School for Scoundrels (1960) - film review

Tired of being put down by others, mild-mannered and thoroughly decent Henry Palfrey decides to enrol at Mr Potter’s School for Lifemanship.  Here, Henry learns how to turn every situation in life to his advantage, whether it be winning a game of tennis, dealing with his employees or luring the girl of his dreams away from the clutches of his rival.  When he graduates with flying colours, Henry wastes no time putting into practice everything that he has learned.  But he soon discovers that low cunning has its limitations...

School for Scoundrels is a classic British film comedy which brings together three of the best-loved comic actors of the period: Ian Carmichael, Terry-Thomas and Alastair Sim.  It was based on Stephen Potter’s popular upmanship books, which taught a generation of readers how to win without actually cheating (possibly explaining the sudden decline in moral standards in Britain in the 1950s).  Although Carmichael gets most of the screen-time and Sim is criminally underused, Terry-Thomas is a delight in the role for which he is best remembered, the deliciously villainous upper-crust cad. 

The ample supporting cast includes some notable British performers in small but beautifully formed cameo roles; these include including Irene Handl, John Le Mesurier, Hattie Jacques, Hugh Paddick, Peter Jones and Edward Chapman, all excellent.  The plodding and predictable narrative is enlivened by some memorable set-pieces, which include the hilarious tennis sequence in which Terry-Thomas (at his absolute best) is driven to exasperation by an even bigger bounder.

School for Scoundrels was the last film to be directed by Robert Hamer, one of the great and sadly underrated talents of British cinema.  It was Hamer who helmed the all-time classics It Always Rains on Sunday (1947) and Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949) and would doubtless have achieved even greater successes had he not been afflicted with personal crises that drove him to excessive drinking.  It was whilst making School for Scoundrels that Hamer hit the bottle and was sacked by his producer.  He would never make another film and died from pneumonia three years later, aged 52, a great loss to an industry that badly needed his talents.

© filmsdefrance.com 2009

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