The League of Gentlemen The League of Gentlemen

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.

Jack Hawkins Nigel Patrick Roger Livesey Richard Attenborough Bryan Forbes Kieron Moore Terence Alexander Norman Bird Robert Coote Melissa Stribling Nanette Newman Lydia Sherwood Doris Hare David Lodge Patrick Wymark Gerald Harper Brian Murray

Allied Filmmakers

action crime foreign

116 mins   More details at IMDb / TMDb

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  • BangPotential

    Review by BangPotential ★★½

    This is light. It is kind of silly, but it has a nice mood to it and while it seemed a bit long it kept moving. I don't have the heart to give it 2.5 stars, ahhh, but I guess I have to.

  • Kristina

    Review by Kristina ★★★★½

    Excellent satirical heist classic and memorable must see for the great cast and story and might just be Jack Hawkins’ best role. Group of unappreciated/obsolete/misfit WW2 vets bored with regular life are assembled by Hawkins to plot the perfect bank heist. Written by one of the stars Bryan Forbes (The Wrong Box), with loads of wit, dark humor, some cinema in-jokes, and strikingly "modern" looking (probably because it was influential) bank robbery sequence. Look sharp for funny cameo by Oliver Reed.

    longer review at hqofk.wordpress.com/2013/03/24/the-league-of-gentlemen/

  • AdamG11

    Review by AdamG11 ★★★★

    A strong, thoroughly enjoyable and well executed British crime drama, featuring astute direction from Basil Dearden, a sharp, intelligent adapted screenplay by Bryan Forbes (who also appears in the film) and excellent performances from a fine ensemble cast, led by the great Jack Hawkins.

  • panaslave

    Review by panaslave ★★★½

    An above average British caper film with Ex-soldiers as the bandits. Basil Dearden does a decent job at making it all seem light and pithy, as was his gift. Gotta like the camerawork by ace Op's Bob (H.A.R.) Thomson and Arthur Ibbetson, who had just moved up to D.O.P. The film Reads like a who's who of frumpy English stage and movie stars, Roger Livesey looking especially long in the tooth while Hawkins was recovering from a bout of Cancer. One of the only films produced by under the Allied Film Makers banner-eyes out for a 30 sec scene with Ollie Reed playing a fey chorus boy. Great poster art in this one and the Brit Quad.

  • anne_f_

    Review by anne_f_ ★★★★

    "Lovely British film in the Ealing tradition; a group of ex-soldiers attempt a perfectly executed bank robbery. It's a great look at postwar England, the difficulties faced these soldiers who had returned to civilian life, and implications of a certain kind of camaraderie."

  • Robert Hilton

    Review by Robert Hilton ★★★

    This review reportedly contains spoilers. I can handle the truth.

  • Fino

    Review by Fino ★★★½

    Nothing to do with ‘Royston Vasey’ or its inhabitants, This 60’s classic stars Jack Hawkings, Nigel Patrick, Richard Attenborough and Bryan Forbes as a gang disgruntled former army officers who turn their hand to Bank robbery.

    Lieutenant-Colonel Norman Hyde (Hawkings) recruits the seven former soldiers by sending them a copy of American Crime paperback ‘The Golden Fleece’ and half a £5 note. The book is about a robbery that is committed by experts. Hyde gathers the disgraced team with the promise of the other half on the £5 note, and asks them their opinion of the story; the men don’t seem to connect the dots until he asks them “You’re all crooks, aren’t you? Or one kind or another”.
    The…