Crooks Anonymous

Crooks Anonymous certainly has a refreshing story that elevates it from being a sub par Carry On type comedy.

Captain Forsdyke (Leslie Phillips) is a career criminal always tempted by pickpocketing and safecracking. His real name is Cox and never even seen real service. His girlfriend Babette (Julie Christie) a showgirl wants him to go straight.

Babette comes across a group called Crooks Anonymous, founded by Mr Montague (Wilfrid Hyde-White) they help hardened criminals go straight.

Forsdyke is taken by Brother Widdowes (Stanley Baxter) during a robbery when he is disguised as a policeman and taken to the Crooks Anonymous headquarters. Forsdyke admits to Montague that he wants to give up the life of crime and marry Babette.

During his time the society puts him through numerous tests to help him give up his former life such as locking him in a room filled with safes, which contain cigarettes, food, drink and a number of booby traps which make opening them hazardous.

Forsdyke finally manages to succeed in being resisting temptation to an opportunistic crime and is released into society where he gets a job as Father Christmas in a department store. He is also set to marry Babette.

However one night a perfect opportunity to commit a crime arises, he rings Crooks Anonymous, but each time they send someone round to rescue him, they also succumb to temptation.

The film has some 1960s Swinging London tropes, such as Christie as the glamorous blonde but what it has going is a sly story of villains made to go straight told with charm. Stanley Baxter has a hoot donning various disguises as he outwits Forsdyke at every turn. There are a host of familiar character actors that were a staple of 1960s British cinema, catch Dick Emery early on in the movie.

March 2022

British comedies coming out at this time all seemed to be so good, as this is no exception, yet another winner. It features many of the likeable stars from the period such as Leslie Phillips and Stanley Baxter as well as Julie Christie in her film debut.

Good interesting story and funny with it

its a winner

8.5 out of 10.

Crooks Anonymous is a film based on the notion that criminality is an addictive behavior like gambling or drinking and can be cured with the same methods. The organization Crooks Anonymous is founded by Wilfrid Hyde-White , but Leslie Phillips presents quite a challenge to the group.

Watching this film I thought I was could have been watching one of those films that critique and not too gently gay conversion therapy..

Julie Christie is in this film which was three years before her breakout Oscar performance in Darling. Nothing Oscar worthy here though.

It's a British comedy that wouldn't go over too well in America. Can you imagine the characters in a Martin Scorsese epic getting cured of their bad behavior in Crooks Anonymous?

It does have a few amusing moments.

Kleptomaniac (Phillips) wants to marry his girlfriend (Christie) but it's conditional on him going straight. After being tempted to pull off a safe cracking job, he's caught in the act and offered salvation via the benevolent guardian angel society known as "Crooks Anonymous" (when you're tempted to offend, just dial "uncrook" for assistance), led by former thief Wilfrid Hyde-White. Phillips proves to be a willing if troubled case, with guardian angel Stanley Baxter ready to test his honesty with ruses that Phillips routinely fails. But it turns out that not everyone is as rehabilitated as they portray.

Novel tale is amusing and Phillips is a likable comedian, ably supported by impressionist Baxter, light leading man Michael Medwin and other British notables; Norman Rossington features prominently as a department store night watchman toward the end of the film, and James Robertson Justice is memorable if brief as the store's ill-tempered owner. Her fans should also enjoy seeing fresh-faced Julie Christie in her film debut.

No belly laughs or side-splitting antics, but Baxter's impersonations and the set-ups for which Phillips falls are all capable of coaxing a giggle or two if you're in the right mood.

Stripper Julie Christie tells Leslie Phillips it's over unless he reforms. He finds CROOKS ANONYMOUS is the organization to help him tread the straight and narrow. However, can they do the same under his influence?

The usual suspects show up, including Wilfred Hyde-White as the head of the reforming organization, James Robertson Justice as the obnoxious head of a department store on Christmas eve and Stanley Baxter as a Dwight Frye sort of master of disguise. Ken Annakin's comedy is rather brittle, but all the parts work.

The movie is Julie Christie's film debut, and the camera, under the supervision of Ernest Steward, clearly lusts for her. No matter where she is in the shot, it seems lit to feature her liberally visible body.... or perhaps it's just me. The early 1960s was a time when ogling but (barely) censor-compliant comedies seemed to be the only thing keeping the British film industry afloat. As the only young woman in sight, Miss Christie was the obvious choice for rubbernecking.Nonetheless, it's clear that the camera loves her.