--- title: "Kind Hearts and Coronets: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/kind-hearts-and-coronets/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/kind-hearts-and-coronets" critics_score: 90 critics_reviews: 11 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949): what the critics said Critics' score 90 from 11 reviews: 11 positive, 0 mixed, 0 negative. The consensus is strongly positive, with praise clustering around the dry screenplay, the performances and the sharp treatment of British class privilege. Alec Guinness’s multiple roles draw repeated admiration for their precise differences in voice, posture and behaviour. Dennis Price receives substantial credit for keeping the murderous central character poised and charming. The reviews also praise Robert Hamer’s control of tone, making genteel manners and cold-blooded conduct coexist without softening the comedy. Reservations are scarce; the spread runs from enthusiastic endorsement to more qualified praise rather than outright dissent. Slant Magazine offers the clearest qualification, suggesting that the humour’s reserve may make it less funny, while valuing its character observation and attention to privilege, exclusion and women’s roles. Elsewhere, critics differ chiefly over emphasis: some foreground the verbal wit and acting, others the unsettling ease with which the film encourages sympathy for its protagonist. ## Radio Times — David Parkinson Rating 5/5. Arguably the finest Ealing comedy, this superb comédie noire has a deliciously witty script and is elevated to greatness by its acting. Alec Guinness’s eight virtuoso performances as the doomed D’Ascoynes are outstanding, alongside strong work from Dennis Price, Joan Greenwood and Valerie Hobson. [Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-wantsw/kind-hearts-and-coronets/) ## The Times — Kevin Maher Rating ★★★★★. 7 June 2019. In 1949 Ealing Studios released this, easily the best and most demented of its iconic output. Alec Guinness’s vocal variation and commitment in playing nine family members remain wildly impressive, alongside beautiful writing and flawlessly silly filmmaking. [Read the review](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/comedy/article/kind-hearts-and-coronets-1949-review-w6dcpxhh9) ## Time Out — Ben Walters Rating 5/5. 16 August 2011. The film is Ealing’s tartest and most sophisticated achievement, a witty comedy of manners, grotesque serial-killer caper and acerbic class satire. Dennis Price’s ruthless yet charming Louis holds the piece together, with elegant direction and a lean, sprightly screenplay. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/kind-hearts-and-coronets) ## The AV Club — Scott Tobias Rating A. 14 March 2006. The critic describes it as one of the driest black comedies, with a commoner murdering his way to the dukedom in a gentlemanly fashion full of sharp ironies and cold-blooded matter-of-factness. It highlights the voiceover narration, Dennis Price's performance, and Alec Guinness playing all eight victims as standing out from typical Ealing comedies. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/kind-hearts-and-coronets-1798201517) ## Evening Standard — Derek Malcolm Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 10 April 2012. The critic calls it one of the most extraordinary black comedies the cinema has known and Robert Hamer's best epitaph. It praises the subversive humour, Guinness's tour de force playing multiple roles, and Hamer's intelligence in defying Ealing conventions. [Read the review](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/kind-hearts-and-coronets-7382883.html) ## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 18 August 2011. The Ealing genre reached utter perfection with this superb black comedy of manners. It is history’s greatest serial-killer movie, with Dennis Price excelling as the vengeful heir and Alec Guinness delivering a miraculously subtle multi-performance as the noble clan members. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/aug/18/kind-hearts-and-coronets-review) ## The Independent Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 29 August 1994. The critic hails the film as Ealing's blackest farce, a tale of multiple murder that remains shocking and corrupting 45 years on. It singles out the film's willingness to make the audience identify with and applaud the murderer while subverting the British class system. [Read the review](https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/cinema-on-cinema-1379420.html) ## Empire — Bob McCabe Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 1 January 2011. The critic describes it as a blackly comic gem and a jewel in the crown of British comedy, crediting Hamer's sure touch with the morbid material and Guinness's versatile performances. It singles out the delicate balance of bad taste and entertainment as its great achievement. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/kind-hearts-coronets-review/) ## Slant Magazine — Ed Gonzalez Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 26 August 2019. The review positions the film as the darkest Ealing comedy, noting its reserve and dry humor that may not register as funny but excels in character observation and social insight, especially regarding privilege, exclusion, and female roles. It praises Hamer's direction and the film's subtle framing and tone. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/kind-hearts-and-coronets-blu-ray-review-robert-hamer/) ## RogerEbert.com — Roger Ebert 15 September 2002. The film is a dry, droll, literate and cynical Ealing comedy whose detached narration makes the murders agreeably entertaining. It showcases Alec Guinness's remarkable range in eight roles through subtle makeup, posture and behavior rather than special effects. [Read the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-kind-hearts-and-coronets-1949) ## The New Yorker — Anthony Lane 29 November 2019. The return of the 1949 film is always welcome as it remains unflinchingly funny despite the cynicism of its hero. No movie is more suavely literate or more insanely quotable, with lively, crisp and surprisingly sensual action. [Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/goings-on-about-town/movies/kind-hearts-and-coronets) ## The New York Times — Bosley Crowther 15 June 1950. Guinness dominates with devastating wit and variety as he plays eight Edwardian fuddy-duds. The picture itself is a sparkling and sometimes devilishly cutting jest on Edwardian manners and morals. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/1950/06/15/archives/the-screen-two-imports-have-premieres-alec-guinness-plays-8-roles.html) ## Variety 5 March 2006. This tour-de-force of black comedy from Ealing Studios remains one of the truly undimmed classics of British post-war cinema. It is the most unfailingly genteel serial-killer picture, at turns unsentimental, amoral, callous and erotic but unquestionably funny. [Read the review](https://variety.com/2006/digital/features/kind-hearts-and-coronets-2-1200517931/) ## HeyUGuys — Jon Lyus Rating 4/5. 22 August 2011. The critic calls it a beautifully pitched comedy of terrors about revenge and inheritance, praising the confident storytelling, Dennis Price's lead performance, and Alec Guinness's tour-de-force octet of roles. The script and restoration are lauded as richly rewarding. [Read the review](https://www.heyuguys.com/kind-hearts-and-coronets-blu-ray-review/) ## The Skinny — Keir Roper-Caldbeck Rating ★★★★. 30 August 2011. The film stands out among Ealing comedies for its pitch-black humour and sharp satire on class. It is praised for Dennis Price's poised lead performance and Alec Guinness's multiple roles in absurd murder set pieces. [Read the review](https://www.theskinny.co.uk/film/dvd-reviews/kind-hearts-and-coronets) ## Eye for Film — Jennie Kermode 31 August 2009. The critic praises the film as a comic masterpiece with a razor-sharp script full of double meanings and sly observations. Alec Guinness's multiple roles and the elegant central performance are highlighted as tremendous fun in this vicious yet delightful black comedy. [Read the review](http://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/kind-hearts-and-coronets-film-review-by-jennie-kermode) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/kind-hearts-and-coronets.md