Lavender Hill Mob, The, was one of the finest of the British motion pictures that became known as “Ealing comedies,” from the name of the studio where they were made. A typical Ealing comedy emphasized quiet humor that emerged from the English characters. The central figure was normally an ordinary person rebelling against authority. The Lavender Hill Mob was released in 1951, during the peak period of the Ealing Studios.
The Lavender Hill Mob is a comic crime film. A timid clerk at the Bank of England develops a plan to steal the gold bullion from the bank, melt down the gold, and cast the metal into souvenir paperweights that could be sold later. The clerk recruits a gang to pull off the robbery. The plan almost works until unexpected snags defeat the theft. The comedy succeeds through its amusing dialogue; its comic pace, including a hilarious car chase scene; and many sharply etched characters.
Alec Guinness played the bank clerk. Charles Crichton was the director. The supporting cast featured several of the leading character actors in British cinema, including Alfie Bass, Marjorie Fielding, John Gregson, Stanley Holloway, Sidney James, Edie Martin, and Sidney Tafler. Audrey Hepburn, just beginning her film career, made a brief appearance. The Lavender Hill of the title referred to the lower-class London district where the clerk lived.
