Alec Guinness - The Screen Icons Collection Reviews

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[Highly rated reviewer]

Excellent; Dont Be Put-Out By B/W

Kind Hearts & Coronets; heir to a noble family Alec Guiness [Lavender Hill Mob, The] is forced to accept a menial-job when his mother’s family refuse to accept his existence. Rejected by childhood-sweetheart Joan Greenwood [Young Wives Tale] Alec plots revenge on those who ruined his life & disowned his mother who married for love…

Man In The White Suit; scientist Alec Guiness [Kind Hearts & Coronets] moves from one mill to another exploiting their facilities in his quest to produce a synthetic fibre that ‘never gets dirty & never wears out’. Alec’s R&D rattles-up thousands of pounds, a considerable sum at the time, in ‘sundries’; hushed-up lest shareholders discover the truth. Deemed ‘insane’ by his previous employers he convinces mill owners Cecil Parker [Man Could Get Killed, A] daughter Joan Greenwood [Whisky Galore] not to report him to her father. Having created his miracle-fibre rival mill-owners, commodity-dealers & workers…

really enjoyable

loved this film loved the irony of a small man making something which would in theory break the big industry, and how greed can bring downfall to us all. whimsical smiles rather than big laughs but very enjoyable film, with ironic ending.

Kind Hearts & Coronets

This film is one of my favourite films. It's really funny, especially Alec Guinness. I wish I had made this fantastic film.

I give it 10/10.

Bye!

[Highly rated reviewer]

Oldie but goodie

I'm not usually a fan of old films but my girlfriend wanted to watch this, so i joined in. Alec Guiness, who younger persons will know as Obe Wan Kenobi in the original Star Wars series,and plays 8 roles in this film. Brilliantly acted, with the customary twist at the end. It's true that the old movies are better quality stories. With a hint of humour, well worth a watch.

kind hearts and coronets

very funny film, not one I had seen before

kind hearts & coronets

as good as it ever was.

Perfect for a rainy day!

Maybe I'm showing my age but I remember watching this on TV as a kid on a rainy Sunday afternoon with a quarter pound of sweets to munch (American Hard Gums!) and my Mum and Dad snoring in their armchairs after Sunday lunch!

I love creeky old black and white films and Alec Guiness taking on all the lead roles in this one impressed me no end in my childhood and even more so now I'm old enough to appreciate the complexity of what was accomplished.

[Highly rated reviewer]

50s Them 'n Us

Early 50's take on the iniquities of the capitalist process. At that time of couse there were no actors with regional accents, especially Northerners (we had to wait for Albert Finney and Tom Courtenay to come along with proper northern voices), so we had to make do with RADA trained actors pretending to be the salt of the earth. Vida Hope gives a particularly strange version of a Northern lass. It grates now but people probably accepted it then. Alec Guiness is great as the maverick inventor of course, but he was a great screen actor who could turn his talents to anything. There are very amusing scenes but the farce gets a little too frantic in the last part of the film. How much it changed people's perceptions of 'them 'n us' we have still to find out 57 years later in this class ridden country of ours.

An oldie but a goodie!

Aclever plot and well acted (it is Alec Guinness, what else would you expect!) Although they were simple effects it is amazing that Guinness plays so many of the characters.

A lovely nostalgic film. Highly recommended for a quite Sunday afternoons viewing.

Little known charmer

Alec Guinness's early films were a mixed bag. Quite light-hearted and whimsical, and Barnacle Bill is typical of this type of film. It charts the way that a man totally unsuited to the naval life he craves (mainly to appease his ancestors) overcomes adversity and earns the respect of his co-workers and receive one of the highest accolades the navy has to offer. As the film develops it becomes clear this is in a totally unconventional manner. A great Sunday afternoon film.