Ealing Studios Classic The Ladykillers Getting A 4K UHD Restoration!
2020 marks the 65th anniversary of Ealing Studios’ flawless The Ladykillers. To celebrate that anniversary Studiocanal will be releasing the first ever 4k restoration of the 1955 black comedy from the original 3-strip Technicolor negative, showcasing director Alexander Mackendrick’s vision in its full glory.
The film has inspired a Coen brothers remake and a very successful stage play and is always a fixture of Best Ever Comedies and Best British Films lists. It was the last Technicolor three-strip film shot in the UK, it was crucially important that the original camera negative was used for a restoration that will serve as the best version of the film since its original release.
The Ladykillers 4K UHD isn’t just getting a home release, it will have a limited cinema release too. Studiocanal have released this newly restored Trailer…
THE LADYKILLERS follows the hilarious capers of a group of small-time crooks, taking on more they can handle in the form of their sweet, but slightly dotty, elderly landlady Mrs Wilberforce (BAFTA Award-winning actress Katie Johnson; How To Murder A Rich Uncle). This group of seedy misfits are planning a security van robbery and rent a room from Mrs Wilberforce in her rickety Victorian house next to King’s Cross station from which to base their operation. To conceal their true purpose, they pose as a string quartet, though they cannot play a note and are in fact miming to a recording of Boccherini’s Minuet. The gang pull off the robbery but none of them could have predicted that their greatest obstacle to escaping with the loot would be their tiny hostess.
The film features an all-star line-up of the finest comedy actors of the era: Alec Guinness (Kind Hearts and Coronets, The Lavender Hill Mob) plays the gang’s mastermind ‘Professor Marcus’; Cecil Parker (A French Mistress) is Claude otherwise known as ‘Major Courtney’; Peter Sellers (I’m Alright Jack) is Harry aka ‘Mr Robinson’; Herbert Lom (The Pink Panther) is Louis aka ‘Mr Harvey’ and Danny Green (A Kid For Two Farthings) plays One-Round also known as ‘Mr Lawson’. Jack Warner, Frankie Howerd and Kenneth Connor also appear in supporting roles.
- UHD, Blu-ray and DVD
- The feature in both 1.37:1 and 1.66:1 aspect ratios
- ‘Those Glorious Ealing Films’ CD soundtrack (with music from The Ladykillers, Passport to Pimlico, Kind Hearts & Coronets and more)
- 64-page booklet
- 6 Pop Art artcards
- NEW documentary ‘Investigating the Ladykillers’ featuring new and archive interviews including Reece Shearsmith, The Guardian’s Catherine Shoard, Stuart Maconie, Ronald Harwood, Allan Scott and Terence Davies
- NEW ‘Colour in The Ladykillers’: new
interview with Professor Keith Johnston - ‘Forever Ealing’ documentary narrated by Michael Balcon’s grandson Daniel Day-Lewis
- Lobby Cards gallery
- Behind-the-scenes gallery
- Audio commentary with author and film scholar Philip Kemp
- King’s Cross locations featurette with Alan Dein
- Excerpt from BBC Omnibus ‘Made in Ealing’ (1986) featuring interviews with Alexander Mackendrick and William Rose.
- Audio interview with Assistant Director Tom Pevsner
- Audio interview with Unit Production Manager David Peers
- Peter Sellers spoof trailer from the set of The Ladykillers
- Trailer
The Ladykillers will be released in cinemas on 23rd October 2020 and the 5-disc 4K UHD Collector’s Edition (and standard Blu-ray and DVD) will be released on 9th November 2020 and is available to pre-order HERE.
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