Comwayon A Disappointing Continuation

Brendon Jones It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Micah Lloyd Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

Janis One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

chaswe-28402 Humour is funny. Some people laugh loudly at what others don't. This film is paired on a single disc with The Green Man, which for me is the funniest ever produced. Yet SFS sits marginally higher on the IMDb rating list. I don't get it. The substance and script of this offering is insufficient. There's not much of a story and no plot. Ineffective executive loser takes a ridiculous expensive course in how to be overbearing and becomes a winner. Its pace drags.The one-upmanship joke is a one-joke joke. Once you've heard it once or possibly twice, it ceases to be funny, and, in my view, doesn't amuse any more. Here, it goes on and on, interminably. Terry-Thomas is wasted. He can be hilarious, but only in special situations, and relatively small doses. The Hattie Jacques episode is entirely pointless. That tennis match grows frankly tedious, and is suffered twice. A sports scenario, predicated on actual skill, does not exactly lend itself to one-upmanship, which only has purpose in social settings. Ian and Alastair are OK, but in a restricted sort of way. I didn't actually laugh, and really only smiled if I was feeling generous. The Swiftmobile was impressive, but the sales spiel from Dennis and friend, larded with verbosity, went on far too long. Janette was easy on the eye. Insufficient compensation for the general emptiness.

writers_reign This is the kind of movie I'd have run a mile from at the time, lumping it together with a host of 'pathetic' British films that thought they were funny and probably were providing you were totally ignorant of Lubitsch, Billy Wilder, Preston Sturges etc. Seen, however, on TV half a century later it's comparatively painless if you're housebound and it's SFS or Mr. Bean. Ian Carmichael takes the lead, as the kind of guy who, after a lifetime of rubbish finally gets a Royal Flush only for a misdeal to be called. His nemesis is Terry Thomas and on offer is Jeanette Scott. At his wits end Carmichael enrols at Stephen Potter's (Alistair Sim) academy where Gamesmanship is the name of the game and - I trust I'm not giving anything away here - graduates with honours and gives Thomas his comeuppance. If this is not too simplistic for you you'll love it.

Neil Welch Stephen Potter wrote a series of humorous "self-help" books at around the turn of the 1950s which purported to teach life's losers how to become winners without actually cheating (although manipulating the rules was perfectly permissible).Some years later those books formed the basis of School For Scoundrels, in which the fictitious Yeovil academy (principal S. Potter, played by Alistair Sim) teaches the easily intimidated Henry Palfrey (Ian Carmichael) how to turn the tables on rotter and cad Raymond Delauney (Terry-Thomas) and win back the lovely April Smith (Janette Scott).The script, by Peter Ustinov, turns the spoof techniques of the book into maguffins driving a coherent narrative. The story, and the developments in it, are pleasing and funny, the performances are all excellent and, notwithstanding the fact that the film is clearly rooted in the 1950s, there is a freshness and timelessness about it.And it is fair to say that it is the beneficiary of a beautifully crisp transfer of the monochrome original to DVD.This film is as enjoyable as any of the Ealing comedies.

MartinHafer I have never seen the American "School for Scoundrels" and assume it's a remake of this wonderful British film. However, if it IS, then there is no reason for the remake, as I was thoroughly captivated by this little film. Of course, in recent years Hollywood has tried remaking some of the classic British comedies of the 1950s and failed miserably. Big casts and expensive gimmicks can't improve on a wonderful Brit-com from this era.The film starts with poor Ian Carmichael. He's a very mousy "nice" sort of person--and a bit of a loser. He seems to always be taken advantage of and is a sad case. When fast-talking Terry-Thomas takes Ian's girlfriend away as well as his self-respect, Ian is desperate to change his life. On a whim, he decides to attend a school that promises to help him learn to stand up for himself and get the most out of life. However, the school (owned by Alistair Sim) really teaches people to manipulate others and use trickery to get what you want. Ian turns out to be a model pupil and is soon using insincerity with the skill of a politician.Soon, Ian tries out his new skills on a used car lot (this is hilarious) as well as to get his girl back--and to give Terry-Thomas his comeuppance. It's all very funny but not in a very obvious way--with a subtle and cute manner that you can't help but like. On top of that, the actors and writers are at their best and the film ends on a funny note. Well worth seeing.