School for Scoundrels… Or How to Win Without Actually Cheating! **** (1960, Ian Carmichael, Terry-Thomas, Alastair Sim) – Classic Movie Review 894

Ian Carmichael stars in 1960 as the wimpy, bewildered Henry Palfrey, a man afflicted with a giant inferiority complex. He is devastated when sophisticated, flashy rotter Raymond Delouney (Terry-Thomas) makes a play for pretty April Smith (Janette Scott), who’s walked out on her first clumsy date with Palfrey. But he signs up at the College of Lifemanship, whose head, Stephen Potter (Alastair Sim), teaches him all the dirty tricks that he needs to know to win without actually cheating.

A film like this stands or falls entirely by the comic playing, and that is absolutely rock solid, delighful and top class. The only two real troubles with School for Scoundrels are that Patricia Moyes and Hal E Chester’s screenplay (based on Stephen Potter’s then famous novels Gamesmanship, Oneupmanship and Lifemanship) needs a bit more wit and a few more clever one-liners and that there’s sometimes a lack of comedic dynamism in the direction by Robert Hamer.

Allegedly Cyril Frankel directed some scenes as Hamer was battling drink problems. It was the eleventh and last film of Hamer (Dead of Night, Kind Hearts and Coronets, It Always Rains on Sunday), who died on December 4 1963, aged 52.

Nevertheless, this is a thoroughly enjoyable vintage British comedy, with a great old-style cast working their little wonders with what they’re offered. Thank goodness that Carmichael, Sim and Terry-Thomas (‘hard cheese old boy’) are at their most delicious, subtle and funny comic best.

And hooray for a marvellous team of some all-time favourite laughter raisers that includes Dennis Price, Peter Jones, Edward Chapman, John le Mesurier, Irene Handl, Kynaston Reeves, Hattie Jacques, Hugh Paddick, Barbara Roscoe, Gerald Campion, Monty Landis, Jeremy Lloyd, Charles Lamb and Anita Sharp-Bolster.

The first screenplay was written by Peter Ustinov, who was originally intended to play Dennis Price’s role as Dunstan Dorcester. Used car salesmen Dunstan and Dudley (Peter Jones) were based on characters Morry and Dud from 50s BBC radio comedy series In All
Directions. Ustinov and Jones wrote and played the characters on radio and their catch phrase ‘run for it’ is reprised in the film.

Remade as School for Scoundrels by writer-director Todd Phillips (The Hangover) in 2006, starring Billy Bob Thornton, Jon Heder and Jacinda Barrett.

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© Derek Winnert 2014 Classic Movie Review 894

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