Great Britain

The Lavender Hill Mob (1951) epitomises everything that later caused the Ealing comedies to be described as having done more to win Britain friends abroad than any official efforts to promote international understanding. Ordinary people, in extraordinary situations, demonstrate the British flair for coping with the unexpected that proved their strongest weapon in World War 2, yet mock those very institutions they fought so hard to preserve. The plot is almost too well-known to be mentioned, but needs to be outlined because it flouted the censorship rules of the early Fifties by making fun of the police and allowing a thief to enjoy his ill-gotten gains. It was the disarming charm of the film that won it critical approval, only occasionally diluted with reproving references to the 'amorality' of the characters and story. An underpaid clerk (Alec Guinness) and a frustrated sculptor turned maker/exporter of gaudy souvenirs (Stanley Holloway) get together to steal a million pounds in gold bars from the Bank of England with the not over-bright help of professional crooks Sid James and Alfie Bass. The gold, transformed into seemingly worthless models of the Eiffel Tower is shipped safely to Paris where, by accident, six 'souvenirs' are sold to English schoolgirls. The efforts of our heroes to get these back involve a police car chase that has frequently been compared to the zany tomfoolery of the Keystone Kops. The action of the film (directed by Charles Crichton, who made the first Eating comedy Hue and Cry after proving his talent for making audiences laugh with the golfing scenes in Dead of Night) is hilariously funny. But it is the sly humour of T.E.B. Clarke's dialogue and the understated subtleties of the acting that give The Lavender Hill Mob the authentic Ealing comedy flavour. The supporting cast includes Marjorie Fielding, John Gregson, Clive Morton, Sidney Tafler and Patrick Barr. Easily recognisable. Not so easy to spot Audrey Hepburn selling cigarettes. One sneeze and you've missed her. MARJORIE BILBOW