Holland (Alec Guinness) is a shy, retiring bank transfer agent, responsible for the delivery of gold bullion. When he befriends Pendlebury (Stanley Holloway), a maker of souvenirs, he hatches a plan: using Pendlebury’s smelting equipment, the pair could forge the gold into harmless-looking toy Eiffel Towers and smuggle them into France.
To get the heist underway, they hire a pair of professional criminals and plot what they believe will be the perfect crime – but the crime is, of course, anything but perfect.
Winner of the BAFTA for Best British Film and an Oscar for Best Screenplay, Charles Crichton's The Lavender Hill Mob is an enduring Ealing Studios classic that remains one of the finest British comedies ever made.
