Rent School for Scoundrels (1959)

Funny film with a host of British character actors - School for Scoundrels review by PV

OK, so this film (from 1959) is very dated. Its attitudes to male/female relations will no doubt make many an angry feminut spit feathers.

However, this comedy also hosts a wonderful array of British character actors incl the wonderful Terry-Thomas, plus Ian Carmichael, Dennis Price, Peter Jones, Irene Handel and John Le Mesurier as a snooty waiter. Not forgetting the best actor ever to play Scrooge Alistair Sim.

It is, for me, way funnier than all the achingly pc and right-on 'comedies' we have to endure on BBC2 these days. Old-fashioned does not mean bad.

Ian Carmichael plays self-confessed loser who sign's up with the College of Lifemanship to help him get on in life.

A silly plot can be forgiven really, esp some nonsense involving a car - and there are two very funny stereotyped used car salesmen.

Many a modern Hollywood comedy has ploughed a similar furrow - although in common with most British comic novels and films, the main character is a 'loser' and anti-hero and a man.

The ending is silly. But again, with this quality cast, who cares?

4.5 stars. A must for anyone who loves Ealing comedies etc.

British Comedy. - School for Scoundrels review by Steve

Lightweight but fun comedy based on the satirical non-fiction of Stephen Potter, which entered the words 'gamesmanship' and 'one-upmanship' into the dictionary. Ian Carmichael is a passive washout who wants to romance the astonishingly cute/sweet Janette Scott but is always trumped by a pushy blowhard played by Terry-Thomas.

So the clueless schmuck goes to a school in lifemanship run by Alastair Sim and learns how to turn the tables and win the girl. It's a simple story which swerves the many possible complications of imagining a society of competing sociopaths and just goes for chuckles. And thanks to an ideal cast it delivers a blissful diversion.

This is an England of the wealthy. Even the supposed loser, runs an accountancy firm. Though he is bullied by the staff until he learns how to push back. The events take place in exclusive restaurants and country clubs, a long way from the class divisions which might have given the story some bite.

It was the last film directed by Robert Hamer, though it doesn't have the complexity of his best work. Or the sadness. Ill health meant it was finished by other hands, but there is no evidence of a troubled production. It's a typical British comedy of the 50s-60s, and if the familiar period sexism can be overlooked, this is among the best of its type.