Mackendrick, born in Boston in September 1912, was the child of Glaswegians Frank and Martha, who had eloped to the US. He and fellow director Robert Hamer, who was responsible for Kind Hearts and Coronets(1949), Ealing’s coruscating satire of upward mobility, were considered “downbeat” and “the most subversive and nonconformist directors” working there. Mackendrick established his own style and approach within Ealing and brought his distinctive, subversive tone to five films: Whisky Galore! (1949), The Man in the White Suit (1951), Mandy (1952), The Maggie (1954) and, before he departed for America, The Ladykillers. As Xan Brooks noted of director Alexander Mackendrick’s original film, it’s “as black as pitch and as corrosive as battery acid”, and contrary to the genteel British film as perceived by Joel Coen, when he and his brother were promoting their 2004 remake. The Ladykillers, the last of Ealing Studios’ acclaimed comedies made before their complex was bought by the BBC and the brand absorbed into MGM British, has been restored and re-released by StudioCanal in cinemas and as a 4K Ultra HD Limited Edition Blu-ray set for its 65th anniversary.
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