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The League of Gentlemen (1960)
Rate:
6
Viewed:
2/25
2/25:
The back DVD cover of The League of Gentlemen says that it was "immensely popular and influenced countless
Hollywood heist films."
Wrong. The Asphalt Jungle came out in 1950, made a lot of money, and
remained a very well-known film noir. Then, there was The Killing by
Stanley Kubrick from 1956; although the film lost money, its stature grew over the years. And
there was a 1955 French picture called Rififi which pretty much gave
away the blueprint of how to stage a heist.
The League of Gentlemen? Yeah, right. One has to be very hard-pressed to have heard of it, and that can
only come through being a huge fan of the director or one of the stars in the cast. Also, the heist reminds me
of Criss Cross, especially when masks are donned and there's smoke
everywhere after the money comes out of the armored truck. The League of Gentlemen has been labeled a
comedy film. Huh? What comedy? I didn't laugh once, but whatever.
The story takes too long to get to the pièce de résistance. To pass the time, gathering
participants, going over the plan, obtaining the necessary equipment, and staying disciplined slowly bore me.
Finally, the heist commences. But the mother of all happens to set up the ridiculous ending:
there's a boy who has the knack of writing down license plates all the time. Like I would believe that.
The performances are fine. Jack Hawkins steals the show for the final leading role of his career. But what
was that all about when he came out of the sewer at the beginning? Nigel Patrick is used
again by Basil Dearden after appearing in Sapphire while Richard Attenborough
works his way up. Don't miss the amusing brief appearance by uncredited Oliver Reed as a flaming gay theater actor.
All in all, The League of Gentlemen brings nothing new to the heist genre.