Strictly Confidential

Richard Murdoch and William Kendall are a couple of confidence men fresh out of chokey. Maya Koumani is the widow of the founder of a firm of patent nostrums, tired of sharing the profits with shareholders. She sizes up the men as morons, and appoints them as joint managing directors of the firm, where they tangle with William Hartnell, who runs the place.

Murdoch and Kendall are a little too stupid to suit me, like watching Laurel & Hardy without any comedy timing, nor, once you've observed them for more than a couple of minutes, charm. Miss Koumani, in her efforts to start a run on the shares and acquire them all is a bit more amusing, but most of the actual humor is provided by Hartnell, whose dyspeptic efficiency is amusing. But not enough to earn a recommendation.

'Strictly Confidential' is a short, low-budget 1950s British comedy which does not aspire to sophistication. 'Major' McQuarry (William Kendall) and 'Commander' Binham-Ryley (Richard Murdoch) are a pair of would-be genteel confidence tricksters, recently released from prison. It is their good fortune to encounter Maxine Millard, an attractive young widow, who offers them work as joint managing directors of Grannies Globules Ltd, manufacturers of 'The perfect pills for stomach ills'. They are obviously unfit for their posts, but Maxine has her own devious financial motives for undermining the firm of which she is chairman.

Kendall and Murdoch are competent comic actors and their double-act just about keeps the film afloat. They wear bowler hats and carry umbrellas. The Major laces his speech with military jargon, the Commander laces his with naval jargon. They try to conceal the fact that they are penniless. William Hartnell, the 'Guest Star', acts as their principal foil.

Otherwise there is not much to be said. The plot is perfunctory and bears no relation to the realities of company law. The title has no particular relevance. Maya Koumani is (unintentionally) laughable as the villainess. In short, 'Strictly Confidential' comes across as a passable early television sitcom padded out to fill an hour.

Yes, it's a slightly creaky and low budget 1950s comedy with a minimal plot, but anyone who loves the world of the shabby, down at heel, faux-genteel English confidence trickster will love this film.

The two male leads have great chemistry as a pair of fake ex-military city gents getting out of their depth in a share dealing swindle in 1950s London.

There are some lovely comic moments and amusing repartee. I particularly liked the scene with the tricksters at home in their bedsit in London's seedy Camden Town district, getting dressed up in dinner jackets to attend a posh dinner - and having to walk all the way to Kensington because they can't afford the bus fare.

William Hartnell is also good as an old fashioned but efficient company boss who refuses to fall for the pair's tricks. Well worth a watch.