Involuntarily-retired Colonel Hyde recruits seven other dissatisfied ex-servicemen for a special project. Each of the men has a skeleton in the cupboard, is short of money, and is a service-trained expert in his field. The job is a bank robbery, and military discipline and planning are imposed by Hyde and second-in-command Race on the team, although civilian irritations do start getting in the way.
17 Jun The League of Gentlemen (1960)
The Template
I don’t know when this genre first appeared — the ‘team heist’ — but this surely is the film that defined it as a genre.
A team of distinct characters. A genius planner. An incredibly elaborate plan. Lots of group dynamics, including humorous episodes. Some twists. As with a few other British genre-definers, this is as nearly perfect as one can get until the ending.
And as with many genres, the ending is malleable. The most recent I have seen is the ‘Oceans’ Eleven’ remake, where the crooks get away.
Attenborough’s acting style is never so plain as here. One can see his theatrical approach to film — it stretches through all his directing through to ‘Passage to India.’
Posted in 2002
Ted’s Evaluation — 3 of 3: Worth watching.
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