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Deleted line(s) 67 (click to see context) :
* NoOneIsIndispensable: Professor Marcus says this to Louis, [[spoiler:very truly]].
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Changed line(s) 36 (click to see context) from:
* DesignStudentsOrgasm: The German posters for the film, which were done by the artist Heinz Edelmann, who also worked on WesternAnimation/YellowSubmarine.
to:
* DesignStudentsOrgasm: The German posters [[https://www.royalbooks.com/pictures/132237.jpg?v=1418060199 German]] [[https://i.pinimg.com/originals/4a/ab/53/4aab53665fbd16abdebbfaf873e352c4.jpg posters]] for the film, which were done by the artist Heinz Edelmann, who also worked on WesternAnimation/YellowSubmarine.WesternAnimation/YellowSubmarine. (Also possibly a good example of SurpriseCreepy.)
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* DesignStudentsOrgasm: The German posters for the film, which were done by the artist Heinz Edelmann, who also worked on WesternAnimation/YellowSubmarine.
** To a lesser extent, some of the British posters.
** To a lesser extent, some of the British posters.
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* GentlemanThief: Major Courtney
** To a lesser extent, Professor Marcus as well.
** To a lesser extent, Professor Marcus as well.
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Changed line(s) 66 (click to see context) from:
* PetTheDog: One Round and Mrs. Wilberforce.
to:
* PersonOfMassDestruction: Mrs Wilberforce seems to unwittingly bring chaos and disorder to everything and everyone around her.
* PetTheDog:One Round One-Round and Mrs. Wilberforce.
* PetTheDog:
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** Mrs Wilberforce, as described under PersonOfMassDestruction.
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* TheLoad: Mrs Wilberforce becomes this to the gang.
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* NostalgiaFilter: Mrs. Wilberforce.
to:
* NostalgiaFilter: Mrs. Wilberforce.Wilberforce, for TheEdwardianEra.
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* AffablyEvil: Professor Marcus, arguably.
** Major Courtney too.
** Major Courtney too.
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Changed line(s) 21 (click to see context) from:
* BewareTheNiceOnes: While ''nice'' is somewhat debatable, Professor Marcus is at leas AffablyEvil, and remains laid-back and charming throughout most of the film. [[BerserkButton Then Louis calls him 'crazy']].
to:
* BewareTheNiceOnes: While ''nice'' is somewhat debatable, Professor Marcus is at leas least AffablyEvil, and remains laid-back and charming throughout most of the film. [[BerserkButton Then Louis calls him 'crazy']].
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* BewareTheNiceOnes: While ''nice'' is somewhat debatable, Professor Marcus is at leas AffablyEvil, and remains laid-back and charming throughout most of the film. [[BerserkButton Then Louis calls him 'crazy']].
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Deleted line(s) 29 (click to see context) :
* DarkReprise: A form of this occurs when Major Courtney goes up onto the roof chasing after General Gordon the parrot to give him his medicine, and promptly gets kicked in the face and then knocked off the roof, mirroring when he later [[spoiler:falls to his death from the roof after trying to escape with the money when the chimney pot he was holding onto collapses]].
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* IronicEcho: A form of this occurs when Major Courtney goes up onto the roof chasing after General Gordon the parrot to give him his medicine, and promptly gets kicked in the face and then knocked off the roof, mirroring when he later [[spoiler:falls to his death from the roof after trying to escape with the money when the chimney pot he was holding onto collapses]].
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Changed line(s) 38 (click to see context) from:
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Although they agree that they have to kill Mrs. Wilberforce, none of them are all that eager to do it themselves. One-Round eventually decides that he doesn't want ''anyone'' to do it and [[spoiler:kills Harry when it looks like he has]].
to:
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Although they agree that they have to kill Mrs. Wilberforce, none of them are all that eager to do it themselves. One-Round eventually decides that he doesn't want ''anyone'' to do it and [[spoiler:kills [[spoiler:and kills Harry when it looks like he has]].
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Changed line(s) 77 (click to see context) from:
** Although he's more [[BerserkButton crazy]] than stupid.
to:
** Although he's more [[BerserkButton crazy]] cra]][[SanitySlippage zy]] than stupid.
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--> '''Professor Marcus:''' You mustn't say things like that Louis because I told you, [[SuddenlyShouting YOU MUSTN'T MAKE ME ANGRY!]]
Changed line(s) 71 (click to see context) from:
* SlasherSmile: Professor Marcus.
to:
* SlasherSmile: Professor Marcus.Marcus does several throughout the film.
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* DarkReprise: A form of this occurs when Major Courtney goes up onto the roof chasing after General Gordon the parrot to give him his medicine, and promptly gets kicked in the face and then knocked off the roof, mirroring when he later [[spoiler:falls to his death from the roof after trying to escape with the money when the chimney pot he was holding onto collapses]].
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* DeadpanSnarker: Professor Marcus
** Harry and Louis have their moments as well.
** Harry and Louis have their moments as well.
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Changed line(s) 20 (click to see context) from:
*** Or accidentally convince him that [[spoiler: you've killed Mrs Wilberforce]].
to:
*** Or accidentally convince him that [[spoiler: you've killed Mrs Wilberforce]].Wilberforce]] for that matter.
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*** Or accidentally convince him that [[spoiler: you've killed Mrs Wilberforce]].
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Deleted line(s) 50 (click to see context) :
* MagnificentBastard: Professor Marcus has the reputation of being one, however by the end of the film it's all gone a bit pear-shaped for him.
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Changed line(s) 34 (click to see context) from:
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Although they agree that they have to kill Mrs. Wilberforce, none of them are all that eager to do it themselves. One-Round eventually decides that he doesn't want ''anyone'' to do it and kills Harry when it looks like he has.
to:
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Although they agree that they have to kill Mrs. Wilberforce, none of them are all that eager to do it themselves. One-Round eventually decides that he doesn't want ''anyone'' to do it and kills [[spoiler:kills Harry when it looks like he has.has]].
Changed line(s) 40,41 (click to see context) from:
** If it weren't for [[spoiler:a few banknotes escaping from the cello case and drifting down to Professor Marcus below whilst he was climbing the roof, Major Courtney would have survived]].
** If One-Round's cello case hadn't got stuck in the door, [[spoiler:the gang would have all survived and escaped with the money]].
** If One-Round's cello case hadn't got stuck in the door, [[spoiler:the gang would have all survived and escaped with the money]].
to:
** If it weren't for [[spoiler:a few banknotes escaping from the cello case and drifting down to Professor Marcus below whilst he was climbing the roof, Major Courtney would have survived]].
survived and likely escaped with all the money]].
** IfOne-Round's [[spoiler:One-Round's cello case hadn't got stuck in the door, [[spoiler:the the gang would have all survived and escaped with the money]].
** If
Changed line(s) 62 (click to see context) from:
* SanitySlippage: Professor Marcus at the end. After his plan has totally been fooled, Louis calling him "crazy" for the second time is the last straw.
to:
* SanitySlippage: Professor Marcus at the end. After his plan has totally been fooled, gone belly-up, Louis calling him "crazy" for the second time is the last straw.
Changed line(s) 82 (click to see context) from:
* WindmillCrusader: Mrs. Wilberforce
to:
* WindmillCrusader: Mrs. WilberforceWilberforce, to the point where the police refuse to believe a word she says.
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* ForWantOfANail: Occurs frequently, particularly in the second half of the film.
** Had Louis not [[spoiler:called Professor Marcus [[BerserkButton crazy]] whilst they were disposing of One-Round's body, they would both likely still be alive and have either killed Mrs Wilberforce or just ran off with the money]].
** If One-Round had [[spoiler:bothered to check that Mrs Wilberforce was just asleep as opposed to having been killed, Harry would still be alive and have escaped with the money]].
** If it weren't for [[spoiler:a few banknotes escaping from the cello case and drifting down to Professor Marcus below whilst he was climbing the roof, Major Courtney would have survived]].
** If One-Round's cello case hadn't got stuck in the door, [[spoiler:the gang would have all survived and escaped with the money]].
** Adding to that is if Mrs Munsen hadn't arrived with the newspaper when she did, [[spoiler:the gang would likely have been able to convince Mrs Wilberforce that the money wasn't stolen and escaped]].
** The entire film fits this trope really, as if Professor Marcus had chosen somewhere else to stay, the gang's plan would have gone off a ''lot'' smoother.
** Had Louis not [[spoiler:called Professor Marcus [[BerserkButton crazy]] whilst they were disposing of One-Round's body, they would both likely still be alive and have either killed Mrs Wilberforce or just ran off with the money]].
** If One-Round had [[spoiler:bothered to check that Mrs Wilberforce was just asleep as opposed to having been killed, Harry would still be alive and have escaped with the money]].
** If it weren't for [[spoiler:a few banknotes escaping from the cello case and drifting down to Professor Marcus below whilst he was climbing the roof, Major Courtney would have survived]].
** If One-Round's cello case hadn't got stuck in the door, [[spoiler:the gang would have all survived and escaped with the money]].
** Adding to that is if Mrs Munsen hadn't arrived with the newspaper when she did, [[spoiler:the gang would likely have been able to convince Mrs Wilberforce that the money wasn't stolen and escaped]].
** The entire film fits this trope really, as if Professor Marcus had chosen somewhere else to stay, the gang's plan would have gone off a ''lot'' smoother.
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Changed line(s) 21 (click to see context) from:
* Bookends: The film both begins and ends with [[spoiler:Mrs Wilberforce visiting a police station and the police not believing a word of what she's saying]].
to:
* Bookends: BookEnds: The film both begins and ends with [[spoiler:Mrs Wilberforce visiting a police station and the police not believing a word of what she's saying]].
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* Bookends: The film both begins and ends with [[spoiler:Mrs Wilberforce visiting a police station and the police not believing a word of what she's saying]].
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* MagnificentBastard: Professor Marcus has the reputation of being one, however by the end of the film it's all gone a bit pear-shaped for him.
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** Although he's more [[BerserkButton crazy]] than stupid.
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* AllForNothing: After the decision to murder Mrs. Wilberforce results in the gang all murdering each other, she gets to the police station at last... and they don't believe a word of her story anyway.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Although they agree that they have to kill Mrs. Wilberforce, none of them are all that eager to do it themselves. One-Round eventually decides that he doesn't want ''anyone'' to do it and kills Harry when it looks like he has.
Changed line(s) 46 (click to see context) from:
* NothingCanStopUsNow
to:
* NothingCanStopUsNowNothingCanStopUsNow: Professor Marcus declares this, and probably seals their fate doing so.
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** The picture of Captain Wilberforce is Admiral Lord Horatio D'Ascoyne from ''Film/KindHeartsAndCoronets''.
to:
** The picture of Captain Wilberforce is Admiral Lord Horatio D'Ascoyne from ''Film/KindHeartsAndCoronets''.''Film/KindHeartsAndCoronets'', in which all the D'Ascoynes were played by Guiness.
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* TakingYouWithMe: When Professor Marcus levers the ladder that Louis is on into the path of an oncoming train, Louis shoots at him while he falls. He misses, but Marcus meets his end shortly anyhow.
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Changed line(s) 43 (click to see context) from:
* NonIndicativeName: The title. While the five do try to kill Mrs. Wilberforce, they fail and [[SelfDisposingVillain end up dying at each others hands.]] They also don't fit into [[TheCasanova the romantic definition.]]
to:
* NonIndicativeName: The title. While the five do try to kill Mrs. Wilberforce, they fail and [[spoiler:and [[SelfDisposingVillain end up dying at each others hands.]] ]]]] They also don't fit into [[TheCasanova the romantic definition.]]
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* NonIndicativeName: The title. While the five do try to kill Mrs. Wilberforce, they fail and [[SelfDisposingVillain end up dying at each others hands.]] They also don't fit into [[TheCasanova the romantic definition.]]
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Changed line(s) 3,4 (click to see context) from:
''The Ladykillers'' is a 1955 British BlackComedy from Creator/EalingStudios about a gang of criminals who rent a room from Mrs. Wilberforce (Katie Johnson) in her lopsided house that sits above a railway tunnel. The gang consists of Herbert Lom as Louis Harvey, Danny Green as "One-Round" Lawson, Creator/PeterSellers as Harry Robinson, Cecil Parker as "Major" Courtney and Creator/AlecGuinness as Professor Marcus. The gang attempt to commit a payroll robbery and use the house as a base, which proves harder than they think with Mrs. Wilberforce around.
to:
''The Ladykillers'' is a 1955 British BlackComedy from Creator/EalingStudios about a gang of criminals who rent a room from Mrs. Wilberforce (Katie Johnson) in her lopsided house that sits above a railway tunnel. The gang consists of Herbert Lom Creator/HerbertLom as Louis Harvey, Danny Green as "One-Round" Lawson, Creator/PeterSellers as Harry Robinson, Cecil Parker as "Major" Courtney and Creator/AlecGuinness as Professor Marcus. The gang attempt to commit a payroll robbery and use the house as a base, which proves harder than they think with Mrs. Wilberforce around.
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Moved to the Trivia tab under Based On A Dream.
Deleted line(s) 5,6 (click to see context) :
The screenwriter, William Rose, who also wrote ''Film/GuessWhosComingToDinner'' and ''Film/ItsAMadMadMadMadWorld'', claimed to have dreamed the whole film.
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[[quoteright:268:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ladykillers_9782.jpg]]
''The Ladykillers'' is a 1955 British BlackComedy from Creator/EalingStudios about a gang of criminals who rent a room from Mrs. Wilberforce (Katie Johnson) in her lopsided house that sits above a railway tunnel. The gang consists of Herbert Lom as Louis Harvey, Danny Green as "One-Round" Lawson, Creator/PeterSellers as Harry Robinson, Cecil Parker as "Major" Courtney and Creator/AlecGuinness as Professor Marcus. The gang attempt to commit a payroll robbery and use the house as a base, which proves harder than they think with Mrs. Wilberforce around.
The screenwriter, William Rose, who also wrote ''Film/GuessWhosComingToDinner'' and ''Film/ItsAMadMadMadMadWorld'', claimed to have dreamed the whole film.
A stage version premiered in England in 2012 based on the original, edited by Graham Linehan of ''Series/BlackBooks'' and ''Series/FatherTed''. It received extremely positive reviews and featured an AllStarCast, with [[Creator/PeterCapaldi Peter Capaldi]] as Marcus and Ben Miller as [[FunnyForeigner Louis]].
Remade by Creator/TheCoenBrothers [[Film/TheLadykillers2004 in 2004]].
----
!!This film provides examples of:
* AccidentalTruth: Professor Marcus claims that if Mrs. Wilberforce went to the police they wouldn't want the money back. They don't, but not for the reasons he claimed.
* AnyoneCanDie: By the end of the film, the old lady is the last person standing.
* ARareSentence: "Give the parrot his medicine!"
* ArmedBlag: The gang hold up an armored van transporting a large quantity of cash.
* AxCrazy
* BerserkButton:
** Professor Marcus tends to flip when called 'crazy'. This is usually accompanied by an over-the-top crescendo of epic proportions from the score, and tell-tale looks of expectant horror on the faces of the gang. Luckily, something usually happens to interrupt Marcus.
** Don't call One-Round stupid.
* {{Bizarrchitecture}}: A mild sort-- the house's foundation has subsided due to bombing during the London Blitz. Pictures never hang right, and it seems to have [[RunningGag screwed up the grandfather clock too.]]
* BritishTeeth: Professor Marcus', which are thankfully not Guinness' natural chompers.
* TheCameo: Creator/FrankieHowerd is in the 1955 film as a barrow boy whose day is inadvertently ruined by Mrs. Wilberforce.
* CassandraTruth: When Mrs. Wilberforce tries to return the money, the cops just don't believe her and tell her to keep it. It's heavily implied that they have been [[WindmillCrusader led astray]] before by listening to her.
* ClassicalMusic: The gang pose as a string quintet.
* ClockKing: Professor Marcus has it timed down to the moment how long it will take to do the heist and how long it will take for Mrs. Wilberforce to retrieve the trunk, however, he couldn't plan for Mrs. Wilberforce herself.
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Mrs Wilberforce
* {{Delinquent|s}}: Harry's a slangy [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teddy_Boy Teddy Boy.]]
* DrawingStraws: The gang do this to determine which of them will do away with Mrs. Wilberforce using matchsticks.
* DriverOfABlackCab: Mrs. Wilberforce accidentally drives one out of business.
* DumbMuscle: One-Round Lawson.
* DwindlingParty: The group becomes this while trying to rid of Mrs. Wilberforce.
* TheEdwardianEra: The good old days for Mrs. Wilberforce.
* ExactWords: When Mrs. Wilberforce asks One-Round where he learned to play the cello (which he had only been pretending to play), he truthfully replies that he "just sorta... picked it up".
* TheFifties: But in that extremely unglamorous British way.
* GentleGiant: "One-Round" Lawson.
* GigglingVillain: After [[spoiler:Major Courtney's]] fall from the roof:
-->'''Professor:''' Is he hurt? ''(giggles)''\\
'''Louis:''' ''(deadpan'') I shouldn't think he felt a thing.
* {{Leitmotif}}: Boccherini's Minuet, which the gang pretend to play.
* LondonGangster: Not the most extreme example, but definitely one of the most eccentric.
* MobileShrubbery: The Professor pulls this trick on Louis while trying to sneak up on him on the waste ground between the house and the railroad tracks.
* MurderIsTheBestSolution: Being an incredibly annoying and persnickety landlady? Kill the old woman! Obviously there is also the practical reason of the chances of her becoming a witness, but by the point they propose it she has annoyed every single member of the gang.
* NeverMessWithGranny: Even grocers and cabbies aren't safe from the unintentional wrath of Mrs. Wilberforce.
* NoOneIsIndispensable: Professor Marcus says this to Louis, [[spoiler:very truly]].
* NostalgiaFilter: Mrs. Wilberforce.
* NothingCanStopUsNow
* PetTheDog: One Round and Mrs. Wilberforce.
* PlethoraOfMistakes: The heist itself works perfectly; what happens ''afterward'', on the other hand...
* PirateParrot: The late Captain Wilberforce wasn't in the least piratical, but he was a nautical man and this is reflected in the vocabulary of his parrots. "Squawk! Swab the deck!"
* {{Ruthless Foreign Gangster|s}}: Louis is continental, and is the first one to suggest killing Mrs. Wilberforce outright.
* SanitySlippage: Professor Marcus at the end. After his plan has totally been fooled, Louis calling him "crazy" for the second time is the last straw.
* ScarfOfAsskicking: Professor Marcus is a very subtle example of this trope.
* ShoutOut:
** The picture of Captain Wilberforce is Admiral Lord Horatio D'Ascoyne from ''Film/KindHeartsAndCoronets''.
** Alec Guiness' performance is essentially aping fellow actor Alastair Sim (best known as [[TheScrooge Scrooge]] in the 1951 film), the role having allegedly been written for Sim in the first place.
* ASimplePlan: The more ''complicated'' plan (the theft) goes off without a hitch. The simple plan is killing the annoying old woman in the house.
* SlasherSmile: Professor Marcus.
* SmokingIsCool: After all, it is {{the Fifties}}.
* SpannerInTheWorks: The old woman, regardless is so annoying that the gang eventually decides to kill her. They all die trying.
* SpotOfTea: Mrs. Wilberforce interrupts the gang with offers of the drink and has elderly friends over for nice cuppas.
* StupidCrooks: Even the Professor, the criminal mastermind of the crew, is not really all there in terms of intelligence -- he's just better at using big words and being intellectually fancy.
* SuddenlyShouting: "Major, Major, Major... [[HypocriticalHumor CALM DOWN]]!"
* ThatSyncingFeeling: Even when only Louis is upstairs and everyone else is busy trying to catch the parrot, the record still sounds like a full quintet is playing; after it starts skipping, Louis takes it off the table, looks at it wistfully for a moment, and shatters it. Mrs. Wilberforce, naturally, is too dotty to ever notice.
* TenLittleMurderVictims: Purely by accident.
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Mrs. Munsen, though on a smaller scale.
* VehicleRoofBodyDisposal: The criminals dispose of the ever-accumulating bodies by dumping them on the freight trains that pass below the boarding house.
* WickedCultured: Professor Marcus.
* WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong: Professor Marcus outright asks this.
* WindmillCrusader: Mrs. Wilberforce
----
''The Ladykillers'' is a 1955 British BlackComedy from Creator/EalingStudios about a gang of criminals who rent a room from Mrs. Wilberforce (Katie Johnson) in her lopsided house that sits above a railway tunnel. The gang consists of Herbert Lom as Louis Harvey, Danny Green as "One-Round" Lawson, Creator/PeterSellers as Harry Robinson, Cecil Parker as "Major" Courtney and Creator/AlecGuinness as Professor Marcus. The gang attempt to commit a payroll robbery and use the house as a base, which proves harder than they think with Mrs. Wilberforce around.
The screenwriter, William Rose, who also wrote ''Film/GuessWhosComingToDinner'' and ''Film/ItsAMadMadMadMadWorld'', claimed to have dreamed the whole film.
A stage version premiered in England in 2012 based on the original, edited by Graham Linehan of ''Series/BlackBooks'' and ''Series/FatherTed''. It received extremely positive reviews and featured an AllStarCast, with [[Creator/PeterCapaldi Peter Capaldi]] as Marcus and Ben Miller as [[FunnyForeigner Louis]].
Remade by Creator/TheCoenBrothers [[Film/TheLadykillers2004 in 2004]].
----
!!This film provides examples of:
* AccidentalTruth: Professor Marcus claims that if Mrs. Wilberforce went to the police they wouldn't want the money back. They don't, but not for the reasons he claimed.
* AnyoneCanDie: By the end of the film, the old lady is the last person standing.
* ARareSentence: "Give the parrot his medicine!"
* ArmedBlag: The gang hold up an armored van transporting a large quantity of cash.
* AxCrazy
* BerserkButton:
** Professor Marcus tends to flip when called 'crazy'. This is usually accompanied by an over-the-top crescendo of epic proportions from the score, and tell-tale looks of expectant horror on the faces of the gang. Luckily, something usually happens to interrupt Marcus.
** Don't call One-Round stupid.
* {{Bizarrchitecture}}: A mild sort-- the house's foundation has subsided due to bombing during the London Blitz. Pictures never hang right, and it seems to have [[RunningGag screwed up the grandfather clock too.]]
* BritishTeeth: Professor Marcus', which are thankfully not Guinness' natural chompers.
* TheCameo: Creator/FrankieHowerd is in the 1955 film as a barrow boy whose day is inadvertently ruined by Mrs. Wilberforce.
* CassandraTruth: When Mrs. Wilberforce tries to return the money, the cops just don't believe her and tell her to keep it. It's heavily implied that they have been [[WindmillCrusader led astray]] before by listening to her.
* ClassicalMusic: The gang pose as a string quintet.
* ClockKing: Professor Marcus has it timed down to the moment how long it will take to do the heist and how long it will take for Mrs. Wilberforce to retrieve the trunk, however, he couldn't plan for Mrs. Wilberforce herself.
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Mrs Wilberforce
* {{Delinquent|s}}: Harry's a slangy [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teddy_Boy Teddy Boy.]]
* DrawingStraws: The gang do this to determine which of them will do away with Mrs. Wilberforce using matchsticks.
* DriverOfABlackCab: Mrs. Wilberforce accidentally drives one out of business.
* DumbMuscle: One-Round Lawson.
* DwindlingParty: The group becomes this while trying to rid of Mrs. Wilberforce.
* TheEdwardianEra: The good old days for Mrs. Wilberforce.
* ExactWords: When Mrs. Wilberforce asks One-Round where he learned to play the cello (which he had only been pretending to play), he truthfully replies that he "just sorta... picked it up".
* TheFifties: But in that extremely unglamorous British way.
* GentleGiant: "One-Round" Lawson.
* GigglingVillain: After [[spoiler:Major Courtney's]] fall from the roof:
-->'''Professor:''' Is he hurt? ''(giggles)''\\
'''Louis:''' ''(deadpan'') I shouldn't think he felt a thing.
* {{Leitmotif}}: Boccherini's Minuet, which the gang pretend to play.
* LondonGangster: Not the most extreme example, but definitely one of the most eccentric.
* MobileShrubbery: The Professor pulls this trick on Louis while trying to sneak up on him on the waste ground between the house and the railroad tracks.
* MurderIsTheBestSolution: Being an incredibly annoying and persnickety landlady? Kill the old woman! Obviously there is also the practical reason of the chances of her becoming a witness, but by the point they propose it she has annoyed every single member of the gang.
* NeverMessWithGranny: Even grocers and cabbies aren't safe from the unintentional wrath of Mrs. Wilberforce.
* NoOneIsIndispensable: Professor Marcus says this to Louis, [[spoiler:very truly]].
* NostalgiaFilter: Mrs. Wilberforce.
* NothingCanStopUsNow
* PetTheDog: One Round and Mrs. Wilberforce.
* PlethoraOfMistakes: The heist itself works perfectly; what happens ''afterward'', on the other hand...
* PirateParrot: The late Captain Wilberforce wasn't in the least piratical, but he was a nautical man and this is reflected in the vocabulary of his parrots. "Squawk! Swab the deck!"
* {{Ruthless Foreign Gangster|s}}: Louis is continental, and is the first one to suggest killing Mrs. Wilberforce outright.
* SanitySlippage: Professor Marcus at the end. After his plan has totally been fooled, Louis calling him "crazy" for the second time is the last straw.
* ScarfOfAsskicking: Professor Marcus is a very subtle example of this trope.
* ShoutOut:
** The picture of Captain Wilberforce is Admiral Lord Horatio D'Ascoyne from ''Film/KindHeartsAndCoronets''.
** Alec Guiness' performance is essentially aping fellow actor Alastair Sim (best known as [[TheScrooge Scrooge]] in the 1951 film), the role having allegedly been written for Sim in the first place.
* ASimplePlan: The more ''complicated'' plan (the theft) goes off without a hitch. The simple plan is killing the annoying old woman in the house.
* SlasherSmile: Professor Marcus.
* SmokingIsCool: After all, it is {{the Fifties}}.
* SpannerInTheWorks: The old woman, regardless is so annoying that the gang eventually decides to kill her. They all die trying.
* SpotOfTea: Mrs. Wilberforce interrupts the gang with offers of the drink and has elderly friends over for nice cuppas.
* StupidCrooks: Even the Professor, the criminal mastermind of the crew, is not really all there in terms of intelligence -- he's just better at using big words and being intellectually fancy.
* SuddenlyShouting: "Major, Major, Major... [[HypocriticalHumor CALM DOWN]]!"
* ThatSyncingFeeling: Even when only Louis is upstairs and everyone else is busy trying to catch the parrot, the record still sounds like a full quintet is playing; after it starts skipping, Louis takes it off the table, looks at it wistfully for a moment, and shatters it. Mrs. Wilberforce, naturally, is too dotty to ever notice.
* TenLittleMurderVictims: Purely by accident.
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Mrs. Munsen, though on a smaller scale.
* VehicleRoofBodyDisposal: The criminals dispose of the ever-accumulating bodies by dumping them on the freight trains that pass below the boarding house.
* WickedCultured: Professor Marcus.
* WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong: Professor Marcus outright asks this.
* WindmillCrusader: Mrs. Wilberforce
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