THE LAVENDER HILL MOB (1951)

Long before Auric Goldfinger menaced James Bond and world economy, there was Henry Holland. Goldfinger wanted to corner the world market on gold and smelted anyone who got in his way, but Mr. Holland, a meek British bank clerk, wants only to smuggle some gold bars from London to Paris as payback to the company who is retiring him after so many years of loyal service. And the way he and his crony do it  - in the form of souvenir Eifle towers - is a joy to watch. If you only know Sir Alec Guinness as Obi Wan Kenobi, you'll see why light years before STAR WARS he was Britain's gold standard for character acting and why this witty movie with all its plot twists (and nary one killing!) still works today. (Trivia note: Five minutes into the film, as Holland is about to tell his restaurant companion (and us) the story of his adventures via flashback, a lovely young woman walks up to the table, kisses him, says one line, and walks away, not to be seen again. Look closely, it’s Audrey Hepburn in her film debut.)