It holds a rare 100 per cent positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes and was voted the 13th greatest British film of all time in a BFI poll of leading industry figures.
70 years since its release and the Oscar-nominated, BAFTA-winning black comedy The Ladykillers still lives up to its reputation.
In fact, the 1955 classic is so good that it’s one of just 45 films featured on the Pope’s official recommendations list.
Compiled in 1995, the Vatican film list also includes Citizen Kane and Schindler’s List. So what’s The Ladykillers about?
Starring the likes of Sir Alec Guinness, Cecil Parker, Herbert Lom and Peter Sellers, the Ealing Studios crime film saw a lonely widow rent out rooms to a gang of criminals. However, it’s not long before the old woman realised they had stolen money in a heist. As a result, the crooks reluctantly plan to kill her, only for everything to go badly wrong for them. The Ladykillers was remade by the Coen Brothers 21 years ago, starring Tom Hanks, but it never managed to reach the genius heights of the original, written by William Rose.