L'Incredibile Avventura Di Mr. Holland
Charles Crichton
(1951)
English
Henry Holland (Alec Guinness) is dining with a fellow Englishman in a posh restaurant in Rio de Janeiro where he is well-known. He relates a story explaining his presence in Rio. It seems he was a seemingly unambitious London bank clerk in charge of gold bullion deliveries for over 20 years. He had a reputation for fussing over details and suspecting all cars he observed following the bullion van, but all in all appeared to be a man dedicated to his job and the gold's security. In fact, he had hatched the "perfect" plot to steal a load of bullion and retire. The one thing stopping him had been that selling the gold on the black market in Britain was too risky, and he was at a loss as to how to smuggle it abroad until...
One evening a new lodger – artist Alfred Pendlebury (Stanley Holloway) – arrives at Holland's boarding house in Lavender Hill. Pendlebury owns a foundry that makes presents and souvenirs that are sold in many resorts, including foreign ones. Noticing how similar the foundry is to the place where the gold is made into ingots, Holland decides that the ideal way of smuggling the gold out of the country would be as Eiffel Tower paperweights sold in Paris, and puts this hypothetically to his new friend: "By Jove, Holland, it's a good job we're both honest men." "It is indeed, Pendlebury."
When Holland suddenly finds that he is about to be transferred to another department at the bank, he and Pendlebury quickly move into action. They recruit two petty crooks, Lackery Wood (Sidney James) and Shorty Fisher (Alfie Bass), to help them carry out the robbery. The plan is simple but clever, and it succeeds: Wood and Fisher carry out the hijack of the bullion van and switch the gold to Pendlebury's works van. Holland, who is supposedly assaulted and almost drowned in the robbery, becomes the hero of the hour. The police find themselves running around in circles, unable to track down the "master criminal" who is in fact right under their noses giving them false statements and misleading clues. Meanwhile, Holland and his associates melt the gold in Pendlebury's foundry and export it to France disguised as miniature Eiffel Towers.
The plan goes wrong when the woman running the souvenir kiosk in Paris misunderstands her instructions due to a language mixup; instead of holding back the specially-marked box of Eiffel Towers, she opens it and puts them out for sale. Pendlebury and Holland, who have adopted the names of "Al" and "Dutch", arrive to retrieve their disguised bullion only to find that six of the towers have been sold to a party of British schoolgirls. A wild chase back to the Channel ferry follows but all sorts of hold-ups, including problems with the customs men, prevent them from getting to the ship and the girls in time.
If just one of those towers is found to be gold then the game is up. Pendlebury and Holland therefore track down the schoolgirls and, in exchange for a similar tower and ten shillings, recover most of the loot. One girl however refuses to return hers since she intends to give it to a friend who is a policeman. The girl delivers the souvenir to the officer, who is at an exhibition of police history and methods at Hendon Police College. Also attending is a police inspector who is investigating the robbery. As part of the case he checked up on Pendlebury's foundry and was told that many souvenirs bought in foreign places are actually made in Britain. A sudden thought occurs to him and he orders the souvenir to be tested. At that moment Pendlebury snatches it and he and Holland make their escape in a police car.
A confused pursuit then takes place through London, with Holland using the radio in the police car to give false descriptions of the vehicle in which the crooks are riding. Eventually, though, an officer succeeds in stopping their car and arresting Pendlebury. Holland escapes to Rio de Janeiro with the six gold towers, worth "£25,000, enough to keep me for one year in the style to which I was, ah, unaccustomed." But now the money is mostly gone, he finished telling his visitor. As they leave the restaurant, Holland is seen to be handcuffed to his countryman.
Notes
The Lavender Hill Mob is a 1951 comedy film from Ealing Studios, written by T.E.B. Clarke, directed by Charles Crichton, starring Alec Guinness and Stanley Holloway and featuring Sid James and Alfie Bass. The title refers to Lavender Hill, a street in Battersea, a district of South London, in the postcode district SW11, near to Clapham Junction railway station.
The original film was digitally restored and re-released to UK cinemas on 29 July 2011 to celebrate its 60th anniversary.
* Audrey Hepburn makes an early film appearance in a small role as Chiquita near the start of the film. Robert Shaw also made his first film appearance, playing a police laboratory technician towards the end of the film.
* British 1960s children's television icon Valerie Singleton also had an uncredited part in the film.
Awards and honours
The film won the Academy Award for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay. Guinness was nominated for the award of Best Actor in a Leading Role. The film also won the BAFTA Award for Best British Film.
Italiano
Mr. Holland (Alec Guinness) è un timido impiegato di banca a Londra. Per anni ha sorvegliato i carichi d'oro che partivano ed arrivavano in banca. Improvvisamente scopre che gli verrà affidato un nuovo compito.
In una settimana, egli escogita un piano per rapinare il carico settimanale, con l'aiuto di un amico, Pendlebury (Stanley Holloway). Riescono a costringere due piccoli imbroglioni, Lackery Smith (Sid James) e Shorty (Alfie Bass) a farsi aiutare a trasportare il bottino.
L'idea di Mr. Holland è quella di fondere i lingotti trasformandoli in statuine della Torre Eiffel e trasportali, così contraffatti, in Francia. Il piano va in fumo quando una delle statuine viene smarrita e ritrovata dalla polizia. Dopo un inseguimento di macchine per tutta la capitale londinese, Holland riesce a fuggire in Sud America, mentre Pendlebuty viene arrestato.
Nella scena d'apertura del film, come in un flash-forward, era però già stato mostrato l'arresto e l'estradizione di Mr. Holland.
Note
L'incredibile avventura di Mr. Holland (The Lavender Hill Mob) è un film britannico del 1951, diretto da Charles Crichton, interpretato da Alec Guinness e Stanley Holloway. Nel film fa una breve apparizione in un ruolo minore l'allora sconosciuta Audrey Hepburn.
Il titolo originale del film si riferisce ad una strada di Battersea, quartiere londinese.
Il film vinse un Premio Oscar nel 1953 per la migliore sceneggiatura originale. Alec Guinness ricevette una nomination come miglior attore. La pellicola vinse anche un BAFTA per il miglior film britannico.
La Hepburn appare quando il film si sposta a Rio de Janeiro, dopo la fuga di Holland. Guinness rimase molto impressionato nel vedere l'attrice, anche se quest'ultima aveva una singola battuta. "Aveva solo una battuta da dire", disse in seguito Alec Guinness, "e non penso che l'abbia neanche detta in maniera particolarmente interessante. Ma la sua bellezza da fauno e la sua presenza erano notevoli.". Dopo aver girato la scena, Guinness telefonò al suo agente: "Non so se sappia recitare", disse, "ma una vera star del cinema è entrata sul set. Qualcuno dovrebbe metterla sotto contratto prima che se la prendano gli americani".
Riconoscimenti
Nel 1999 il British Film Institute l'ha inserito al 17º posto della lista dei migliori cento film britannici del XX secolo.
Premi
* Premi Oscar 1953: Oscar alla migliore sceneggiatura originale
* BAFTA per il miglior film britannico
* National Board of Review Awards 1951: miglior sceneggiatura
L'incredibile avventura di Mr. Holland
Titolo originale The Lavender Hill Mob
Lingua originale inglese
Paese di produzione Gran Bretagna
Anno 1951
Durata 81 min
Colore B/N
Audio Sonoro
Genere Commedia
Regia Charles Crichton
Sceneggiatura T. E. B. Clarke
Produttore Michael Balcon
Fotografia Douglas Slocombe
Montaggio Seth Holt
Musiche Georges Auric, Ivor Mairants
Scenografia William Kellner
Interpreti e personaggi
* Alec Guinness: Henry Holland
* Stanley Holloway: Alfred Pendlebury
* Sid James: Lackery
* Alfie Bass: Shorty
* Marjorie Fielding: Mrs. Chalk
* Edie Martin: Miss Evesham
* Audrey Hepburn: Chiquita
Doppiatori italiani
* Augusto Marcacci: Henry Holland
Lingue: Eng-Ita-Esp-Deu
Sottotitoli: Eng-Ita-Esp-Deu-Fin
Clicca sull'immagine per ingrandire
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