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Reviews (3)

Celluloid Black and White Heaven
Watch this film and you are immediately one up!!Unlike poor Palfrey played by the wonderfully unassuming Ian Carmichael.If you are feeling down and want a story with a happy ending, thats romantic without being too sloppy, funny without being crudely slapstick and innocent but with a gleam in its eye, then this is the film for you. As ever the performances of Alastair Simm, Terry Thomas, Carmichael and the rest of the cast end up overshadowing the never-the-less delightful plot.Actors of this calibre from this period always seem not to be acting if you know what I mean. This gives the viewer such empathy with their plight that one becomes engrossed totally, squirming with Palfreys plight and chuckling at the Professors ploys and cheering when the baddy gets his and Palfrey gets the beautiful April.
He who is not one up is one down! This movie, 5-up!
"... the moment when Adam bit into that apple.At which moment, the first loser was born.Yes, the pattern was set.The world was divided not into male and female, that's a mere superficial division of minor importance.No, there is another division, another dichotomy more basic, more profound.At that fateful moment, the world was divided into winners and losers, top men and underdogs.In a word, the one up and the one down."--from Professor Potter's lecture at the College of Lifemanship, Yeovil. "How did you meet this not-quite-blonde?"
In the British comedy, "School for Scoundrels" Ian Carmichael plays mild-mannered, docile Henry Palfrey. Palfrey is a nice man--too nice. His employees are disrespectful, waiters are rude to him, but the final blow comes when acquaintance Raymond Delauney (Terry Thomas) steals Henry's girlfriend. In desperation, Henry enrolls at the College of Lifemanship. Read more

Subjects:  1. Art House & International    2. British Comedy    3. Comedy   

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Reviews (5)

Crap British 1950s propaganda
This was really, really dull.
Clever And Amusing: A Movie Of Thievery and Faith
"What are you really after, your cross or my soul?" asks the international art thief, Flambeau, of Father Brown.
Nicely done adaptation of Chesterton stories
G. K. Chesterton's clerical sleuth Father Brown is one of the great creations of British detective fiction. The Father Brown stories are a delightful mixture of wit, intrigue, and
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Subjects:  1. Drama    2. Movie    3. Mystery / Suspense   

Editorial Review

Alec Guinness, best known for the serious dramatic roles and authoritative presence of his later films, made his mark early as a versatile character actor and a gifted comic performer. These talents are shown to their best in this bewitchingly black-hearted 1949 comedy of a poor cousin murdering his way up the inheritance ladder of a titled, old-money family. Guinness, in only his third film, becomes practically the entire family tree, starring in no less than eight hilarious roles. Handsome Dennis Price is the scheming relative, the progeny of an unfortunate marriage that turned his mother into a family pariah. Determined to earn the title he believes is rightfully his, he ingratiates himself back into the family and plots his ascension through a succession of Guinness-created social dinosaurs, joyfully killing off his kin in a series of inventive assassinations. It's class warfare in action, and Price is winning the war. The delectable Joan Greenwood costars as the married object of Price's affections, whose own venomous nature becomes apparent when Price falls for Valerie Hobson, the cultured widow of one of his victims. Robert Hamer directs with a light touch and dry wit, marrying the understated Ealing Studios comic style with the dark, satirical edge of John Dighton's sharp screenplay. The wiliest of all Ealing comedies, right down to its splendidly sardonic conclusion. Read more

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Reviews (50)

English Laugher
I'm not as enamored with Alex Guinness' multiple portrayals as many reviewers.I found some of the characters rather same-same in droll snobberies, but did enjoy the Churchman and the Admiral.Anyhow, this is a fine comedy, beautifully written with very witty lines dripping with British humor.British humor, hmm, not sure what that means unless the British prefer violence tempered with noble earnestness.
They Don't Make 'em Like They used To
This movie was definitely a pleasant surprise. I had never seen an Alec Guinness movie, apart from Star Wars, of course. So I did not know what to expect. Needless to say, the acting is superb, all around. All of Guiness' characters are entertaining and humorous in their own ways, kind of a collection of stock English characters all in one movie. The plot is simple enough yet enough twists to keep it interesting. What makes all of these old movies so great is a kind of subtle, delicious humor that all movies miss these days. This is definitely one to watch for the fan of old school, revenge movies.

Dark humor at its best
This review is for the Criterion Collection DVD edition of the film.
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Subjects:  1. Drama    2. Feature Film-comedy    3. Movie   

Editorial Review

While horror conventions may change from generation to generation, there are ideas that will scare us no matter what time period we inhabit. Read more

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Reviews (25)

English Twilight Zone-like flick
"Dead of Night" is a mid 40's English paranormal horror type flick that succeeds in conveying it's supernatural theme.
Great Film, Horrible Quality
Each episode of this masterpiece conveys a sense of dread and impending horror.This is achieved by gradually turning reality askew until it's a nightmare.No need for chainsaws and chop-chop.Unfortunately, the print I received must have been pirated by a drunken one-armed lodger with Parkinson's Disease, sitting in a vibrating chair in a dumpy London flat while struggling to keep his Toys R Us video camera trained on the flickering blue screen of a 10-inch Dumont TV situated behind the dirty window of an apartment on the other side of the Thames during a foggy night.

The nightmare is real life
This is a classic. The film is very entertaining in its succession of paranormal stories that a psychiatrist questions systematically to propose explanations that are farfetched and have to be farfetched because he does not want to accept the idea that there may be some paranormal activities and events in the world. The whole range of such events is explored and leads to a very disquieting ending. What if what we consider the real world were nothing but an illusion, a nightmare, something happening in our own minds, something that only existed in our minds ? What if this dreamlike and nightmarish world became blocked on one particularly event ? What if psychosis were the real natural normal state of tle mind instead of what we generally call normality ? What if schizophrenia were nothing but enhanced consciousness and not some deranged illusion of the brain ? ETC. You will look at the world with different eyes after this film. You may even be tempted to go to sleep and finally enter the reality of a nightmare or just a plain dream. Do so and bring the reliefs of this nightmare or that dream into what you have so far considered and called the normal world. You will discover then that most people around you will consider you as a real nightmare and that you will consider them as either real dummies or real monsters from the dead of night. Anyway life will become a lot more interesting and fascinating.Read more

Subjects:  1. Horror    2. Horror / Sci-Fi / Fantasy    3. Movie   

Features

• Color
• NTSC

Subjects:  1. Drama    2. Feature Film-comedy    3. Movie   

Editorial Review

While horror conventions may change from generation to generation, there are ideas that will scare us no matter what time period we inhabit. Read more

Features

• Black & White
• NTSC

Reviews (25)

English Twilight Zone-like flick
"Dead of Night" is a mid 40's English paranormal horror type flick that succeeds in conveying it's supernatural theme.
Great Film, Horrible Quality
Each episode of this masterpiece conveys a sense of dread and impending horror.This is achieved by gradually turning reality askew until it's a nightmare.No need for chainsaws and chop-chop.Unfortunately, the print I received must have been pirated by a drunken one-armed lodger with Parkinson's Disease, sitting in a vibrating chair in a dumpy London flat while struggling to keep his Toys R Us video camera trained on the flickering blue screen of a 10-inch Dumont TV situated behind the dirty window of an apartment on the other side of the Thames during a foggy night.

The nightmare is real life
This is a classic. The film is very entertaining in its succession of paranormal stories that a psychiatrist questions systematically to propose explanations that are farfetched and have to be farfetched because he does not want to accept the idea that there may be some paranormal activities and events in the world. The whole range of such events is explored and leads to a very disquieting ending. What if what we consider the real world were nothing but an illusion, a nightmare, something happening in our own minds, something that only existed in our minds ? What if this dreamlike and nightmarish world became blocked on one particularly event ? What if psychosis were the real natural normal state of tle mind instead of what we generally call normality ? What if schizophrenia were nothing but enhanced consciousness and not some deranged illusion of the brain ? ETC. You will look at the world with different eyes after this film. You may even be tempted to go to sleep and finally enter the reality of a nightmare or just a plain dream. Do so and bring the reliefs of this nightmare or that dream into what you have so far considered and called the normal world. You will discover then that most people around you will consider you as a real nightmare and that you will consider them as either real dummies or real monsters from the dead of night. Anyway life will become a lot more interesting and fascinating.Read more

Subjects:  1. Horror   

Features

• Black & White
• NTSC

Reviews (3)

Celluloid Black and White Heaven
Watch this film and you are immediately one up!!Unlike poor Palfrey played by the wonderfully unassuming Ian Carmichael.If you are feeling down and want a story with a happy ending, thats romantic without being too sloppy, funny without being crudely slapstick and innocent but with a gleam in its eye, then this is the film for you. As ever the performances of Alastair Simm, Terry Thomas, Carmichael and the rest of the cast end up overshadowing the never-the-less delightful plot.Actors of this calibre from this period always seem not to be acting if you know what I mean. This gives the viewer such empathy with their plight that one becomes engrossed totally, squirming with Palfreys plight and chuckling at the Professors ploys and cheering when the baddy gets his and Palfrey gets the beautiful April.
He who is not one up is one down! This movie, 5-up!
"... the moment when Adam bit into that apple.At which moment, the first loser was born.Yes, the pattern was set.The world was divided not into male and female, that's a mere superficial division of minor importance.No, there is another division, another dichotomy more basic, more profound.At that fateful moment, the world was divided into winners and losers, top men and underdogs.In a word, the one up and the one down."--from Professor Potter's lecture at the College of Lifemanship, Yeovil. "How did you meet this not-quite-blonde?"
In the British comedy, "School for Scoundrels" Ian Carmichael plays mild-mannered, docile Henry Palfrey. Palfrey is a nice man--too nice. His employees are disrespectful, waiters are rude to him, but the final blow comes when acquaintance Raymond Delauney (Terry Thomas) steals Henry's girlfriend. In desperation, Henry enrolls at the College of Lifemanship. Read more

Subjects:  1. Feature Film-comedy