One Paragraph Movie Review: The Lavender Hill Mob

Three hundred and nineteenth film: The Lavender Hill Mob, a 1951 British heist film that’s just over an hour and — as the characters would say — absolutely ripping the whole way through. As is seemingly a legal requirment for British heist films of the era, Alec Guinness stars as the main heistmaster, a meek bank employee who takes advantage of his impeccable employment record to almost get away with a million-pound bold bullion robbery without being suspected. Politely madcap and utterly enjoyable, it’s proper entertaining with a vertiginous sprint down the Eiffel Tower steps in the middle, as the two main characters chase after some schoolgirls who have just unwittingly bought solid gold souvenir statuettes, not realising souvenir export is this movie’s smuggling method of choice. Gentlemen, thugs, molten metal and a car chase. Look, normally I don’t go for zany, but short and decent scrapes it through. Three and a half pre-fame Audrey Hepburn cameos out of five.Three hundred and nineteenth film: The Lavender Hill Mob, a 1951 British heist film that’s just over an hour and — as the characters would say — absolutely ripping the whole way through. As is seemingly a legal requirment for British heist films of the era, Alec Guinness stars as the main heistmaster, a meek bank employee who takes advantage of his impeccable employment record to almost get away with a million-pound bold bullion robbery without being suspected. Politely madcap and utterly enjoyable, it’s proper entertaining with a vertiginous sprint down the Eiffel Tower steps in the middle, as the two main characters chase after some schoolgirls who have just unwittingly bought solid gold souvenir statuettes, not realising souvenir export is this movie’s smuggling method of choice. Gentlemen, thugs, molten metal and a car chase. Look, normally I don’t go for zany, but short and decent scrapes it through. Three and a half pre-fame Audrey Hepburn cameos out of five.