Crooks in Cloisters

After a slick credits sequence parodying the Great Train Robbery (with Barbara Windsor taking over as driver!) this surprisingly elaborate production in CinemaScope and Technicolor relocates of all places to Cornwall were it proves disconcertingly rambling and preachy (if you'll pardon the word)!

Worth noting are brief supporting appearances by a young Corin Redgrave in his film debut, Arnold Ridley treading water before becoming a household name in 'Dad's Army', and former Devil Girl from Mars Patricia Laffan making her final film appearance as Gregoire Aslan's foxy blonde mistress.

Little Walter and his motley crew of robbers decide to get out of London after pulling off a tiny little train robbery. Holing up in a disused monastery off the Cornish coast, the gang start to find the way of life somewhat appealing, could it be that this gang of villains are going to get the habit?

There is no beating around the bush here, anyone outside of Britain are advised to stay well clear of this very British caper. It's amiable if very forgettable, but it most certainly shines as a beacon of Great British sensibilities. It's the sort of British film that would have benefited from having some top line writers at the helm, I smile when I think what Gilliat, Launder, Galton or Simpson could have done with the premise on offer. As it is it, it's daft nonsense that plays out exactly as you would expect, but upon the finale reveal, it still manages to cheer the spirit and bring about a cheesy grin. This is mainly down to the highly engaging cast that have managed to pull the discerning viewer into their new and engaging lives. Ronald Fraser, Barbara Windsor, Bernard Cribbins, Davy Kaye, Wilfrid Brambell and Melvyn Hayes are all instantly recognisable to fans of British film and television, so if you be one of those people? Then give it a go with your expectation level set at amiable. 6/10

A group of criminals are on the run after a train robbery & find the perfect hiding place. A remote monastery on a small Cornish island. However after a shaky start the criminals start to adapt & enjoy their new life. But will their criminal origins catch up with them? A classic British comedy from the golden age with a cast of familiar faces from the big & small screen( Babs Windsor, Ron Fraser, Wilfrid Brambell , Cribbins etc). Sadly many of them are no longer with us.Not as cheeky as the Carry Ons but with some similarities,fans of UK comedy will enjoy this great British crime caper with its gentle humour & great characters.Their initial mishaps in dealing with a more sedate, natural life offer many classic scenes & the characters shine through. A shame we don't make 'em like this anymore.

CROOKS IN CLOISTERS is one of the weaker British comedy films I've watched. Made in 1964 and shot in colour on what looks to be a serviceable budget, the storyline sees a gang of robbers who escape the long arm of the law by travelling to a remote monastery on an island off the coast of Cornwall. There they must masquerade as monks while attempting to evade the notice of the authorities lest their true identities be revealed.

It's an acceptable enough storyline but it has to be said that the jokes are very tame here and almost unnoticeable for the most part. The character-focused shenanigans are almost entirely of the "fish out of water" variety as these friendly rogues must get used to farmyard animals, cooking, cleaning, and working in the vegetable patch. There are very few belly laughs and as a whole the comedy is weaker than a contemporary feature like CARRY ON JACK.

What CROOKS IN CLOISTERS does have going for it is an exemplary cast of comic faces. Ronald Fraser headlines the cast as the gang leader desperately trying to keep everything together, while Melvyn Hayes is the moonstruck youngster. Barbara Windsor, as the token female member of the crew, is as grating as ever, while Bernard Cribbins spends almost his entire running time getting to grips with a pesky goat. Watch out for an unrecognisably young Francesca Annis as a love interest, Corin Redgrave as a senior monk, and Wilfrid Brambell as a local chap who becomes involved in the shenigans and becomes a valuable ally.

Something to watch whilst having a severe cold and being stuck in the house on a freezing November afternoon. The performers try their best but the plot is so wafer-thin and episodic and the basic comedic premise (of a gang of Cockney crooks holed up in a deserted monastery off the Cornish coast disguised as monks) is so over-used that one's interest soon flags. Interesting only really in order to ascertain how Barbara Windsor is STILL basically putting in the same performance as when this was made and to show anyone under fifty that the 1960s were definitely NOT about innovation and creativity when it came to the production of much of what passed as 'popular culture' in the first half at least of the decade. Watch and forget.