The Ladykillers (1955), directed by Alexander Mackendrick, starring Alec Guinness, Cecil Parker, Herbert Lom, Peter Sellers and Danny Green as the oddball robbery gang, and Katie Johnson as their nemesis, Mrs. Wilberforce.

The Ladykillers is the last of the great Ealing comedies. Alec Guinness (channelling Alistair Sim or Kenneth Tynan – or both!) leads a group of crooks who, pretending to be classical musicians, rent a room from an old lady, played by Katie Johnson, in order to plan their heist. Johnson, 76 at the time, had had a lengthy career on stage and screen without being recognised. As a result of her role, she earned a British Film Academy award for best British actress. This was the summit of her career – she died two years later after making one more film. At the other end of the scale, this was Peter Sellers’s first leading role – the start of a long career in English and later Hollywood comedy films.

Screening as part of our Around the World in Technicolor Season