Onkel George und seine Mörder

Two years before "How to Murder a Rich Uncle" debuted, the British also made a fine film, "The Ladykillers". Their plots are very similar but "The Ladykillers" is much funnier and better written. They're similar enough that you might just want ot skip "How to Murder a Rich Uncle".

When the film begins, Henry (Nigel Patrick) has come to the realization that his family is broke. Despite their manor home and good name, they cannot afford to keep living the way they do and, God forbid, they might have to actually work for a living. However, this is apparently more distasteful than the notion of murdering the rich uncle (Charles Coburn) who is coming to visit from America. Amazingly, Henry's plans fail repeatedly...and in the process he helps to off members of his own immediate family.

The film is enjoyable and Coburn, as usual, is a joy to watch. But the movie lacks the comedic edge to make it a must see movie. Good...but hardly as good as it could have been.

The plot is all in the title so we don't have to do a summary.

The best thing in the film is Nigel Patrick. Perhaps because he directed it he allows himself to be more flamboyant than usual. He's the sort of impecunious post-war aristocrat who cleans his shotgun on family evenings by the fire and tells his wife of thirty-six years (Wendy Hiller) he's been "pleased" with her and it's a high compliment.

Having seen "The Ladykillers" numberless times I can't help but smile whenever Katie Johnson comes in.

Kenneth Fortesque does his best to channel a youngish Ian Carmichael.

And the uncle, Charles Coburn? He's Charles Coburn and drifts through the film unconscious of his danger.

On the down side, Anrhony Newly, as the young criminologist, gets kind of boringly pretentious and he doesn't have (the actor playing the Teddy Boy from "The Ladykillers") terrified that Newly will usurp him as a physical comedian.

The deaths could have been a lot more light-heartedly ironic. The score is a bit heavy-handed and us often designed to force us to "feel" a ceetain way.

In a few more years Michael Caine, on a small parr early in his career) could replace Newly on a lightfingered way but as it stand Caine fans will be disappointed by his appearance here. He's not yet a star and has little to do.

It"s not one of the great dark comedies, bit t'will serve.

Nigel Patrick and John Paxton have done quite a neat job with Daix' play about an uncle - in this version, a wealthy Canadian - called "George" (Charles Coburn) who comes to Britain to visit his landed, but impoverished family headed by Patrick ("Sir Henry"). The family see this as in ideal opportunity to sort their finances out, and that means that their unsuspecting guest could be in quite a bit of peril! Except, that is, that the would-be assassins couldn't organise the proverbial piss-up in the brewery - indeed their efforts to relieve the old man of his life and his fortune have far more profound effects on their own family. Soon it starts to diminish quite rapidly as their cock-eyed schemes go awry with disastrously lethal results. At this rate, there won't be anyone left to inherit - except, perhaps, the sagely old Katie Johnson who knows where the secrets (and the bottles of wine) are kept... It's a fun story this. Patrick and Coburn work well together, with a strong supporting cast from Wendy Hiller, Anthony Newley and the eagle eyed amongst us might spot Micael Caine (just 24). The production isn't up to very much, it has to be said - but the plot holds together well, with some decent comedic moments and a rather fitting, quirky, ending that I quite enjoyed.

Wondrous British comedy about Henry, a destitute aristocrat (Nigel Patrick) and his family living in a rotting castle. Along comes a wealthy uncle from America (Charles Coburn), making a visit to his family home. So Henry decides to do away with the old boy, but being a black comedy, none of his plans go as planned.

In a similar vein to the classic film THE LADYKILLERS, this one is a riot as the plot goes on its murderous-but-merry way and boasts an excellent cast.

Coburn is a delight as the unsuspecting uncle with a fondness for martinis, and Patrick (who also directed) is the perfect hapless plotter. Also in the cast are Wendy Hiller as the dutiful wife, Athene Seyler as the grandmother, Katie Johnson as the vaguely related Alice, Kenneth Fortescue as the son, Patricia Webster as the daughter, Anthony Newley as her criminologist boyfriend, Noel Hood as Aunt Marjorie, Ian Wilson as Harold the postmaster, Trevor Reid as the Inspector, Cyril Luckham as the coroner, and Michael Caine in one of his first film roles.

A total delight and full of surprises. This one marks Katie Johnson's only film followup to THE LADYKILLERS and proved to be her final film.

Nigel Patrick does double-duty as star and director of this low-key but hilarious spoof of such genteel British thrillers as AND THEN THERE WERE NONE. John Paxton's script finds rich American uncle Charles Coburn paying a visit to the English ancestral home where, unbeknownst to him, his aristocratic nephew (Patrick) and the rest of the requisite wacky family members are suffering a severe money deficiency. No sooner has kindly old Uncle unpacked than Patrick, his wife Wendy Hiller, and nearly all of the rest of the cash-crazed clan are plotting the unsuspecting Yank's untimely demise in hope of inheriting his fortune. Much to their dismay -- and the viewer's merriment -- all their efforts to provide Coburn with an "accidental death" backfire big-time (heh heh)... Katie Johnson of THE LADYKILLERS fame nearly steals the show as a sweetly dotty yet vaguely spooky cousin who takes a shine to Coburn. I was surprised, though, by the youthful Anthony Newley as the crackpot criminologist suitor of Patrick's and Hiller's daughter. Not only is Newley far less grating than he became in later films, he's downright funny! Also, keep your eyes peeled (or should I say "pealed" :-) for a very young Michael Caine as a gangly bell-ringer. In a running sight gag to which mere words can't do justice, Caine teams up with a much shorter fellow to ring the church bells for each new funeral; I'd even go so far as to say it's one of the highlights of the movie. This...RICH UNCLE is well worth putting out the "Welcome" mat for!