of all that was best of a vanished age of English gentility and refinement which had by no means disappeared at the time the film was made.