FuzzyTagz If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Voxitype Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Derry Herrera Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

Delight Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

nqure One of the strength's of this excellent comedy, wonderfully played by Guinness & Holloway as an unlikely criminal duo with support of a cast of other familiar faces, is TEB 'Tibby' Clarke's imaginative script which takes an absurd premise and spins it out to its comedic conclusion.Very often I enjoy the set-up and premise of a Ealing comedy as they contain lots of characterisation and little details that then find later expression as the plot gathers pace. For instance, the down at heel boarding house filled with little old ladies, one of whom later appeared in 'The Ladykillers'.It's these little gems of observation as well as the main story that make this film memorable. Early in the film, Holland's ordered existence includes reading pulp thrillers with US criminal slang to one elderly lady as she does her knitting, listening intently and providing commentary on the plot. Later, after the robbery, we see her sitting at tea with two policemen & asking one of them, using contemporary slang, about who they think did the job. The bemused policemen are taken aback, anticipating Mrs Wilberforce talking about 'her aliens' to the desk officers in 'The Ladykillers'.Behind these apparently quaint English Ealing comedies lies real anarchy & subversive wit.

cleargraphics I came across this movie by accident and it turned out to be pretty good and entertaining. It stars Alec Guinness, who later became the elderly Obi-Wan Kenobi in Stars War IV - A New Hope. The Lavender Hill Mob is kind of a crime-caper-comedy and I think the two 1950s Alec Guinness movies, The Lavender Hill Mob (1951), and The Ladykillers (1955) were the precursors to the Peter Sellers Pink Panther movies of the 60s and 70s.This film has some pretty advanced 1951 visual effects involving the Eiffel Tower, in Paris, and a spiral staircase inside the Eiffel Tower. It was pretty impressive filmmaking and screen writing for a movie that was only shot in black and white.The Lavender Hill Mob is fast moving and it really requires you to engage your brain to watch. It's definitely worth seeing.

mark.waltz I do not recall the last time I had such a good time in watching a film comedy as I did with this one. I've known about this classic for years but somehow in the list of thousands of films I've taken the time out to see, this one got put off-until now. I guarantee that I will re-visit this film probably several times over the next few years, because like a few other greats, this one seems like the type of film that will show me things that I missed the first time around.This is a British comedy even us Americans can enjoy, brilliant in every aspect from start to finish, and featuring one of the all-time best screenplays that stands the test of time as it sets out to amuse and comically teach that crime never pays off. The wonderful Alec Guennis, with that grinch-like grin, plays a milquetoast so mild-mannered he's content with his long-time position as the guardian of gold bricks as they are sent from being made to the vaults in which they are stored. Nobody suspects that he could be anything more, and his employer agrees that the only real quality he has is his total honesty. That is, until, he makes it known to the audience that he has only been honest up until now in order to bide time to get his employer's trust so he can move forward with his dastardly plan, stealing bricks of gold and having them shipped out of the country. When the robbery does occur, he is made a hero, having been "kidnapped" by the robbers. Nobody suspects him of everything, and on vacation in France, the gold (made into miniature Eiffel Towers) are shipped for impending pick-up. But six of them are sold to some British schoolgirls at the real Eiffel Tower, and Guennis chases them down the tower (in a hysterical cartoon like chase) in order to get them. They keep repeating "Goodbye, Goodbye!" like they know something is up and wish to rub it in his face. So when he shows up at their school and makes an offer to get them back, it is like he is taking candy away from babies, and it is totally delightful.Guennis was deservedly Oscar Nominated for this grandiose performance, and is ably supported by a fine cast, most notably Stanley Holloway, giving a not so cockney performance (as he did in "My Fair Lady") and Marjorie Fielding. Diminutive Edie Martin steals every moment she is on screen as Guennis's landlord. The screenplay combines comedy both verbal and slapstick with chase sequences both thrilling and hysterically funny. And when the police car Guennis is riding in starts playing "Old MacDonald", I dare you to try not to choke from laughter. The film, told in flashback (which has a cameo by starlet Audrey Hepburn, instantly recognizable in her adorable walk-on), has so many great twists and turns like the London streets, Eiffel Tower stairwell, and eventually the South American get-away it starts and finishes in. No remake of this film could do it justice.

Tweekums As this film starts an English gentleman, named Holland, is handing out money to a variety of people in what appears to be a rather refined club in Rio de Janeiro. Talking to the man next to him he begins to explain how he came to be in such a position. It started a year ago when he worked for a bank; he was responsible for transferring gold bullion from the foundry to the bank... he dreams of robbing a shipment one day but knows that it would be impossible for him to sell it without getting it out of the country. Then one day a new guest, Pendlebury, comes to live in the hotel he is staying at; a disheartened artist who spends his days making tourist tat... including lead paperweights in the shape of the Eiffel Tower, which he exports to France. This gives him an idea... if they can make them in lead why not gold? The two of them agree to the plan and set about recruiting other members for the gang; the robbery goes ahead and the gold is melted down and turned into the paperweights and sent to Paris in specially marked crates. It looks as if they have got away with the crime of the century... until they discover that some of the gold models have been sold by mistake and if they are found they can be traced back to the foundry... the race is now on for Holland and Pendlebury to retrieve them before anybody realises what they are made from! Like some other Ealing comedies this deals with apparently decent people who for one reason or another have turned to crime; and somehow the audience is expected to hope they get away with it. When we learn that Holland has been passed over for promotion because he lacks imagination we hope that they will come to rue that belief when his imagination leads to them losing a van load of gold! Ealing regular Alec Guinness does a great job as the meek Henry Holland and Stanley Holloway is good as Pendlebury. Sid James also appears as one of the gang although his performance is far more restrained than in his better known 'Carry On' roles; this suits the more gentle style of this film though. While the humour is of a gentle nature it is still very funny; surprisingly if there is a weak point to the film it is when things get rather slapstick towards the end. As well as laughs there was some excitement; the scene where Holland and Pendlebury run down the spiral staircase on the Eiffel Tower could have been from a thriller; it induced a real sense of vertigo that leaves ones head spinning! If you've enjoyed other Ealing Comedies this is a must see and even if you haven't it is a great way to pass an hour and a half!