golden towers
by Douglas Messserli
T.E.B.Clarke
(screenplay), Charles Crichton (director) The
Lavender Hill Mob / 1951

That is, until he meets a new neighbor in his Lavender Hill rooming
house. Pendlebury (Stanley Holloway) is a would-be artist who works at a day
job of designing and crafting tourist trinkets made of lead and copper. On a
visit to Pendlebury’s small plant, Holland immediately perceives that the
creation of these metal trophies is not so very different from the creation of
the gold ingots he oversees. Before long he has confided to his new neighbor
his long-planned scheme, who now together plan to steal the truck, melt down
the gold bars, and recast them into small models of the Eiffel Tower, which
Pendlebury sells at the Tower itself in Paris. In search of further conspirators,
the two loudly speak in public of the need of a new lock for Pendlebury’s safe,
and wait out the night for a would-be robber. Two, Lackery (Sid James) and
Shorty (Alfie Bass) show up and are quickly drawn into the plot.

The heist itself goes off almost flawlessly, except for the arrestment
of Pendlebury, who has “accidentally” walked away with a painting in hand. The truck
is easily hijacked by Lackery and Shorty, Holland tied up, blind-folded, and
dizzily falling into the river as an alibi. Indeed, he is hailed as a hero instead
of a suspect. The ingots are melted down and the “golden towers,” symbol of the
wealth the two partners imagine, are cast and sent on to France, with specific
instructions that the boxes should not be opened and sold.
The pair and their conspirators, who have now dubbed themselves The
Lavender Hill Mob, celebrate, as Holland and Pendlebury head off to Paris to
retrieve their stolen loot. It has a nearly flawless heist—except that a clerk
has opened one of the boxes and sold six of the golden Eiffel Towers to a flock
of English school girls visiting the Tower itself. In horror, the two middle-aged
villains rush after them, racing down the nearly endless circle of stairs in a
marvelous dizzying fall that literally puts them (and the camera) into a spin.
But it is too late.
Yet Holland escapes with his six “golden towers,” just enough to give
him his wonderful year in the utopian world that Brazil here represents.
Despite his capture, accordingly, he has—perhaps for the first time in his
life—thoroughly enjoyed the experience, becoming of figure of great admiration
and largesse. Although prison may be in store for Holland, it can be no worse
than the prison of his own making in which lived for the twenty years before he
made his miraculous break into the “gay, sprightly, land of mirth and social
ease.” Crime has paid, if only temporarily.
Los
Angeles, July 8, 2012
No comments:
Post a Comment