The Ladykillers (1955) 4K Ultra HD Review

Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

The Ladykillers is often heralded as the greatest of the comedies to come out of that very British of British studios Ealing that also gave the world such classics as The Lavender Hill Mob, Kind Hearts and Coronets, and It Always Rains on Sunday. The film features an all-star cast of lead British actors from the day.

The Ladykillers is a typically dry, yet dark comedy set in London’s King’s Cross revolving around a group of small-time gangsters who plot a bank robbery. Led by mastermind Professor Marcus (Alec Guinness), the mobsters go undercover as a string quartet in kindly elderly lady Mrs. Wilberforce’s (Katie Johnson) home at the end of a dead-end street, renting a room there. But they do not know what they’ve bargained for when the busybody old lady interferes in their affairs. Through an endless series of comical twists, mostly involving Mrs. Wilberforce, the crooks’ plans go awry. One such set piece involves the gang members trying to help the kindly lady retrieve her parrot and get him back into his cage – things do not go too well for the men. Of course, the funny thing lies in the fact that poor Mrs. Wilberforce seems completely oblivious to the plots taking place under her roof, that is until she in fact discovers the money they have stolen, at which point their plots turn to murder of the elderly woman. Those plans are again disrupted by the interference of Mrs. Wilberforce’s own group of friends and other improbable comedic incidents that make for a rip roaring, brilliantly manipulated script.

Peter Sellers plays Harry AKA “Mr. Robinson,” Herbert Lom is Louis AKA “Mr. Harvey” and Danny Green plays One Round AKA “Mr. Lawson. The entire cast is remarkably restrained in their acting, no one here hams it up and the film is much the better for it. This is a refined and economically scripted comedy that relies more on the phrasing of sentences and looks between characters than it does on outright bombast and physical gags. It is the quintessential English comedy and one of the greatest ever made. The Coen Brothers remade the film with little success in 2006, moving the setting the American South and replacing Alec Guinness with Tom Hanks.

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The Video

The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray of The Ladykillers from KL Studio Classics is taken from the 2020 Dolby Vision restoration by StudioCanal. The film is presented in a 1.37:1 HEVC 2160p (4K UHD) Dolby Vision encodement. The bitrate of the Kino Lorber disc is a little higher overall than the StudioCanal release, averaging around 75Mbps versus the StudioCanal UK’s roughly 65Mbps bitrate, but the impact on the picture quality is very minimal versus the UK release. The image looks beautiful, with consistent grain and a vibrant presentation of the three-strip TechniColor palette. The pastels and primaries pop without looking gimmicky. Some whites look a little bit blown out, but this film has always looked this way. The included Blu-ray is from the 2020 HD restorations of the original 1.37:1 and matted 1.66:1 versions of the film. They both look superb as well and are fine upgrades over the StudioCanal restoration I reviewed on Blu-ray in 2015.

The Audio

The mono audio mix for The Ladykillers continues to sound somewhat boxy, but it is clean and the dialogue intelligible.

The Supplements

The audio commentaries with the film historians – and Dan Marino for whatever reason is not listed on the disc menu but is part of the audio commentary with David Del Valle – and the cleaning up The Ladykillers featurette that does side-by-side comparisons are the best inclusions for film enthusiasts.

Bonus Features:

• Audio Commentary by Film Historian David Del Valle and Dan Marino
• Audio Commentary by Film Historian Philip Kemp

Blu-ray Only Bonus Features:

• Forever Ealing: Documentary (SD: 00:49:38)
• Cleaning Up The Ladykillers: Featurette (1080p; 00:06:07)
• Interview with Allan Scott (SD; 00:20:29)
• Interview with Ronald Harwood (SD; 00:22:24)
• Interview with Terence Davies (SD; 00:13:52)
• The Ladykillers – Trailer (1080p; 00:01:26)

The Final Assessment

This classic Brit-com is brought to life once again in a beautiful transfer from Kino Lorber courtesy of the 2020 restoration from StudioCanal UK. The three-strip technicolor, the last film to use the format in Britain, looks colorful and vibrant, and the grain looks filmic throughout. If you are a collector who did not purchase the StudioCanal release from the UK, then definitely pick this one up.

The Ladykillers (1955) is out on 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray September 24, 2024 from Kino Lorber

Purchase The Ladykillers 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray on Amazon.com

• Rating Certificate: Not Rated
• Studios & Distributors: The Rank Organisation | Ealing Studios | Michael Balcon Productions | Kino Lorber
• Director: Alexander Mackendrick
• Written By: William Rose | Jimmy O’Connor
• Run Time: 91 Mins.
• Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1 (OAR) | 1.66:1
• Video Format: HEVC 2160p (4K UHD)
• HDR Format: Dolby Vision (HDR10 Compatible)
• HDR10 Metadata:
  • Max. Luminance: 1000 nits
  • Min. Luminance: 0.0001 nits
• Primary Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono
• Subs: English SDH
• Street Date: 24 September 2024