School for Scoundrels Dated and Not PC, but Holds Lessons

 

 

SCHOOL FOR SCOUNDRELS  (1960)

Directed by Robert Hamer and Hal E. Chester

Warner-Pathé, 97 minutes, Unrated (sexism)

★★★

 

 

 

If you need a break from political correctness battles, try the 1960 version of School for Scoundrels. It was made before anyone imagined such a term. It’s of middling quality, but it is certainly miles better than the 2006 Todd Phillips box office turkey that posed as an adaptation.

 

Social norms have changed a lot in the past 60 plus years, but most people can still relate to the plight of its main character, Henry Palfrey (Ian Carmichael). His family owns the London business he heads, but Henry is a dorky milquetoast who gets little respect from the staff or anyone else. That includes Raymond Delauney (Terry-Thomas). Call it the toothy (Palfrey) versus the gap-toothed (Delauney). Henry doesn’t like Raymond very much, but the latter delights in hanging around with Henry because he's better at just about everything than his sad-sack acquaintance: tennis, smart dress, choice of cars, conversation, love…. When Henry manages to get a dinner date with the attractive April Smith (Janette Scott), Raymond steals his date from under his plate.  

 

Such failings are why Henry travels to Yeovil in Somerset to attend the School of Lifemanship. It’s really the film’s namesake, which theater fans might recognize as a riff on a famous comedy of manners penned by Sheridan in the 18^th century. The title is also commentary on a 1947 tongue-in-cheek book by Stephen Potter titled The Theory and Practice of Gamesmanship, which is why the film’s School of Lifemanship is headed by Dr. Potter (Alastair Sim). The gist is that students are schooled in the art of getting over on others via sleazy but not illegal ways. Tactics include making your opponent overthink situations, diverting his attention span, and suckering him into making intentional mistakes. In other words, be annoying but always one step ahead.

 

Henry learns his lessons well, perhaps too well. That is, under the guise of being outwardly a nice guy, Henry becomes a cad. Watch as Henry is first tricked into buying a belching, temperamental jalopy that only Rube Goldberg could love but uses Potter’s training to parlay it into advantage Palfrey. He becomes so supremely self-confident that he’s able to wreck Raymond’s tennis game, outwit Potter, and win April. In the film’s least PC moment, though one in keeping with the era’s paternalism, he deliberately spills a drink down April’s dress to get her out of her clothing and into his dressing gown. In film logic, his affected thoughtfulness causes April to fall for Henry.

 

I’ve probably made this sound more salacious than it is. School for Scandal is a 1960 British movie and back then, inuendo was okay but graphic depictions were still dicey. (In 1960, by the way, it wasn’t yet the norm for all Brits to own an automobile.) The situations in School for Scoundrels fall into the category of broad comedy, some of which is corny by today’s standards and others evocative of outmoded values. Its gentle ending, though, is an indication that fouls aside, no harm is done and goodness prevails. As noted, the parts that continue to resonate are age-old struggles to build confidence and the way that nice people are prey for the unscrupulous. Terry-Thomas was born to play scoundrels and is at the top of his obnoxious game in this movie.

 

Those familiar with the British Ealing comedies that proliferated between 1947-57 will recognize the similarities between its projects and School for Scoundrels. The latter was not made at Ealing Studios and isn’t as sharp script wise. That could be because its first director, Robert Hamer, was fired during production because of his heavy drinking and the reins were handed over to Hal E. Chester and Cyril Frankel. Frankel didn’t even get a credit, so one assumes he wasn’t entirely happy with the final product.

 

Even it’s not up to Ealing’s format in films such as King Hearts and Coronets or The Ladykillers, School for Scandal has its moments. You should watch it if, for no other reason, you’ll recognize gamesmanship tricks that persist despite social “progress.” Forewarned is forearmed.

 

Rob Weir