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The League Of Gentlemen - Special Edition [1960] | ![The League Of Gentlemen - Special Edition [1960]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51Y9Fo3X%2BLL._SL160_.jpg)
 enlarge | Director: Basil Dearden
Actors: Jack Hawkins, Nigel Patrick, Roger Livesey, Richard Attenborough, Bryan Forbes
Studio: Network
Category: DVD
List Price: £14.99
Buy New: £6.93
You Save: £8.06 (54%)
Rating:  7 reviews
Sales Rank: 5449
Format: Black & White, Pal
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: Parental Guidance
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 115
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
EAN: 5027626254940
ASIN: B000I8OP3M
Theatrical Release Date: October 7, 1960
Release Date: January 29, 2007
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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Amazon.co.uk Review
The League of Gentlemen is a sardonic crime drama in which Jack Hawkins plays an embittered retired army officer who recruits seven fellow ex-soldiers to carry out a bank raid with military precision. The film presents an England between post-war austerity and the more liberated 1960s where traditional moral certainties were rapidly being discarded; a London where ex-officers left on the scrapheap at war's end could justify turning their military experience to armed robbery. Unfortunately the tale is neither particularly amusing or thrilling, with an overlong central detour via an army camp prefacing the exciting heist and a largely anti-climactic ending. Nevertheless Hawkins effectively subverts his heroic officer type from The Cruel Sea (1953) and The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), and there's excellent support from a great cast including Nigel Patrick, Richard Attenborough and Roger Livesey. Bryan Forbes not only wrote the cynical screenplay but costarred with wife Nanette Newman in her first significant screen role. More influential than truly classic, The League of Gentlemen has lent its name to a modern BBC comedy, an "Extraordinary" comic strip-turned-movie, and proved the template for heist films ever since, including both versions of The Italian Job (1969 and 2003). On the DVD:The League of Gentlemen is presented in an anamorphically enhanced 16:9 transfer from an excellent condition print and mostly looks and sounds fine. There's minimal print damage, though sadly Philip Green's ironically patriotic main title music suffers from significant distortion. The only extra is the original trailer, which is now something of a period piece itself. --Gary S Dalkin
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| Customer Reviews: Read 2 more reviews...
Three cheers for Network! September 8, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
A British caper - one of those archetypal "Sunday afternoon" films full of familiar faces and not an ounce of fat on the plot. Ex-British Army officers in various states of "disgrace" team up to rob a bank and that's it - it's all in the details. This DVD looks terrific, with crisp, anamorphic black and white. If only all the great British movies of the period were getting this treatment!
Thanks Network DVD. April 12, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Network know how to re-package old films and TV series. They've made a splendid job of The League Of Gentleman. I've watched the film but not seen it with the commentary of Hubby and Wife Bryan Forbes and Nanette Newman. Something to look forward to. I wonder why the Film Trailer included here isn't as good quality as the main film? As it looks like I'm watching it on my 16mm projector. But don't let that put you off buying this film folks. The main film is absolutely stunning and if an actors phrases will ever stay with me it is Nigel Patrick with "Sorry ole Darling"
 A first-rate movie, witty and cynical, about a disgruntled, forcibly retired Army colonel and what he does about it June 7, 2007
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
"Think of it as a full-scale military operation," says involuntarily retired Colonel Hyde (Jack Hawkins) to cashiered ex-major Race (Nigel Patrick). "What chance has a bunch of ordinary civilians have against a trained, armed and disciplined military group?" Hyde did not for one moment like being forced into retirement after 25 years in the British army. He spent the last few days of active duty doing some research among personnel files. Now, Hyde plans to get a bit of his own back...and Race, along with six other former officers, are going to be the means.
The League of Gentlemen is a cynical, stylish, witty film about a bank heist carried out with the precision of a Swiss watch, all thanks to Hyde's meticulous research. Among the seven men he recruits are Race, charming, shrewd, imperturbable and a reliable second-in-command...even if he does tend to call people "old darling." Race was forced to resign his commission because of a bit of black marketeering. Mycroft (Roger Livesey) was a superb quartermaster who was discovered in a bit of gross indecency in a public place. Lexy (Richard Attenborough), a talented and crooked mechanic and whiz with radios, was found to be selling secrets to the Russians. Porthill (Bryan Forbes) is always resourceful and is now a gigolo, but was discovered to be shooting prisoners in Cyprus. The others all had problems with being weak, or being discovered as one of those whose love dare not be spoken of, or of being responsible for the deaths of men under them. But, as Hyde points out, they were all superbly trained officers and they all need money.
Hyde brings them together with an anonymous invitation to lunch in the Maple Room of the elegant Cafe Royal. Included in the envelope is a copy of a book, The Golden Fleece, and half a five-pound note. After a fine lunch with a decent wine, brandy, cigars and the other half of the fiver, Hyde gets down to business. The mission? They will rob a very big and well-protected bank in the heart of central London, make off with at least 100,000 British pounds each and then live happily ever after. It will be called Operation Golden Fleece. With just a little reliance on greed, self-interest and perhaps a hint of coercion, he recruits them. Before long we're deep into training and organizing, setting up communications and stealing transport. In an amusing, tense sequence almost good enough to be a movie itself, they also bluff their way into an Army base and steal a substantial amount of arms. Do they actually pull off this complex heist that calls for split-second timing, nerves as cold as ice and flawless teamwork. Well, of course, and we get to watch it happen. Do they get away to lead a life of leisure? You'll need to see the movie. Be prepared for a very funny appearance by a twit of an old comrade of Hyde's, Bunny Warren (Robert Coote), and a twist which is handled with a stylish dollop of jaunty ruefulness.
Jack Hawkins, with that rough voice and no-nonsense face, does a fine job as Hyde, a man who can see the amusement in having few illusions. There is quite a collection of first-rate British actors in the men around Hawkins and they all are excellent. Bryan Forbes also wrote the screenplay. He was a clever actor who wrote and directed some fine movies, among them The L-Shaped Room, Seance on a Wet Afternoon and King Rat.
The League of Gentlemen is a wry, pleasantly cynical film which, after we get to meet the men Hyde recruits, builds up a nice momentum with action and irony. The DVD looks just fine.
A British Gem January 20, 2007
41 out of 41 found this review helpful
British cinema at its best, with the superb Jack Hawkins as the leader of a bunch of disgruntled ex-army specialists. Colonel Hyde (Hawkins) assembles his 'Dirty Eight' (pre-dating the concept of the Dirty Dozen by six years or so) for a bank heist in 1960 London. There are some great location shots of London for you nostalgia buffs and a winning cast, which includes the much underated Nigel Patrick at his urbane best and good old Dickie Attenborough. Based on the books by John Boland, Brian Forbes's screenplay is amusing, but has some excellent moments of poignancy particularly with Terence Alexander's character. This is British cinema all the way and they weren't even forced to take a down on his luck American actor to boost sales in the US!
Best of British! August 13, 2004
8 out of 14 found this review helpful
This is one of the great British crime films, tongue in cheek and yet at least semi-serious in its treatment of the embittered or impoverished ex-officers who plan to make an unauthorized bank transfer from the City of London (to thier own suitcases). No pointless post-1970 swearing, everything accomplished with an economy of speech and action. Brilliant. There is nothing "sad" about the film (except that, inevitably for a British film of the period) the "troop" find it hard to beat "British Justice".
It is sad, though, that the ideas-bereft BBC found it necessary to nick the name for a pathetic recent "comedy" series...
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