The Lavender Hill Mob 1951

The Lavender Hill Mob

1951 · United Kingdom · Directed by Charles Crichton · 78 min

FunnyGentle Great first watch · Easy Heist comedy

A modest bank clerk who has supervised gold deliveries for years finally finds the partner and export scheme needed to steal one.

What to expect

Mackendrick builds a heist from routine, scale models, souvenirs, and the comic mismatch between meticulous planning and ordinary confusion. Alec Guinness makes rebellion look like another day at the office until it becomes exhilarating.

How to ease in

The plan is explained clearly. Enjoy how each practical detail—transport, melting, tourists, language—creates a new opportunity for error after the perfect crime has supposedly occurred.

Heads-up

A quick, non-exhaustive note Includes theft, police pursuit, gunfire, dangerous heights, class stereotypes, and mild period national caricature.
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A modest bank clerk who has supervised gold deliveries for years finally finds the partner and export scheme needed to steal one.

Holland has rehearsed obedience so thoroughly that crime becomes his first creative project. I enjoy the moment routine stops protecting the plan and starts chasing it downhill.

Open the note ↓

Holland has rehearsed obedience so thoroughly that crime becomes his first creative project. I enjoy the moment routine stops protecting the plan and starts chasing it downhill.

— Momo

Momo with notes about this film

Credits & versions

Credits

Version map

BFI catalogue presentation78 min78 minutes is attached only to the named BFI catalogue presentation. No unsupported cut, score, territory, frame rate, source element, or restoration detail is inferred.Runtime reference · Checked 2026-08-21

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