Trivia / Kind Hearts and Coronets

• Acting for Two:
  • Alec Guinness plays eight members of the D'Ascoyne family.
  • Dennis Price also briefly plays Louis' father.
• Cast the Runner-Up: Alec Guinness was originally offered only four D'Ascoyne parts, recollecting "I read [the screenplay] on a beach in France, collapsed with laughter on the first page, and didn't even bother to get to the end of the script. I went straight back to the hotel and sent a telegram saying, 'Why four parts? Why not eight!?' "; he eventually played nine.
• Completely Different Title:
  • At least three languages change the title to "Noblesse Oblige": French, German (as Adel verpflichtet), and Polish (as Szlachectwo zobowiązuje).
  • The Spanish title is Ocho sentencias de muerte, meaning "Eight Death Sentences".
  • The Italian title is Sangue blu, meaning "Blue Blood".
  • The Swedish title is Sju hertigar, meaning "Seven Dukes".
• Creator's Favorite Episode: Ealing Studios head Michael Balcon named this as his favourite of the Ealing films he produced.
• Dawson Casting: Audrey Fildes plays the mother of Dennis Price while being seven years younger than him.
• Development Hell:
  • In 1976, EMI Films announced another adaptation of the source novel titled Blue Blood and Bitter, with Lionel Jeffries directing, Ronald Harwood scripting, and Dick Emery starring, but on a budget of four hundred thousand pounds sterling, EMI felt it would have difficulty recouping its costs and it was cancelled.
  • In 1984, it was announced that Ivan Reitman would be directing another adaptation starring Dustin Hoffman, but it never came to fruition.
  • In 2000, Mike Nichols was planning another adaptation of the novel with Will Smith as Louis D'Ascoyne and Robin Williams as the other members of the D'Ascoyne family. It never came to fruition.
• Executive Meddling: The American release was forced to add an extra shot to the ending to comply with the Hays Code which forbade people getting away with breaking the law, in which Louis' memoir is explicitly shown to be found by the prison staff before he can get it back.
• Sequel in Another Medium: In May 2012 BBC Radio 4 broadcast a sequel called Kind Hearts and Coronets – Like Father, Like Daughter, written by David Spicer. In it, Unity Holland, the illegitimate daughter of Louis and Sibella, is written out of the title by Edith Duchess of Chalfont. Unity then murders the entire D'Ascoyne family, with all seven members played by Alistair McGowan.

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