Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5671 in DVD
• Released on: 2006-10-30
• Rating: Universal, suitable for all
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 90 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
In School for Scoundrels wimpy Ian Carmichael wants to impress girls and get one over on all-round show-off and cad Terry Thomas (playing gloriously to type). Discovering Alastair Simms' unorthodox school Carmichael happily enrols and learns the quaint tricks of the day for securing the admiration of a fair lady. Ultimately as a star pupil he teaches the Master a thing or two about true love when everything turns out just fine in the end. Appealing to all male sensibilities is the idea of a magical set of simple rules for winning someone's affections. Set in the tweed-rich environment of an English boarding school makes this an even quainter notion. To watch this classic comedy is to cock one's snoot at womanisers everywhere while unavoidably making a mental list of anything that might actually work! The three central performances are brilliantly realised, particularly the role reversal between Carmichael and Thomas. Try playing a tennis match after a viewing without calling "hard cheese". -Paul Tonks

Synopsis
Amusing tale of a born failure who enrols at the College of One-Upman-ship and completes a crash course on coping with life's hilarious humiliations without actually cheating.

Customer Reviews

He, who is not one up, is one down!
A fun portrayal of how to get on in life. What a cast, too! Alastair Sim, Terry Thomas, Ian Carmichael, Hattie Jacques, to name but a few.

When Ian Carmichael literally runs into the girl of his dreams, he is swept off his feet. However, he soon loses her to the eternal "bounder" Terry Thomas, who always seems to have the edge on him! Even down to buying a car, in order to impress the young lady, poor Henry Palfrey (Ian Carmichael) just doesn't have what it takes. Until, that is, he enrols in the school of Lifemanship, run by none other than Alastair Sim.

As you would expect from such an impressive line-up of stars, this is definitely a film not to be missed. John Le Mesurier even gives a small, but convincing part as the Matre d', whose ears wiggle when he hears the sound of a Pound note being crumpled behind him, to attract his attention!

If you're feeling that life is always dealing you a bad hand, you should seriously consider joining the Shool of Lifemanship; you might enrol for their Interpolated Accountancy class, or even their Wooemanship class! Either way, if you watch this film, you won't be a loser!

A lot of what is portrayed, is very true to life and even more relevant, even in today's bustling, insincere and two-faced society!

How to be a rotter in an hour and a half
Any film that has both Alastair Sim and Terry-Thomas must have a head start above most others, and this beauty of oneupmanship is no exception. Throw in Ian Carmichael as the downtrodden hero and the stage is set for a sparkling comedy of manners and social standing. Sim is the cynical principal at a school teaching the arts of getting one over your rival. Carmichael enrols to prove himself beter than the worldly T-T, and slowly becomes a bigger bounder than our gap-toothed fave. Full of great performances, a witty script and a memorable cameo from Dennis Price and Peter Jones, this is one of the great Ealingesque comedies that we used to do so well. And if it only does one thing, it will teach you how to get the other fellow to pay for dinner.

A great film
Alastair Sim is hilarious. Terry-Thomas is perfect. Ian Carmichael is also perfectly cast.

All of the cast of characters - even if they only have one scene - or even one line - are truly memorable and quotable.

Highly recommended.