The Ladykillers

Alec Guinness and Katie Johnson are both wonderful, the plot is cleverly constructed, and I was entertained for the most part. But it isn't terribly funny, just kind of... amusing.

Terrific black comedy from the glory days at Britain's Ealing Studio. Alec Guinness has a great time doing the comically sinister thing, and the actual caper is a tour de force of comedy. Beautifully photographed, quite atmospheric. Add this to your DVD collection and just forget about the lousy remake.

It's the plot, not the humor, that carries this crime comedy, although it's certainly an amusing and sometimes quite funny film. The cast is great, with Katie Johnson as the old lady and Alec Guinness as the creepy leader of the gang being the standouts. The whole set piece with the train smoke was very well thought out, and the end was wonderful.

Alec Guinness is one of the best character actors ever. Look at him in Oliver Twist then compare him in this film then look at him in A Passage To India. Unbelievable that it's all the same guy. I thought this movie was funny but not exactly gut busting funny. I found the plot more interesting than all the gags. The ending was great and definitely not what I expected.

It has a great cast including a very creepy Alec Guinness. It's well made, but I honestly laughed more at the Coen remake.

Bizarre and surreal comedy which relies on gentle, droll humour rather than gut-busting hilarity. That being said, Guinness' facial expressions are priceless and Johnson's slyly befuddled turn as Mrs Wilburforce are still rich veins of hilarity. Sellers is oddly underused, but Lom is terrific as a sinister gang member, and Green is great as a heavy with an intelligence complex ("Don't call me stupid!") Mrs. W's strange, cockeyed residence looks like something from a Kaufman or Anderson film!

Yeah it's kind of funny, but more in how terribly awkward and strange the whole thing is than anything else. Even so it's still a pretty good caper film.

I guess the thing about this movie is that I was just simply uninterested, it was pretty slow, and largely boring. I would have expected more from it's reputation and the good names in it, but it just didn't do it for me.

Don't be such a cop, Mrs. Wilburforce

I never tire of revisiting this, with the comforting particularity of English understatement which permeates the comedic tone throughout: a masterpiece in ensemble character acting.

I do think this has significant pacing issues that, when measured alongside its 2004 remake, seem to be baked into the concept itself. There are also some funky transitions and atmosphere swings. But it's never tiring to watch Guinness ham it up with a hideous mouthpiece crammed in his jaw.

Alec Guinness is so slimy in this it's almost like he's out of a classic Universal monster movie.

A wonderful dark comedy that hits most of the right points. In the beginning, it's a little slow -- and almost dully repetitive -- but as soon as the caper starts, there are more payoffs for the audience. The little old lady is absolutely amazing in her role as a befuddled do-gooder.

A great slice of Ealing comedy fun.

British comedies of manners where everyone acts all polite for 90% of the runtime are so exhausting

Even though the characters are caricatured except Alec Guinness' one, satire against the judicial and social system works quite well. Personally, I couldn't find its humor great and most of the jokes are outdated. Still, the crime story was good enough to catch my attention.

Fairly amusing in a farcical way but also slightly tedious and irritating. Great ending.

It starts out strange and somewhat entertaining but the Movie goes on far too long and by the end I just wanted the old lady to die.

Peter Sellers kept me from scoring this even lower.

89.000

very funny...guinness like you've never seen him before...........

Sometimes elegant. Mostly clumsy. Like a bad dream you can't get out of.

Fun noir-ish comedy, some good acting and a weird little house set that is almost a character itself

soygun, soygun cetesi, nine, yasli kadin, tren, ev, (eglenceli ve keyifli)

IN my opinion it hasn't aged very well. I didn't find it very funny and since I had watched it shortly right after the remake so there were no real surprises. I should probably revisit this film, but I just can't talk myself into it.

Never side-splittingly funny, but consistently does enough to keep a smile on your face. Nicely balanced between dark humour and the silliness of the situation, with fantastically expressive performances from the entire cast. My favourite bit is when the gang gets roped into afternoon tea with the group of old spinsters - the looks on their faces are absolutely priceless.

Wonderful Ealing comedy which captures England in transition from the Victorian era to the sixties. The cast is perfect, the humour pitch-black and very funny. Extra points for Alec Guinness' teeth.

Amusing, if repetitive, dark comedy from Ealing Studios. The set-up in the first half was a little tedious (various permutations of flighty old lady getting in the way), but it worked better in the second half when things got darker and the landlady's persistent scolding was matched by her own misguided anxieties.

Snore fest. Really bad sound mix, too.

Simply marvelous direction, screen play - skillful film making in action. I don't like saying this .. but there is some delightful rare inner beauty to this endeavor that made me yearn and wonder 'They just dont make them like this anymore'.

I found this pretty dull and not funny at all. Decent start, but drags badly through the middle and end.

I have a soft spot for William Rose and Alec Guinness is great in this.

Darkly comic crime caper. Much better than the Coen's oddly poor remake. Recommended.

Nice Movie

Boring. Guinness here, unlike in Kind Hearts and Coronets, isn't funny. The character just doesn't work.

After seeing the Coe flop I needed to check the original. It's funny thing, here the robbery itself does not act the main part but the planning and consequences; robbery happens in the middle of the movie! Classic. A slow beginning, but sharps its pace towards the end. Alec Guinness and the old lady (Katie Johnson) are the leads here. Lots of little details make the entirety.

ger; [Ladykillers]

Really great plot, fun and hectic. Alec Guinness does an outstanding job portraying his character.

En klassiker - især Guinness er fantastisk at se på...

A true classic. So much fun watching it, even 50 years later.

nice dark comedy

A classic.