Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)

Kind Hearts and Coronets is a dark comedy about a young man - Louis - who was denied rights to his dukedom because his mother ran off to marry an Italian opera singer and was promptly disinherited by her noble family. After her death, he decides to avenge her life of poverty and reclaim his birthright by ingratiating himself back in with his maternal family and subsequently murdering every potential successor who stands in the way between him and his title as duke.

There's a twist, of course, but I won't ruin it for you. It's not a riotous comedy. It moves at a relaxed pace, narrated with a calm, self-possessed voice-over by Louis himself (which is part of what makes the whole situation funny and amusing).

Anyway, I wanted to post two outfits that really caught my eye. First is this striking plaid coat-cape that at first glance looks like two separate pieces - a long coat overlaid with cape of the same material. But it's not! It's ONE whole piece! As you can see from the second photo, there is no separation in the back. The flared sleeve-like side pieces are actually just oversized flaps so that from the front, it looks like a cape. It's really quite fascinating and it's my first time (being a novice to fashion) seeing something like this.





Another, although less interesting, item that caught my eye was Sibella's hat. Look, not only does it have an ostentatious arrangement of feathers but it's trimmed in fur and contains fake fruit. It's times like these that I wish certain films were made in color instead of black & white. I bet that outfit would've looked striking on screen.

Posted in: b+w,cape,fancy hats,films made in the 1940s,murder