Film Review
Crooks Anonymous is a
lightweight but eminently likeable British comedy whose main claim to fame is that
it offered Julie Christie her first film role. It was her leading
part in the popular BBC television series
A for Andromeda (1961) that had
first established Christie as an actress, although her follow-on role, as a
moralistic stripper in this low budget comedy, probably did little for
her career prospects. Co-star Leslie Phillips is also pretty well
wasted, thanks to a script which fails to make much of its central
premise and he struggles to be remotely funny, even with situations that
would appear to be a comedy goldmine.
Scottish comedy legend Stanley Baxter is the film's main attraction as he
provides most of the laughs - particularly when he is dragged up, to hilarious effect.
Other comedy stalwarts Wilfrid Hyde-White and James Robertson Justice
help to sustain the flagging narrative, making the most of any humour
that comes their way. The paucity of gags and pedestrian plot
guarantee that
Crooks Anonymous
was never going to be a classic, but it has just enough comedy mileage
to be an entertaining timewaster, thanks mainly to the pedigree of its
cast. Dick Emery, a comic legend in the making, crops up
briefly, as does Dennis Waterman (as a boy) in one of his earliest film appearances.
Immediately after this modest comedy binge, director Ken
Annakin teamed up again with Leslie Phillips, Julie Christie and
Stanley Baxter for a somewhat more enjoyable prospect,
The Fast Lady (1962).
© James Travers 2014
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.
Next Ken Annakin film:
The Fast Lady (1962)
Film Synopsis
Try as he might, Dandy Forsdyke just cannot turn his back on a life of
crime. A habitual petty thief, he can't help picking pockets,
shoplifting and breaking into safes, even though he has promised his
fiancée, Babette, that he intends to go straight. By
chance, Babette comes into contact with a criminals' self-help group,
Crooks Anonymous, run by the fastidious Mr Montague, himself a reformed
crook. Before he knows it, Dandy has been admitted to the group's
palatial headquarters and is soon receiving the benefits of an intense
course of aversion therapy. The treatment proves successful and
Dandy is released, apparently a reformed character. He finds
employment as a Santa Claus at an exclusive department store, but
temptation soon rears its ugly head and Dandy's criminal instincts get
the better of him. Locked away in the store's safe is a quarter
of a million pounds, waiting idly over the Christmas holiday for
someone like Dandy to walk away with...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.