Kind Hearts and Coronets

film by Hamer [1949]

Written by

Lee Pfeiffer

Fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

History

Kind Hearts and Coronets, British comedy, released in 1949, that came to be recognized as one of the best British films of all time. It was noted for its dark humour and for the performance of Alec Guinness, who played eight characters. Ruthlessly ambitious aristocrat Louis Mazzini (played by Dennis Price) seeks to avenge his mother, disowned by her family for marrying below her station, by gaining the dukedom of her distant dead relative. In...