School for Scoundrels: The original, superior British version.

Reviewer: James van Maanen
Rating (out of 5): ****

To watch the original School For Scoundrels (1960), particularly after viewing last year's atrocious "remake" with Billy Bob Thornton and Jon Heder, is to rediscover the glories of good old British comedy at very near the top of its form. The story in both films is basically the same: put-upon milquetoast turns the tables by becoming nastier than his nemeses. Yet there is simply no point to comparing the two films in terms of writing and directing because the original is so incredibly superior in every tiny facet. (Interestingly, the performances in the remake are good, even though the actors group had almost nothing to work with.) The British penchant for understatement and irony, especially in matters sexual, is put to delicious use here. Situations that generally turn silly, shrill or nasty in modern renditions remain funny, sexy and sweet in this plum of a film that also manages, by the finale, to seem surprisingly ahead of its time.

Director Robert Hamer made but a handful of movies (he died of pneumonia at only 52, three years after this film--his last--was released), but since his oeuvre also includes Kind Hearts and Coronets, Queen of Spades, and an episode from the classic Dead of Night, I think his place in the pantheon is pretty much assured. And whom do we have in America today to compare with the likes of Ian Carmichael, Terry-Thomas, Alastair Sim, Dennis Price and John Le Mesurier, to name a few in this grand cast. It is also a treat to see the lovely Janette Scott (Day of the Triffids, Crack in the World); what a charming, beautiful and energetic young woman she was! You may be given a tiny jolt right after you insert the DVD, for it is being released by LionsGate, of all studios, in a widescreen format with no extras. Yet, while the transfer hardly approaches the superior Criterion level, what you'll see is plenty good enough--in every way.