Alec Guinness: Masterpiece Collection [Kind Hearts and Coronets | The Lavender Hill Mob | The Man in the White Suit | The Ladykillers] (4KUHD)

In these four classic comedies from Britain’s famed Ealing Studios, the ingenious Alec Guinness demonstrates with great style and wit why he is hailed as one of the greatest actors of the 20th Century. Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949) – Following his mother’s death, Edwardian gentleman Louis Mazzini (Dennis Price) plots to avenge her by seizing the dukedom of the aristocratic d’Ascoyne family. To gain this inheritance, Louis must first murder a line of eccentric heirs to the title—all played by Guinness in eight extraordinary, star-making performances—in this delightful comedy named the Sixth Best British Film of All Time by the British Film Institute. Co-starring Joan Greenwood, Valerie Hobson and Hugh Griffith. The Lavender Hill Mob (1951) – Bank clerk Henry Holland (Guinness) devises a plot to steal a fortune in gold from his own bank. But when Henry and his odd accomplice (Stanley Holloway) decide to melt the gold into souvenir Eiffel Towers to smuggle them into France, the result turns hilariously disastrous. Winner of the Academy Award for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay (T. E. B. Clarke), this cracking classic of a caper comedy features early screen appearances by Audrey Hepburn and Robert Shaw. The Man in the White Suit (1951) – Guinness delivers one of his most beloved performances as Sidney Stratton, an eccentric chemist who one day invents a fiber that never wrinkles, wears out or gets dirty. However, when mill owners realize his invention will destroy their industry, Sidney suddenly becomes the most hunted man in the nation. In this sly satire, can a young idealist trapped between big business and mad unions find safety in science, or will the future of Britain become unraveled by one extraordinary suit? Featuring Joan Greenwood and Cecil Parker. The Ladykillers (1955) – Lauded as “one of the greatest comedies ever made” (Entertainment Weekly), this colorful black comedy showcases Guinness as Professor Marcus, mastermind of a gang of bumbling bank robbers. The gang rents a room from an elderly widow who appears harmless, but when she begins to meddle in their “perfect crime,” they realize she may pose the biggest threat of all. With brilliant performances by Cecil Parker, Herbert Lom, Peter Sellers, Danny Green, Jack Warner, Katie Johnson and the mighty Guinness.