The League of Gentlemen boasts a great cast headed by Jack Hawkins who, unfortunately, began to show in this film signs of the throat cancer that would first lead to the removal of his larynx in 1966 and his death in 1973.
Nigel Patrick is the second in command in the cast, but he struck me as unintentionally smug. Bryan Forbes seems to be more interested in looking like a pretty boy than acting, and the rest of the cast is competent but the parts too small to allow them to shine.
In the end, Richard Attenborough and Robert Coote probably fare best after Hawkins.
Director Basil Dearden is in good form, and photography is quite effective.
The action sequences are generally well done, although I thought the smoke sequence near impossible in reality -- at the very least, there would have been accidents, loss of life, and other shortcomings, but instead all goes well.
Except that you know that robbing the army of weapons and banks of the citizens' hard earned money has to attract punishment and in this case the long arm of the law comes in the shape of a boy who likes to jot down car license plates.
Production values are sound, and the film is definitely no waste of time, but it is hamstrung by a predictable script.
Nigel Patrick is the second in command in the cast, but he struck me as unintentionally smug. Bryan Forbes seems to be more interested in looking like a pretty boy than acting, and the rest of the cast is competent but the parts too small to allow them to shine.
In the end, Richard Attenborough and Robert Coote probably fare best after Hawkins.
Director Basil Dearden is in good form, and photography is quite effective.
The action sequences are generally well done, although I thought the smoke sequence near impossible in reality -- at the very least, there would have been accidents, loss of life, and other shortcomings, but instead all goes well.
Except that you know that robbing the army of weapons and banks of the citizens' hard earned money has to attract punishment and in this case the long arm of the law comes in the shape of a boy who likes to jot down car license plates.
Production values are sound, and the film is definitely no waste of time, but it is hamstrung by a predictable script.