Saturday, July 25, 2015

SATURDAY SUPER-HEROES: THE LAVENDER HILL MOB


'BATMAN'
"THE SPELL OF TUT"


When King Tut learned that millionaire Bruce Wayne was going to donate Tut's version of the Sphinx to the Black Museum of Scotland Yard, the Pharaoh of Felonies was momentarily ecstatic to think that he would be considered one of the luminaries of crime.  Like Landru, Jack the Ripper, Lizzie Borden....

The Royal Lapidary: The Lavender Hill Mob?

From the IMDb:
Holland, a shy retiring man, dreams of being rich and living the good life. Faithfully, for 20 years, he has worked as a bank transfer agent for the delivery of gold bullion. One day he befriends Pendlebury, a maker of souvenirs. Holland remarks that, with Pendlebury's smelting equipment, one could forge the gold into harmless-looking toy Eiffel Towers and smuggle the gold from England into France. Soon after, the two plant a story to gain the services of professional criminals Lackery and Shorty. Together, the four plot their crime, leading to unexpected twists and turns. Written by Rick Gregory 


Ealing studios are famous for making very dry and witty comedies; they're probably most famous for the excellent 'Kind Hearts and Coronets' and darkly comic 'The Ladykillers', but The Lavender Hill Mob, although not as good as the other two, is definitely worth a mention.

The Lavender Hill Mob is about a bank clerk (Alec Guinness) that, with the aid of his friend Alfred Pendlebury (Stanley Holloway), a man that makes paperweights in the shape of the Eiffel tower, has an ingenious idea of how to rob his own bank. The two realise that the bank cannot be robbed by just them, so they set a trap to catch a couple of criminals, and once they've recruited them; The Lavender Hill Mob is born.  Written by "The Void"


Since King Tut listed three real-life criminals (Henri Désiré Landru was the only one I had to look up, but of course I knew of him better as "Bluebeard"), then it's safe to assume that the Lavender Hill Mob was just as real in Earth Prime-Time.  The only difference would be the Lavender Hill Mob weren't murderers.

However....

'BATMAN'
"LOUIE'S LETHAL LILAC TIME"

At one point during his confrontation with Louie the Lilac (Louis Garnett), Batman referred to Louie and his gang as the Lavender Hill Mob.


In order to keep things simple at Toobworld Central, I'm reluctantly going to accept Louie the Lilac's gang as the Lavender Hill Mob of Toobworld, even if that episode aired a year after the Tut episode.  At least it's easier to believe that they were murderers.

But wouldn't it have been fun to have Stanley Holloway and Sir Alec Guinness as their characters in the movie residing in Toobworld?


BCnU!


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