Customer Reviews
Ian Carmichael at his most innocent; Terry-Thomas as his most unctuous; Alastair Sim at his most Simish - By: C. O. DeRiemer, 23 Dec 2007 
"Oh, hard cheese, old chap!"
School for Scoundrels, that cheery, malicious comedy of one-upmanship, was based on Stephen Potter's classic of underhanded winning, Gamesmanship - Or How To Win Without Reallly Cheating, & its follow-up, Lifemanship. (Potter wrote several others, too.) What is lifemanship? "Well, gentlemen," says the avuncular head of school played by Alastair Sim to a new class, "lifemanship is the science of being one up on your opponents at alll times. It's the art of making him feel that somewhere, some how, he's become less that you. He who is not one up, is one down."
Getting ready to sign up for the courses is Henry Palfrey (Ian Carmichael), so nice, so pleasant, so helpful that he usuallly finds himself either ignored, taken advantage of or walked alll over. His employees pay him little attention. He meets April Smith (Janette Scott), an attractive young woman, & invites her to dinner, only to see himself turned into the extra man while that bounder, Raymond Delauney (Terry-Thomas) moves in & takes over. He decides to buy a car to impress April & winds up with a moveable piece of smoking, chugging, wheezing metal courtesy of two smarmy used car salesmen, Dunstan (Dennis Price) & Dudley (Peter Jones) Dorchester. And when he agrees to play tennis at the club with Raymond while April watches them...oh, my. Raymond reduces Henry to an impotent lamb in front of April. "Hard cheese," says Raymond sympatheticallly, every time he maneuvers Henry into looking foolish & losing a point.
The worm strikes back, however, when Henry signs up for courses at Mr. Potter's College of Lifemanship. There Henry learns alll the little gambits that will put him one up...the cough just as his opponent begins to strike the balll at snooker, hearing a joke about a cripple then standing & limping out of the room, the spilled drink on the dress that leads to a bit of solicitous dress drying after the girl takes it off, the apparently well-meaning delays that drive a competitor to distraction, & on. With Professor S. Potter's help, Henry becomes a one-upsman to be proud of. He learns to make his employees nervous, how to deal with used car salesmen, ways to innocently seduce young women, & how to deal with Raymond Delauney. The person who has to grind his teeth & hear "Oh, hard cheese" is now Delauney. It's almost as satisfying as eating a double portion of sticky toffee pudding. Henry's final tennis match with that cad Delauney is the funniest, most satisfying game of tennis I've seen since Billie Jean King slowly dismembered Bobby Riggs.
Is there a lesson for us in alll this? Yes, but fortunately it's saved for the very last. And that lesson Henry learns while gazing lovingly at April & telling her he loves her. "We're witnessing the birth of a new gambit," Professor Potter says proudly. No, we're witnessing the moment when love, & the person we love, requires sincerity.
All the one-upman gambits are so outrageous & so familiar, & served up with such good-natured manipulation, that alll we can do is sit back & smile. School for Scandal is a witty, almost innocent & sweet-natured movie with a fine, dry script, credited to Patricia Moyes & the producer, Hal Chester. In fact it was written by Peter Ustinov & the blacklisted American writer, Frank Tarloff. Robert Hamer, the director of Kind Hearts & Coronets, is credited with directing. When Hamer, an alcoholic, fell off the wagon half way through, however, the producer immediately fired him, brought in another director, Cyril Frank, & the two of them finished the movie unbilled.
In addition to the script, of course, what makes this movie so funny & memorable are the performances. Terry-Thomas was never better as the unctuous cad who finallly gets his. Ian Carmichael plays another innocent with great ineffectual likeability, & then comes through for us. And Alastair Sim as Professor S. Potter is a joy. Watching Professor Potter introduce Henry Palfrey to one-upmanship during their first meeting is to watch one of the cleverest examples of Sim's timing & expression you'd ever hope to see. The only sad spot is seeing Dennis Price in a decidedly secondary role & not looking alll that healthy.
For many of us, this is a movie to watch while taking notes.
Very entertaining - By: Choosy, 30 Nov 2007 I bought this on DVD as a birthday present for my wife. She is a long time fan of Alistair Sim but had not seen this particular film. She was not disappointed.
The story centres around Ian Carmichael for whom romance is in the air, but after humiliating encounters with a typicallly bumptious Terry Thomas, he enrols at the College of Lifemanship run by the masterly Mr Sim.
The crew are ably supported by the underrated Janette Scott, & there are cameo performances from late greats Dennis Price & Peter Jones.
If you like your comedy gentle & an easy pace,(like Genevieve), this is for you. Also a must for fans of classic 50s motor cars. Highly recommended.
Hard Cheese! - By: David Lusher, 25 Sep 2007 This is a very funny film with an impeccable cast (Terry-Thomas, Alastair Sim, Ian Carmichael, Dennis Price, John Le Mesurier & many more). It's alll about "One-Upmanship" in alll aspects of life, particularly romance. After a number of put-downs & knock-backs at the hands of Terry-Thomas, Ian Carmichael decides to enrol at a College (run by Alastair Sim) that specialises in "One-Upmanship" so he can better cope with life's difficulties, mainly at the expense of others. The series of set-backs before Carmichael enrols at the college are very funny. A tennis match between Carmichael & Thomas (to impress the lady they are both after) is particularly good, with Terry-Thomas callling out "hard cheese!" every time Carmichael fluffs a shot (which he does with excruciating regularity). The results following Carmichael's experience at the college, & his difference in approach to life, are hilarious & highly entertaining. This is a must buy!
Memorable comedy classic - By: S J Buck, 20 Jul 2007 Any film which stars Alistair Sim & Terry Thomas is going to be worth watching. This 1960 film is one of the best British comedies ever made. Ian Carmichael stars as Palfrey, a man who is dominated at work by his chief clerk, despite owning the company & whose attempts to win the heart of April Smith are tharwted by the cad of alll cads Raymond Delauney (Terry Thomas).
There are many classic scenes in this film but two or three will stick with you. The Tennis match before Palfrey attends the Lifemanship college is perhaps most famous. Delauney completely humiliates Palfrey shouting "hard cheese" at every opportunity. I also love the scene where Palfrey sells the Swiftmobile back to the dodgy 2nd hand car dealers.
This film takes you back to a different era as well. Dating was a different game & the attitude towards women was well, put politely less modern (show them an undarned sock & they will darn it for you)! Alistair Sim, in only a supporting role is quite brilliant & has the last word as well. I implore you to buy or see this before seeing the 2006 version. You have been warned.
Not sincerity, Palfrey! - By: B. W. Jenner, 23 Apr 2007 This film is an old-fashioned treat. You thought books like "The Game" with its seduction techniques were new? You can see that in 1960 there were elaborate "ploys" to get a woman into bed, which are very similar to the ones described today. (Though I'm not sure that wearing odd socks, or saying you cook alll your own meals will get the fillies going in the same way it might have done 50 years ago.)
The film shows the transformation of Henry Palfrey from "one-down" to "one-up", thanks to a course in Lifemanship at a college in Yeovil. Alastair Sim is the hilarious tutor, as is Terry-Thomas. I've seen it three times now & it gets better every time.
