School for Scoundrels

Don't hesitate: this jolly little movie is pretty much impeccable.

An excellent script, which never falters. And a BOFFO cast of British actors. The quintessential role for Terry-Thomas (tho' "Magnificent Men" is a close second).

But also fine turns from Alistair Sim, John Le Mesurier, Hugh Paddick, Peter Jones. Hattie Jacques does an hilarious voice-parody of Joan Greenwood. Janette Scott is VERY good in a thankless "skirt" role; what a charming personality.

Old car fans will love this. The sport-cars and the mocked-up vintage "Swiftmobile" are worth the price of admission alone. (Sadly, the production designer / props chaps are as yet uncredited at IMDb: perhaps the information is lost.) Very nice camera-setups. Amusingly cheesy sets. A really excellent score from John Addison that is up to Georges Auric's standard.

This has a very jolly, intimate ambiance: a sense of small scale. Feels rather like the b&w Tati movies.

Ahem. Unlike many British comedies, I can really see the attraction of remaking this: the material is so damned good that it could use another go-round, without necessarily insulting the original.

Humilliated in sport,losing his girl to a cad, and always taken advantage of-Henry Palfrey decides enough is enough and enrols himself at the College Of Lifemanship to learn self improvement strategies.

School For Scoundrels is inspired by a trio of parody self-help books written by Stephen Potter called Gamesmanship, Lifemanship & Oneupmanship, with the subsequent result being a deftly charming satire backed up with very knowing comedy. Taking the lead role of Henry Palfrey is Ian Carmichael, though a star of many funny and successful British comedies, Carmichael is not someone I would normally term as a confident leading man, but here he does well and I think that is probably down to having the ebullient Terry-Thomas to feed off.

Terry-Thomas is here in full caddish rapscallion mode as Henry's love rival Raymond Delauney, a devilishly funny character who firmly has us begging Henry to get the better of him come the end. Some delightful laughs to be had here, from the duos tennis matches, to Henry's turning of the tables on an unscrupulous car salesmen. School For Scoundrels is never ever less than a funny movie.

However the film is far from perfect, Alistair Sim isn't given that much to do as Henry's mentor, Professor Stephen Potter, and this ultimately feels like a wasted opportunity. The direction is also pretty patchy, which when I delved further is sadly understandable. Robert Hamer was the perfect choice to direct because nestling on his CV is the majestic Kind Hearts And Coronets. But Hamer was fired shortly after filming began after lapsing back into alcoholism (he would die three years later), so the film was completed by Hal Chester and Cyril Frankel.

Frayed edges aside though, School For Soudrels still holds up well today, and when one witnesses the poor standard of the 2006 remake, this 1960 offering is something of a comedic gem to be cherished forever and always.

Hard cheese old boy 8/10

When Henry Palfrey meets the lovely young April Smith he thinks he has things good. However a meeting with them and Raymond Delauney sees Palfrey made to look a fool by the caddish Delauney. To counter his wishy washy ways, Palfrey joins the `Lifemanship' school of Mr Potter. Here he learns all the ploys of a cad. Upon completion of the course he sets his sight on Delauney – but can he avoid becoming that which he hates?

Terry Thomas is famous for his lecherous wretch and here he not only plays it to perfection, but also gets out played at his own game. The plot here is in three acts. Firstly the caddish Delauney outplays Palfrey. Second act Palfrey attends the school and finally Palfrey returns to his life a changed man. All three acts play out very well for different reasons, only the end of act 3 drags a little bit but ends well. The gentle comedy of the time runs through it – it is a very English film in its own way. I enjoyed the vast majority of it.

Ian Carmichael appears a weak choice for the lead but his transformation from coward to cad is well played and he was actually very good. Thomas is well cast although this is what he is famous for I suppose. Sim is pretty good but given too little to do and there are some nice little cameos from Hattie Jacques and (even better) John Le Mesurier.

Overall this is very slight but it is also very enjoyable. It isn't hilarious but it is a very enjoyable film with a good sense of wicked humour running through the film.

I read all the Stephen Potter books and this movie captures their charm and wit perfectly. I especially love how Ian Carmichael, as the fledgling gamesman, gets sweet revenge on the car salesman who dealt him an antique lemon. And just to look at Terry Thomas' twitching moustache and gapped tooth semi-sneer sent me into convulsions. A perfect 10!

This is the ultimate Terry Thomas film. He gets to act out being the most wonderful cad, stealing girls off poor saps arms, driving open top sports cars are a furious pace, and generally getting the chance to utter 'hard cheese old boy'. Carmicheal is excellent, bewildered to begin with and slowly learning the dark arts of Upmanship. I implore all to see this film, as always the golden rule is - if a film as Alistair Sim in it, its got to be worth a look. Currently avialable on a 2 film DVD release, with another UK B&W comedy classic. Buy and enjoy.