Good start, but then it gets ruined

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

The movie is made so realistic it has a lot of that WoW feeling at the right moments and never tooo over the top. the suspense is done so well and the emotion is felt. Very well put together with the music and all.

Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

Ian Carmichael is always getting the short end of the stick and feeling inferior to people. He finds out about a school that will boost your self-esteem. Enter April, a lovely lady, he initially bumped into and made a somewhat goofy impression. He tries to take her out. But his reservation was all a misunderstanding, and then Terry-Thomas shows up with all his usual charming flair, saying they're his guests but making Ian pay and monopolizing all of April's attention. From then on, Terry considers her his girl. But, when Ian goes to the school, things change. The founder and teacher of the school is Mr. Potter (the name of the author of the books from which this is based), played by Alistair Sim, who gives a very understated performance. By way of manipulative tricks, one can maneuver people and control conversations and situations so that he comes out on top of everyone, in other words as Alastair says,"to be one up on your fellow man. After all, there's you and then there's everyone else." In the beginning, Terry was in control and was beating Ian in a game of tennis and Terry keeps repeating "Hard Cheese" whenever Ian's serve fails to get over the net, meaning of course, oh, bad luck, but its constant use gets on Ian's nerves and I've never seen a more hilarious tennis match in my life, but later on they have another match. This time, Ian makes him wait and in the process gets Terry totally frustrated and discombobulated even before they get there. Then there's Dennis Price who sold him a clunker of a car, but after Ian's class, he's learned a thing or two about dealing with these salesman. But will love win out for Ian and April? Watch and see, and learn. "School for Scoundrels" is 90 minutes and is one of the best comedies I've seen in a long time, one that will leave you feeling good long after and make you keep repeating to yourself, hard cheese, and laughing all day, and with Terry-Thomas in his element and never better, no one loses.

"Oh, hard cheese, old man!" 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 Really Cheating, and 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 all 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 usually finds himself either ignored, taken advantage of or walked all over. His employees pay him little attention. He meets April Smith (Janette Scott), an attractive young woman, and invites her to dinner, only to see himself turned into the extra man while that bounder, Raymond Delauney (Terry-Thomas) moves in and takes over. He decides to buy a car to impress April and winds up with a moveable piece of smoking, chugging, wheezing metal courtesy of two smarmy used car salesmen, Dunstan (Dennis Price) and 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 sympathetically, every time he maneuvers Henry into looking foolish and losing a point. The worm strikes back, however, when Henry signs up for courses at Mr. Potter's College of Lifemanship. There Henry learns all the little gambits that will put him one up...the cough just as his opponent begins to strike the ball at snooker, hearing a joke about a cripple then standing and 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, and 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, and how to deal with Raymond Delauney. The person who has to grind his teeth and 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 all this? Yes, but fortunately it's saved for the very last. And that lesson Henry learns while gazing lovingly at April and 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, and the person we love, requires sincerity. All the one-upman gambits are so outrageous and so familiar, and served up with such good-natured manipulation, that all we can do is sit back and smile. School for Scandal is a witty, almost innocent and sweet-natured movie with a fine, dry script, credited to Patricia Moyes and the producer, Hal Chester. In fact it was written by Peter Ustinov and the blacklisted American writer, Frank Tarloff. Robert Hamer, the director of Kind Hearts and 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, and the two of them finished the movie unbilled. In addition to the script, of course, what makes this movie so funny and memorable are the performances. Terry-Thomas was never better as the unctuous cad who finally gets his. Ian Carmichael plays another innocent with great ineffectual likability, and 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 and expression you'd ever hope to see. The only sad spot is seeing Dennis Price in a decidedly secondary role and not looking all that healthy. For many of us, this is a movie to watch while taking notes.

Henry Palfrey is one of life's bridesmaids. Nothing ever is in his control. His work is a case in point. He is the boss of an unidentified London family firm but his long-serving deputy makes all the decisions for him. He meets the beautiful April Smith (well, actually he knocks her over running for a bus) and takes her for dinner. But even that doesn't run smoothly as his deputy has wrinkled his nose at his choice of eatery and has, presumably, deliberately got his name wrong for the reservation. Ultimately, his great rival Raymond Delauney, who is a suave and sophisticated lounge lizard takes control of the situation and woos April successfully. Even buying a car results in being ripped-off for some awful old banger. However, upon successfully attending a residential course in the West Country about how to get your revenge, Palfrey turns the tables on everyone and wins the heart of April.One of my favourite films. It is a joy to watch, it is well crafted and hearkens back to a less congested, more innocent way of life. Perfect Saturday afternoon on the sofa material.

Well by now you will have already been won over by Terry Thomas and the crop of great British comedy actors (Alistair Sim, Dennis Price, Peter Jones and Ian Carmichael).This comment is posted to reinforce your belief that this is one of the best comedies ever made? I hope so! This film is a must see. Once seen never forgotten is what I say pip pip!If you haven't seen this film before well "bad luck!" ,as Delauney and Palfrey might tell you! (you need to see the film to understand this point!)The movie is based on a book which discussed the art of "one-upman-ship". A comedy played out by Alastair Sym,helping Ian Carmichael win against the odds to find true love and end up a future winner in life.The "comeuppance" of the shady car dealers is really memorable and a chuckle. How Palfrey finally outwits life's chance-rs is, well practically priceless! Terry Thomas losing his "Mr Cool" image whilst driving to Carmichael's directions (surely a voice for a Sat nav?!) is a lesson in comedy displayed by two fine actors at the peak of their careers.Not for the cad or dim witted,this film!When feeling a little cross at the winter rain I watch this and add a little fuel to the glowing fire and open a single malt. Try it!! Oh and don't forget one of petrol two of meths!