Kind Hearts and Coronets • The Next Reel

Sir Alec Guinness may always be remembered as Obi Wan Kenobi, but his career goes far beyond those three little science fiction films he did late in his career. He worked many times with David Lean. He gave life to the spy George Smiley long before Gary Oldman. And he starred in a number of the great Ealing comedies, his first of which is “Kind Hearts and Coronets,” where he pulls a Peter Sellers by playing 8 of the characters in the film. Join us — Pete Wright and Andy Nelson — as we begin our Sir Alec Guinness series by talking about Robert Hamer’s 1949 comedy “Kind Hearts and Coronets.” We talk about the comedy in this film, and how clever it is to write a script in which the audience roots for the protagonist even though he’s planning on committing a number of murders. We discuss the brilliant performances, from Dennis Price and Valerie Hobson to Joan Greenwood and, of course, Guinness. Not to mention a memorable turn from Miles Malleson. We chat about the cinematography by Douglas Slocombe, who we last discussed way back at the beginning of our run with the Indiana Jones series. And we talk about a recent script on the 2014 Black List, “Rothchild,” written by John Patton Ford, that takes this story and updates it. We even bring Ford on to discuss it with us. It’s a great way to kick off our Guinness series and we have a great conversation about this brilliantly funny film. Tune in! Hey! You know what would be awesome? If you would drop us a positive rating on iTunes! If you like what we’re doing here on TNR, it really is the best way to make sure that this show appears when others search for it, plus, it’s just a nice thing to do. Thanks!! The Next Reel on iTunesThe Next Reel on FacebookThe Next Reel on TwitterThe Next Reel on FlickchartThe Next Reel on LetterboxdGuess the Movie with The Next Reel on InstagramCheck out the Posters with The Next Reel on Pinterest And for anyone interested in our fine bouquet of show hosts: Follow Andy Nelson on TwitterFollow Pete Wright on TwitterFollow Steve Sarmento on TwitterCheck out Tom Metz on IMDBFollow Mike Evans on TwitterFollow Chadd Stoops on TwitterFollow Steven Smart on LetterboxdSupport The Next Reel Family of Film Podcasts:Become a member for just $5/month or $55/yearJoin our Discord community of movie loversThe Next Reel Family of Film Podcasts:Cinema Scope: Bridging Genres, Subgenres, and MovementsThe Film BoardMovies We LikeThe Next Reel Film PodcastSitting in the DarkConnect With Us:Main Site: WebMovie Platforms: Letterboxd | FlickchartSocial Media: Facebook | Instagram | Threads | Bluesky | YouTube | PinterestYour Hosts: Andy | PeteShop & Stream:Merch Store: Apparel, stickers, mugs & moreWatch Page: Buy/rent films we've discussedOriginals: Source material from our episodesSpecial offers: Letterboxd Pro/Patron discount | Audible