Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)

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106 mins – view video trailer

Director: Robert Hamer
Starring: Dennis Price, Alec Guinness, Valerie Hobson

Genres: Comedy, Crime

IMDB 8.2 / Amazon 4.8 / MRQE /

Oscars: none

Ranked #75 Greatest Movies Through 1960, a Zagat Top Movie

A distant poor relative of the Duke of D’Ascoyne plots to inherit the title by murdering the eight other heirs who stand ahead of him in the line of succession. IMDB 8.2 rating from over 18,082 users

Set in Victorian England, Robert Hamer’s 1949 masterpiece Kind Hearts and Coronets remains the most gracefully mordant of the Ealing comedies. Dennis Price plays Louis D’Ascoyne, the would-be Duke of Chalfont whose mother was spurned by her noble family for marrying an Italian singer for love. Louis resolves to avenge his mother by murdering the relatives ahead of him in line for the dukedom, all of whom are played by Alec Guinness. Amazon 4.8 stars from over 75 users

MRQE

Madison Public Library

The Third Man (1949)

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104 min – view video trailer

Director: Carol Reed
Starring: Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli

Genres: Film-Noir, Mystery, Thriller

IMDB 8.5 / Amazon 4.6 / MRQE 91% / ReelViews 4 stars

Oscars: nominated for 3, won 1 (Best Cinamatography)

Ranked #17 Greatest Movies Through 1960, a Zagat Top Movie, included in 19 of 37 lists of Greatest Movies

Pulp novelist Holly Martins travels to shadowy, postwar Vienna, only to find himself investigating the mysterious death of an old friend, black-market opportunist Harry Lime. IMDB rating 8.5 from over 66,630 users

Zagat summary snippet: Hailed as all around perfect with a memorable final fade, this masterful postwar noir simmers with shadowy intrigue as an alienated Cotten encounters romance and betrayal while searching bombed out Vienna for a mysterious black marketeer (Welles).

In this all-time classic thriller with stunning cinematography, twisting plot and unforgettable zither score, Martins searches for Lime through the seedy underworld of postwar Vienna and gets caught up in a web of love, deception, racketeering, and murder. Amazon 4.6 stars from over 338 users

From a visual standpoint, The Third Man consistently impresses. The black-and-white cinematography is crisp and clean. Orson Welles is credited as once saying that every performance is better in black-and-white, and, viewing something like The Third Man, it’s not hard to understand why. The atmosphere is deeper and the images are more striking. ReelViews highest 4 star rating

MRQE gave it 91% rating with links to more than 114 reviews

Madison Public Library