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School For Scoundrels (1960) DVD Review
School For Scoundrels (1960) DVD Credits:
School For Scoundrels (1960) Directed by:
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School For Scoundrels (1960) Written by:
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School For Scoundrels (1960) Cast:
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School For Scoundrels (1960) Released by:
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Region:
1
School For Scoundrels (1960) DVD Release Date:
26th March 2007
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School For Scoundrels (1960) Synopsis:

Based on the Stephen Potter "One Upmanship" and "Lifemanship" books, a young man finds a very special school. It teaches him how to take advantage of people; how to seduce women, how to gain points in conversation, and how to beat a better tennis player by driving him crazy. He begins to put the lessons into operation.

School For Scoundrels (1960) DVD Review:


Having seen the recent remake of School for Scoundrels before watching the original 1959 British comedy I never expected that the original version would actually have more bite than the remake. The 2006 version of the story stars the famous loud-mouth curser Billy Bob Thornton; a man second only to Samuel Jackson when swearing is concerned. How it is possible that a British comedy manages to be crueler than a film starring Thornton comes down to the execution and how deep the lead character is allowed to sink.

Based on Stephen potter’s “One Upmanship” and “Lifemanship books, Ian Carmichael (The Lady Vanishes) stars as Henry Palfrey, a meek boss born into his position on top and still unable to stand up for himself. Henry makes the drastic decision to change when he meets a girl, played by Janette Scott whose smile brightens the screen and warms the heart, and his relationship with her is threatened. He enrolls in Lifemanship College, which is run by Professor Potter. Potter, played by Alastair Sim (Scrooge), teaches a group of timid losers how to take advantage of people and seduce women so that they can be winners.

In the 2006 version teacher and student were too quickly pitted and fighting against each other with the school-taught tricks. This isn’t nearly as interesting as watching revenge being taken out on all of the people who bothered our hero when he had no backbone, such as the scene in which Henry makes his account believe he has made a serious error, when he hasn’t, and even goes so far as to manipulate him into smoking a cigarette after many years of quitting the habit. The remake was far too concerned with the battle between two men who both knew how to play the game, but the British classic wickedly destroys the unaware.

This satire on self-improvement books still carries more punch than the remake, and looks great in glorious black and white. There is plenty of humor, romance, and plain wickedness in all 94 minutes of Robert Hamer’s classic film. The DVD even has the film in 16x9 widescreen.

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School For Scoundrels (1960) DVD review written by: Ryan Izay

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