Droll or subtle? Hard to say exactly...

The Ladykillers - lessons in subtle comedy amid farce

Well, I wondered, what would be a subtle funny movie?  Long ago I saw Kind Hearts and Coronets and thought it had some subtle business amid the broad humor.  Reflecting back on it, I realized I had never made time for that other Ealing masterpiece, The Ladykillers.  Well say no more!  One trip to Blockbuster later I popped it into the old Betamax and away we went.

It's bloody brilliant.

Here is John Badham's entry in Trailers From Hell -




The sets, especially the color palette are inspired, even Hitchcock would approve.  The opening scenes, as the menacing Alec Guinness character shadows Mrs. Wilberforce, are brilliantly filmed (apparently an homage to Hitchcock's The Lodger), and Guinness' entrance is - wow:

The script is aces, too, everyone gets good bits, even Mrs. Wilberforce:

Mrs. Louisa Wilberforce: ...May I ask you where you studied? 

One-Round: ...Well, I didn't really study any place, Lady... I just sort of... picked it up. 

Mrs. Louisa Wilberforce: You know, I was so surprised when I heard what you were playing. It brought back something that, really, I'd completely forgotten all about: my 21st birthday party. You see, my father had engaged a string quintet to come in and play in the evening; and while they were playing Boccherini, someone came in and said the old queen had passed away. And everyone went home. And that was the end of my party, all that time ago, in Pangbourne. 

[Silence] 

Mrs. Louisa Wilberforce: Well, if you'll excuse me, I'll run and make the tea. The kettle *must* be nearly on the boil. 

[She leaves] 

One-Round: Who's she talkin' about? Old queen who?

That nice actress won a BAFTA award, and holy crap that brilliant cockney thug was Peter Sellers!?

One and the same

We even get a cameo from Obi-Wan Kenobi -



If you haven't seen it, you must. If you've seen it, see it again. There's nothing in theaters right now, and it has a 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes because it is perfect. And in a few places it is even...somewhat...subtle.




For Terence Davies, an Ealing alum, one of the subtleties of The Ladykillers was its depiction of failed men of all kinds, in a nation that had just lost an Empire:




The Guardian:  "The greatest comedy caper" (link)

Down payment on a discussion of subtle humor

Ok, I've never been a big fan of subtle humor, but I have always thought Wendy Liebman was a singular talent:




Here she is during her comeback following a serious car accident in 2014:




She did appear on America's Got Talent, and Howard Stern did bring her back on a wildcard, so I guess she's not invisible.  And sometimes she is so smart and and subtle that I find I'm appreciating her cleverness but not laughing.

That's the problem with subtle humor - it's hard to be the GREATEST subtle anything, because we're accustomed to thinking of greatness as a kind of exhibitionism.  Making a living as comedy headliner, as Liebman has, deserves some kind of award.

Something understated, of course.