Known for Alec Guinness’s hilarious ‘octo-turn’ as eight members of the D'Ascoyne family, subtly rather than riotously varied, it’s easy to forget just how original and darkly subversive this comedy of inheritance is. Dennis Price tells his own story in flashback, last in line to inherit the D'Ascoyne Dukedom, but moving up fast, scything his way thru the family tree while romancing Joan Greenwood’s unavailable purring Cheshire Cat (she’s married a rival), and Valerie Hobson’s widowed Lady (her husband an early victim). Robert Hamer co-writes & directs in seemingly Po-faced manner, allowing the grisly humor to bubble up and release under real dramatic pressure. Note the near absence of musical backing other than the early use of a Mozart aria from Price’s Italian tenor father. Very unusual for an Ealing Studio comedy but just right here. Same for Douglas Slocombe’s cinematography, blighted as a Dickens drama when needed. Today, with no Production Code, they’d probably have Price get away with his plot, but how much more satisfying the twist ending seen here.
DOUBLE-BILL/LINK: Director Robert Hamer shows a different ‘black’ mode in THE LONG MEMORY, a fine, but barely known film noir from his short career. https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2020/03/the-long-goodbye-1953.html
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