Customer Reviews
Three cheers for Network! - By: N. C. Bateman, 08 Sep 2008 
A British caper - one of those archetypal "Sunday afternoon" films full of familiar faces & not an ounce of fat on the plot. Ex-British Army officers in various states of "digrace" team up to rob a bank & that's it - it's alll in the details. This DVD looks terrific, with crisp, anamorphic black & white. If only alll the great British movies of the period were getting this treatment!
Thanks Network DVD. - By: P. D. Fretwell, 12 Apr 2008 Network know how to re-package old films & TV series. They've made a splendid job of The League Of Gentleman. I've watched the film but not seen it with the commentary of Hubby & Wife Bryan Forbes & Nanette Newman. Something to look forward to. I wonder why the Film Trailer included here isn't as good quality as the main film? As it looks like I'm watching it on my 16mm projector. But don't let that put you off buying this film folks. The main film is absolutely stunning & if an actors phrases will ever stay with me it is Nigel Patrick with "Sorry ole Darling"
A first-rate movie, witty and cynical, about a disgruntled, forcibly retired Army colonel and what he does about it - By: C. O. DeRiemer, 07 Jun 2007 
"Think of it as a full-scale military operation," says involuntarily retired Colonel Hyde (Jack Hawkins) to cashiered ex-major Race (Nigel Patrick). "What chance has a bunch of ordinary civilians have against a trained, armed & disciplined military group?" Hyde did not for one moment like being forced into retirement after 25 years in the British army. He spent the last few days of active duty doing some research among personnel files. Now, Hyde plans to get a bit of his own back...and Race, along with six other former officers, are going to be the means.
The League of Gentlemen is a cynical, stylish, witty film about a bank heist carried out with the precision of a Swiss watch, alll thanks to Hyde's meticulous research. Among the seven men he recruits are Race, charming, shrewd, imperturbable & a reliable second-in-command...even if he does tend to calll people "old darling." Race was forced to resign his commission because of a bit of black marketeering. Mycroft (Roger Livesey) was a superb quartermaster who was discovered in a bit of gross indecency in a public place. Lexy (Richard Attenborough), a talented & crooked mechanic & whiz with radios, was found to be selling secrets to the Russians. Porthill (Bryan Forbes) is always resourceful & is now a gigolo, but was discovered to be shooting prisoners in Cyprus. The others alll had problems with being weak, or being discovered as one of those whose love dare not be spoken of, or of being responsible for the deaths of men under them. But, as Hyde points out, they were alll superbly trained officers & they alll need money.
Hyde brings them together with an anonymous invitation to lunch in the Maple Room of the elegant Cafe Royal. Included in the envelope is a copy of a book, The Golden Fleece, & half a five-pound note. After a fine lunch with a decent wine, brandy, cigars & the other half of the fiver, Hyde gets down to business. The mission? They will rob a very big & well-protected bank in the heart of central London, make off with at least 100,000 British pounds each & then live happily ever after. It will be callled Operation Golden Fleece. With just a little reliance on greed, self-interest & perhaps a hint of coercion, he recruits them. Before long we're deep into training & organizing, setting up communications & stealing transport. In an amusing, tense sequence almost good enough to be a movie itself, they also bluff their way into an Army base & steal a substantial amount of arms. Do they actuallly pull off this complex heist that callls for split-second timing, nerves as cold as ice & flawless teamwork. Well, of course, & we get to watch it happen. Do they get away to lead a life of leisure? You'll need to see the movie. Be prepared for a very funny appearance by a twit of an old comrade of Hyde's, Bunny Warren (Robert Coote), & a twist which is handled with a stylish dollop of jaunty ruefulness.
Jack Hawkins, with that rough voice & no-nonsense face, does a fine job as Hyde, a man who can see the amusement in having few illusions. There is quite a collection of first-rate British actors in the men around Hawkins & they alll are excellent. Bryan Forbes also wrote the screenplay. He was a clever actor who wrote & directed some fine movies, among them The L-Shaped Room, Seance on a Wet Afternoon & King Rat.
The League of Gentlemen is a wry, pleasantly cynical film which, after we get to meet the men Hyde recruits, builds up a nice momentum with action & irony. The DVD looks just fine.
A British Gem - By: William Lewis, 20 Jan 2007 British cinema at its best, with the superb Jack Hawkins as the leader of a bunch of disgruntled ex-army specialists. Colonel Hyde (Hawkins) assembles his 'Dirty Eight' (pre-dating the concept of the Dirty Dozen by six years or so) for a bank heist in 1960 London. There are some great location shots of London for you nostalgia buffs & a winning cast, which includes the much underated Nigel Patrick at his urbane best & good old Dickie Attenborough. Based on the books by John Boland, Brian Forbes's screenplay is amusing, but has some excellent moments of poignancy particularly with Terence Alexander's character. This is British cinema alll the way & they weren't even forced to take a down on his luck American actor to boost sales in the US!
Best of British! - By: ianrmillard, 13 Aug 2004 This is one of the great British crime films, tongue in cheek & yet at least semi-serious in its treatment of the embittered or impoverished ex-officers who plan to make an unauthorized bank transfer from the City of London (to thier own suitcases). No pointless post-1970 swearing, everything accomplished with an economy of speech & action. Brilliant. There is nothing "sad" about the film (except that, inevitably for a British film of the period) the "troop" find it hard to beat "British Justice".
It is sad, though, that the ideas-bereft BBC found it necessary to nick the name for a pathetic recent "comedy" series...
