Crooks Anonymous *** (1962, Leslie Phillips, Stanley Baxter, Julie Christie, James Robertson Justice, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Michael Medwin) – Classic Movie Review 8354

The engagingly daft 1962 vintage comedy Crooks Anonymous stars the admirable quartet of Leslie Phillips, Stanley Baxter, Wilfrid Hyde-White and James Robertson Justice. It is notable as Julie Christie’s feature film debut.

Director Ken Annakin’s engagingly daft 1962 vintage black and white comedy Crooks Anonymous stars the admirable quartet of Leslie Phillips, Stanley Baxter, Wilfrid Hyde-White and James Robertson Justice. It is notable as the feature film debut of Julie Christie.

Phillips stars as a pathological petty crook called Captain ‘Dandy’ Forsdyke, an expert in pickpocketing and safecracking, who joins Crooks Anonymous, run by wealthy ex-con Brother R S Widdowes (Baxter), in order to try to give up thieving.

‘Dandy’ Forsdyke is engaged to Babette, who wants him to go straight before they marry and finds the Crooks Anonymous society that helps hardened thieves go straight. Babette agrees to help Crooks Anonymous, founded by Mr Montague (Wilfrid Hyde-White), to cure Forsdyke of his capacity for crime.

But then the whole mob goes back to crime.

Crooks Anonymous is a gentle little, daffy, very British Sixties comedy with an expert roster of farceurs (Phillips, Baxter, Justice and Wilfrid Hyde White) all on top form. Christie is appealing in her film début as a stripper called Babette La Verne.

Also in the cast are Michael Medwin, Pauline Jameson, Robertson Hare, Charles Lloyd Pack, Norman Rossington, Harry Fowler, Harold Goodwin, Harry Locke, Colin Gordon, Bryan Coleman, Raymond Huntley, John Bennett, Arthur Mullard, Dick Emery, Joyce Blair, Dandy Nichols and Alfred Burke.

The original screenplay is written by Jack Davies and Henry Blyth.

It was released in April 1962.

Annakin’s The Fast Lady (1962), released in December 1962, is a follow-up to Crooks Anonymous with all the same four star actors: Leslie Phillips, Stanley Baxter, Julie Christie, James Robertson Justice. And a third film followed, Father Came Too! (1964), with Leslie Phillips, Stanley Baxter, and James Robertson Justice.

Scottish actor Stanley Baxter was born on 24 May 1926. He is celebrated for his British TV comedy shows The Stanley Baxter Show, The Stanley Baxter Picture Show, The Stanley Baxter Series and Mr Majeika. But his filmography is thin: Geordie (1955), Very Important Person (1961), Crooks Anonymous (1962), The Fast Lady (1962), Father Came Too! (1964), and Joey Boy (1965).

English actor Leslie Phillips was born on 20 April 1924. He died in his sleep at home in London on 7 November 2022, aged 98, after a long illness.

British actress Julie Christie was born on 14 April 1940. A major icon of the Swinging Sixties, she has won an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award.

The cast are Leslie Phillips – Captain ‘Dandy’ Forsdyke/ Fred Cox, Stanley Baxter – Brother Widdowes, Wilfrid Hyde-White – Senior Brother Montague, Julie Christie – Babette, James Robertson Justice – Sir Harvey Russelrod, Michael Medwin – Ronnie, Pauline Jameson – Sister Prunella, Robertson Hare – Grimsdale, Raymond Huntley – Wagstaffe, Dermot Kelly – Stanley, Norman Rossington – Bert, Harry Fowler – Woods, Charles Lloyd-Pack – Fletcher, Harold Goodwin – George, Harry Locke – Fred, Colin Gordon – Drunk, Jeremy Lloyd – M.C. at the Peekaboo Club, Dennis Waterman – Boy in park, Bryan Coleman – Holding, Arthur Mullard – Grogan, Joyce Blair – Carol, Timothy Bateson – Partrige, John Bennett – Thomas, Victor Brooks – Police Officer, Julian Orchard – 1st Jeweller, Patrick Newell – 2nd Jeweller, Alfred Burke – Caulfield, Arthur Lovegrove – Jones, Cardew Robinson – Wiseman – Helicopter Brother, Dick Emery – Reginald Cundell, Totti Truman Taylor, Joby Blanshard – Peekaboo, Doorman, Frank Gatliff – Policeman in the park, Marianne Stone, Jerold Wells – Sydney – Large Nightwatchman, Dandy Nichols – Mrs Cundell, and David Drummond – Assistant to Sir Harvey Russelrod.

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 8354

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com