Le Magot

From his subsequent work, this film comes closest in spirit to the director's best-regarded effort, namely GEORGY GIRL (1966); incredibly enough for such a light-hearted farce, it officially competed at the Cannes Film Festival where it vainly faced such tremendous contenders as THE GO-BETWEEN, DEATH IN VENICE, JOHNNY GOT HIS GUN, TAKING OFF and WALKABOUT – albeit all being released in 1971! The film was also the second play (which, for the record, was staged locally not too long ago) by the controversial if short-lived Joe Orton to be turned into a movie after ENTERTAINING MR. SLOANE, released earlier that same year and which – like Stephen Frears' biopic of Orton, PRICK UP YOUR EARS (1987) with Gary Oldman and Alfred Molina – I also own but have yet to watch (the latter on the strength of LOOT itself!).

Anyway, to get back to the film at hand, the central casting is certainly splendid: Richard Attenborough's character may be a caricature but he is undeniably funny (his Scotland Yard Inspector poses as an officer from the water board and whose professed integrity proves as much a sham as his act); Lee Remick is served with a sluttish role (as a go-getting and husband-killing nurse!) that actually takes the actress back to her debut in Elia Kazan's A FACE IN THE CROWD (1957): I do not know how she ended up in Britain just then (being reteamed with Attenborough soon afterwards for the Iris Murdoch adaptation A SEVERED HEAD {1970}), but it is safe to assume that she would never have been involved in anything this crude in Hollywood!; Hywel Bennett was fashionable for a brief period (this, in fact, came towards the end of his heyday) but he is terrific as the delusional – as much about romance as get-rich-quick schemes – morgue attendant who conducts his escapades inside a hearse!; Roy Holder's name was unknown to me but he is delightful as the effeminate half of the bungling criminal duo (calling his partner "baby" and who repeatedly gets them convicted because he has a compulsion for telling the truth!) – he also comes up with the film's funniest line, describing his 'close' relationship with his mother's corpse "a Freudian nightmare" (the couple stash the money from a bank robbery in her coffin, while the body is constantly turning up at the most inopportune moments!); Milo O'Shea, another familiar face from this era thanks to his lead role in the movie version of yet one more classic source i.e. James Joyce's ULYSSES (1967), is Holder's flustered father who also drools over Remick (she, in turn, has already eyed him for her next victim!).

Perhaps the wildest idea here is having the criminals undertake the robbery in their birthday suits, so as not leave 'forensic' traces; the comic highlight, then, is a funeral procession that develops into a Keystone Kops-type chase(!), while its brightest touch is the adoption of a song score (not particularly outstanding but still quite nice and loud) to intermittently comment upon the silly-cum-tasteless (albeit rapid-fire) action! Interestingly, the busy finale is a combination of morality (characters owing up to a deed they are innocent of so as to make amends for past mistakes), cynicism (the fact that one cannot even trust authority figures anymore) and a curious 'honor-among-thieves' attitude (Bennett not only gets the girl after all but there is every reason to believe that, with Remick along for the ride, the gang's exploits can only get better and grander still!). By the way, I may be wrong but the film's manic style would seem to have anticipated some of the more stylized episodes in the long-running (and beloved) "Fantozzi" series from Italy!

"Loot" is a British comedy based on a Joe Orton play with a dark, funny premise. Young men manage to steal money from a bank vault, attempt to hide it in a coffin that already holds a body, remove the body, and then are stuck attempting to hide both.

Hywel Bennett plays Dennis, one of the young robbers, who lays every woman in sight; Milo O'Shea plays his father; Richard Attenborough is the Inspector on the bank case; and Lee Remick plays a sexy nurse caring for Dennis' mother and looking for a rich man. I confess it took me a while to recognize her. She looks totally different here as a sexy, bombshell blonde, and speaks with an accent.

This is a very '60s film, sort of Carry on Doctor Meets Caper Film, and some of it comes off as a little tired and frantic today. Still, the acting is good, and it is an amusing story. Made even a few years later, it might have been a darker and tighter film.

Er......that's because it is a play. A play PLAY PLAY PLAY PLAY PLAY PLAY PLAY PLAY PLAY. Did I mention it is a well known play in England? It's a rather good play.

Simply put, I enjoyed this thoroughly. Although I am not familiar with the play of the same name, or any of the actors aside from Richard Attenborough, or any of the crew, I suspect this only enhanced my enjoyment.

I had only previously seen Richard Attenborough in Jurassic Park and this movie will most certainly make me keen to see him again. I caught this on TV after another movie and I had absolutely no idea what I was watching. It was completely unplanned on my part.

By the end I was laughing obediently at the ensuing hilarity. If you happen to find this movie is to your tastes then the comedy hits hard and uncompromising like a heavy weight boxer. But to be fair I enjoyed The Love Guru and Basic Instinct 2 so I am in no position to comment on 'taste'. I did however enjoy it enough to feel motivated to add my first review for it.

You can't go wrong when Galton and Simpson adapt an Orton play.

Very black, very funny, and gloriously captures the end of the swinging sixties with the Dennis and Hal's curious way of getting out of a parking ticket.

Roy Holder and Hywel Bennett are perfectly cast as the roguesh but likable main characters, and the supporting players help to carry the film along at a pace.

Ultimately a very enjoyable film, and I can only roll my eyes at the thought of it being compared to Weekend at Bernies - where Loot has black humour, Bernies only has slap stick.