Scene-by-scene breakdown of "The Ladykillers" (1955)

This film was written (story and screenplay) by William Rose and directed by Alexander Mackendrick (who also directed The Sweet Smell of Success, a film written by Ernest Lehman, also covered in this blog).

Scene-by-scene breakdown

1. Widow Mrs Wilberforce exits from her home on the edge of town. Her backyard looks over train tracks leading to a nearby train station. Walking through town, she greets townspeople, such as a beggar selling paintings and a street sweeper. She then goes to the police station to report a spaceship landing in her neighbor's yard. The Police Superintendent politely thanks her but, secretly, they think she is crazy. She leaves but forgets her umbrella. When a kind (fat) policeman reminds her, she says it’s old and she doesn’t like it but takes it with her.
2.  She returns home, where she lives alone with her parrots. She's followed home by a man who seems to be a mysterious stranger he rings the doorbell and asks about her room to rent this is Professor Marcus he asked to move in and to practice music with his friends in his room she is delighted he then leaves
3.  Marcus's friends arrive, four in total, all carrying musical instrument cases. They go upstairs to Marcus's room. They shut the door, put on a record of classical music and pretend to practice. Instead, they plot an armed robbery. They plan to have Mrs Wilberforce unwittingly help them get the money out of town.
4.  Mrs Wilberforce knocks and the Gang comically gets set up to appear as though they have been practicing. They stop the record and answer the door. Mrs Wilberforce offers tea. When she leaves they argue about leaving her out of their plans after all. They take a vote. It turns out that one of them, the “muscular dumb” Lawson, indicates he likes Mrs Wilberforce. That swings the vote back to their original plan.
5.  At the train station, Marcus spies on the movement of the money on the trains
6.  Back at Mrs Wilberforce’s house, she knocks on Marcus's door and offers tea to his four remaining friends. Then she asked for help giving her bird it’s medicine. Mr Robinson (played by Peter Sellers) volunteers to help her with her bird. In a comical scene, he is bitten by the bird and the bird flies away. Mr Lawson agrees to help with the bird but he only makes things worse. It's a scene of slapstick comedy.
7. This is the robbery scene. Using a coordination of cars and trucks, the gang (1) blocks policeman from the armored truck, (2) take over the armored truck using guns, (3) knock out the two drivers of the truck, (4) pry open the back of the truck, (5) transfer the money into a large shipping crate (a 4 ft tall trunk). This trunk is taken away in their car
8.  The getaway car with the trunk goes to the train station where Mr Robinson is disguised as a shipping clerk. He puts the trunk in with the other incoming crates and luggage.
9.  The police actively search all over town for the robbery suspects.
10.  Mrs Wilberforce unwittingly helps Marcus by collecting his trunk from the train station. He gave her the excuse that these are his books from Cambridge, but he will be unable to collect them. She leaves with the trunk but then returns to the train station because she forgot her umbrella. Again, she comments that she forgets it because it’s old and she doesn’t like it. She leaves again from the train station but stops in the street to help a horse being tormented by a man selling apples from his cart. A slapstick comedy scene involving policemen ensues. She then gets back in her car and the police help her deliver the trunk to her house
11.  The Gang reunites at the house of Mrs Wilberforce and carry the trunk upstairs. The police do not suspect Mrs Wilberforce or Marcus's friends of putting the money in the trunk. As Marcus and his friends prepare to leave, on the way out Lawson gets his cello case stuck in the front door. As he yanks hard to free it, the case spills open and cash falls out. Mrs Wilburforce sees this and becomes suspicious.
12. The Gang rushes back inside and tries to convince Mrs Wilberforce that the money she saw was obtained legally. She doesn't believe their story. The doorbell rings and four of Mrs Wilberforce's friends arrive for a pre-scheduled tea party. These are all elderly women and are delighted to see Marcus and his friends there to join them in their tea party. Now Marcus and his friends don't know what to do – they can't kidnap all these women. One of the ladies invited over for tea has brought a newspaper. The newspaper informs them of all of the robbery and the amount of money stolen. Mrs Wilberforce now knows what Marcus and his friends have done. Without telling her tea party friends, she ushers the ladies all into the sitting room with the parrots. She then returns to the hallway to confront Marcus and his friends.
13. At this point Mrs Wilberforce, treats Marcus and his friends as though they are young children even though in fact they are older men. She tells Marcus and his friends that she is shocked and appalled at their behavior. They pretend to be ashamed and embarrassed at being caught. It is clear from her attitude she knows what they did but the robbery is never discussed explicitly. She explains to them that they must act like gentlemen and have tea with her friends. Lawson is especially impressed with her charm and grace.
14. Marcus and his friends enter the sitting room and have tea with the ladies and listen to one of the ladies sing a song.
15. The tea party over, the ladies have left, and Mrs Wilberforce confronts the Gang, again treating them again as little children. Marcus pretends to be ashamed and explains the money was insured and the bank doesn't want the money back. He explains the insurance company will simply distribute the cost of its loss throughout all of its customers, amounting to merely a farthing each. They tell Mrs Wilberforce a sad story of an invalid that the money is needed for. Mrs Wilberforce does not believe the story or at least says it doesn’t matter - it’s still wrong.
16.  Before Lewis, the most violent of the friends of Marcus, can do anything the doorbell rings. The same (fat) policeman who returned Mrs Wilberforce’s forgotten umbrella at the station is at the door. (It is now night outside.) Before she answers the door, Marcus and his friends convince Mrs Wilberforce that the police will think she is involved with the robbery. She believes them and is worried what the police will think (as though they were her friends) will think of her. Marcus says to tell the policeman nothing and convince him to go away. She accepts this and so she answers the door in an unfriendly manner. The policeman just says that he wants to check in on her. She tells him to go away. The policeman is surprised at her gruff attitude but then leaves.
17.  Again, she addresses Marcus and his friends and she insists that the money they stole be returned. They all get upset, but act ashamed. She says they should go to the police station and turn themselves in. She says if they don't she will go by herself and turn herself in.
18. Upstairs in Marcus's room with the door closed, the Gang discusses killing her. Mrs Wilberforce knocks and interrupts them saying they should go now to the police station. They say it's still raining outside and they will go when it stops raining. She agrees and leaves. Once Mrs Wilberforce is gone, Marcus and his friends draw straws for who should kill her (this is at approximately minute 63 of the 90 minute movie).
19. The Major, the kindest of Marcus' friends, draws the short straw but begs off the job of killing Mrs Wilberforce. Lewis, the most violent of them, threatens the major with a knife. So the Major is forced to go downstairs. He returns upstairs and tells them to tell Mrs Wilberforce that he wants to talk with her upstairs in their room. They all leave and Mrs Wilberforce comes upstairs. The Major tells her that he will go to the police and escapes out the upstairs window taking the money with him
20.  The others discover that he is on the roof and chase after the Major. They catch him and recover the money but Mrs Wilberforce takes the money and locks it away in a storage trunk. Lewis kills the major without Mrs Wilberforce seeing that he's done this. Mrs Wilburforce goes to her sitting room and tells Marcus she's exhausted and will nap until the rain stops and the police arrive. She still thinks that the Major has gone to the police.
21.  Marcus and the remaining Gang draw straws again to decide who will kill Mrs Wilberforce. However, Lawson refuses to comply and insists that no one hurt Mrs Wilberforce. Marcus tricks Lawson, who's not very bright, and tells him to go put the Major in a wheelbarrow so they can dispose of his body. Once Lawson leaves, the others draw straws and Mr Robinson gets the short straw.
22.  Marcus and Lawson dispose of the Major by dumping his body into a passing empty train container as the trains pass through a tunnel going underneath Mrs Wilberforce's backyard.
23. Mr Robinson enters the sitting room where Mrs Wilberforce is sleeping. Instead of killing her, he sees the key to the trunk that she locked the money in. He takes the key, opens the trunk, steals the money, and escapes out the door.
24. Lawson returns and sees Mrs Wilberforce asleep but he thinks that she is dead. He's enraged that someone has killed Mrs Wilberforce. Afraid for his life, Lewis points to Mr Robinson who is running away outside. Lawson chases Mr Robinson down and kills him. The case with the money is left outside.
25. Lawson then runs inside to kill Marcus and Lewis but the noise awakens Mrs Wilberforce. Lawson, stunned that she is alive, stops attacking Marcus and Lewis. She asks where the cello case went. Lawson tells her that it is outside. He goes and gets the cello case with the money and gives it back to her. She puts it back in the sitting room.
26. Mrs Wilberforce is very disappointed with Marcus, again treating them as children. She returns to the sitting room to guard the cello case with all the money while she waits for the police.
27. Marcus, out in the hallway, privately whispers to Lawson to put Mr Robinson's body in the wheelbarrow to dispose of it, just as they disposed of the Major. Lawson refuses, saying he will stay with Mrs Wilberforce to protect her.
28. Mrs Wilburforce in the sitting room tells Lawson the story of her husband, who passed away many years ago at sea. She tells him that the parents that she keeps were his parrots. They remind her of her dead husband, who was a decent man. She wonders why the police are taking so long to arrive but then falls asleep for another nap.
29. Out in the hallway, Marcus and Lewis go out back to dispose of Mr Robinson in the wheelbarrow. While they are dumping Mr Robinson's body into an empty train container, they plot to kill Lawson and Mrs Wilberforce together. However, Lawson appears behind them and tells them he heard their entire conversation. He points to the gun that he holds in his hand and says “who looks stupid now?” then pulls the trigger to kill them. Nothing happens. The gun won’t fire.
30. Marcus and Lewis have killed Lawson and are disposing of his body. Lewis examines Lawson's gun and tells Marcus “he left his safety catch on” as they dump Lawson into an empty train container. The steam from the steam train engulfs them and Marcus escapes (knowing that Lewis wants to kill him to keep all the money for himself).
31. Lewis hunts for Marcus outside around the train station but Marcus has hidden behind some bushes. In this scene, they chase each other in the dark but eventually Marcus kills Lewis. A moment later a train signal falls on Marcus's head and he too dies.
32.  Mrs Wilberforce awakes the next morning and goes to the police. She tells the police about the money and the robbery. They don't believe her. She asks what she should do with the money they say to keep it.
33. She walks through town. S gives the begger selling paintings a bill of money. It's so much he calls after her thinking she's made a mistake. She ignores him. She's very happy because now she has enough money to buy a new umbrella.