On Saturday evening, Daniela wanted to watch a movie and suggested an Audrey Hepburn film. I got to work poking around to see if there were Hepburn movies I hadn’t seen in a while. (She’s actually in quite a few more than I realized.) I was super surpised to see her listed as appearing in The Lavender Hill Mob, an Alex Guinness caper movie I’d seen a few times, though I couldn’t remember her in it at all. I pitched the film to the fam, and they all agreed to give it a shot.
First, a disclosure: Audrey Hepburn is on the screen for all of 10 seconds. It’s a bit part, where she comes in, speaks a line to Alec Guinness, and then is never seen again. So it’s cool from a trivia point of view, and fun to see her before she really became big, but (as Daniela pointed out after the movie was done) this is definitely not an “Audrey Hepburn movie.”
But it is a very good movie, and everyone in the family really enjoyed it. Even Michaela, who generally is opposed to anything in black and white.
Guinness plays a mild-mannered man with million dollar dreams. He’s paid to accompany gold bullion as it’s transported through the streets of London in an armored car on a regular basis. If he could just figure out a way to sell the bullion once he stole it, then he’s convinced he’d be rich. Enter a new tenant at his apartment building: a man who runs a business making souvenir knickknacks. The man regularly makes lead-cast models of the Eiffel Tower, for example. Swap lead for gold, and . . .
Hijinks ensue.
It’s a fun, lighthearted romp that veers toward farce at times. I think being used to subtitles now makes it that much more accessible, as the recording track isn’t the best at times. It’s not available on any of the streaming platforms I use, but I could rent it for all of $4 or so, and it was money well spent. If you like old movies and have somehow missed this one, you should definitely check it out.