Review of The League Of Gentlemen (Special Edition)

Introduction

A The League of Gentlemen is a `comic-thriller` that sits somewhere between `The Lavender Hill Mob` and `The Dirty Dozen`. Essentially it`s a post-war, post-conscription fantasy about a retired army officer (Jack Hawkins) who recruits a crack team of fellow ex-officers to carry out a daring bank raid.

The film kicks off by profiling this `crack team` of army experts who, to a man, seem to have drifted into less than perfect lives.

Amongst a strong cast, there`s Richard Attenborough as a crooked mechanic wide-boy and Bryan Forbes (who wrote the screenplay) as a mercenary and uncaring Gigolo. We also get a depraved Padre and, what must have been risqué in mainstream movies of the day, a `gay`. (As a sideline, it was Director Basil Dearden who directed `Victim` which helped change homosexuality laws in Britain in the early 60s.)

Gathering his freshly recruited team about him, they prepare for the raid with military precision and dare. A particularly satisfying interlude on the lead up to the raid is the stealing of arms from an army camp which involved fooling some pompous and ineffectual officers. That must have felt sweet for the thousands of ex-conscription viewers in the cinema audiences of the day. The rogues enjoy a formal yet witty rapport that is completely engaging, and they refer to each other as `Colonel` and `Major` etc. It`s not long until your sympathies lie, not with the law, but with this dysfunctional troupe of reprobates. And that`s when the film really gets you hooked!

Something to watch out for is a cameo appearance, at the Leagues second meeting, of Oliver Reed as a ballet dancer, looking for the rehearsal rooms for `Babes in the wood`, and making John Inman look like Sylvester Stallone. Ahh … A typecasting opportunity missed!

The atmosphere of the movie is typical of fine work of this vintage, with that weird slightly edgy, almost surreal mix of British stiff upper lip mixed with weakness and contradiction.

The League of Gentlemen was the first film made by Allied Film Makers (AFM), which was established in 1959 by Basil Dearden, Michael Relph, Richard Attenborough, Bryan Forbes, Guy Green and Jack Hawkins in order to get a bit more artistic freedom than was possible via Rank, though Rank still had a 10% share in the new venture.

Directed by Ealing stalwart Basil Dearden, the movie is beautifully rendered in black and white, with deep contrast in common with many other British movies of the time.

Video

Presented in an anamorphically enhanced 16:9 transfer from an excellent condition print and it looks great, with deep blacks and speckle-free images.This looks like it could well be the same transfer as previously issued by Carlton three years ago.

The `South Bank Show` extra looks curiously ancient despite it heralding from the early nineties with a nasty grainy video look for the most part.

Audio

After the initial distortion of the opening soundtrack, levels settle and are then fine indeed, in original mono.

Features

The `Special Edition` status seems to have been awarded on the strength of an audio commentary (Bryan Forbes and Nannette Newman) and a South Bank Show special featuring Richard Attenborough. There`s also a stills gallery and the original theatrical trailer, though I think these were both available as part of the Carlton set a couple of years ago.

AUDIO COMMENTARY - BRYAN FORBES AND NANETTE NEWMAN
This feels a bit like viewing the movie with someone else`s frightfully middle-class parents commenting on the action all the way through. But in a charming way. Husband and wife, Forbes and Newman appear to be watching the film for the first time in some years, with comments like `Goodness, didn`t everyone smoke a lot in those days..` and `…people used to look a lot smarter then…`. But there are also a number of interesting anecdotes that make politely sitting through the whole piece worthwhile.For example, the fact that Jack Hawkins was suffering from throat cancer during filming and was undergoing some serious surgical procedures at the time. We also learn that the movie cost something in the region of £172K, though made that back in the first couple of weeks of release. We also learn that Forbes was a bit cheesed off about the TV `League of Gentlemen` stealing the name without so much as a `by your leave`.

SOUTH BANK SHOW: RICHARD ATTENBOROUGH (originally aired 15th November, 1992)
A curious inclusion this as it barely mentions `League` but seems to focus on Attenborough as a Director, despite the fact that in the movie Attenborough plays just one of many parts. We see Attenborough in irritating full-swing, calling everbody `luvvie` or `darling` as he blinks like an owl behind his huge eighties style glasses, Spitting Image caricature style. I`d forgotten how few movies Attenborough had made that I`d liked, and how many he`d made that I positively hated (`Chaplin`; `Cry Freedom` etc). The programme is doubly irritating as Melvyn Bragg wades in with some typically smug yet sycophantic questioning. Unless you`re a fan of Attenborough as a Director I frankly wouldn`t bother. A poor excuse to call this disc a `Special Edition`.

Conclusion

By far and away the best bit of this `Special Edition` DVD is the movie itself. Whilst the audio commentary from Bryan Forbes and Nanette Newman is reasonably informative and entertaining, the other `extras` are almost entirely superfluous.

As the transfer looks identical to the previously issued Carlton release, it may be worth picking that up for a couple of quid less.

That said, if you haven`t seen this movie, and you`re a fan of the classic Ealing capers (`Lavender Hill Mob`, `The Ladykillers`) and war movie capers from the same period (`Bridge over the River Kwai`), then you`ll love this.

It`s wittily scripted and tightly directed, building a tension which isn`t relieved until the final credits role. There`s a strong and varied cast, and the tale is engagingly told, though may be a little slow moving for contemporary tastes. Thoroughly enjoyable and well worth adding to your collection.