This is my favourite genre: you show a comedy from Britain in the 50s and I'll like it - however Too Many Crooks fails to hit the really high standard of the best of British: in places it is laugh out loud funny, in others it resorts to too much farce.
It is entertaining and is best viewed on a rainy day with a nice cup of tea. HTe plot of Terry-Thomas' rich caddish rake who finds his life turned upside down when his wife discovers his philandering ways and sides with the criminals who have kidnapped her by mistake is well-handled; there are some great moments, and good character acting by some of the future Carry-On team.
My gripe, and it's really a small one, is that we never feel enough sympathy for any character - so we never quite get the satisfaction that some of the best of British comedies deliver.
That aside, this is classic British comedy: incompetent thieves, a dastartdly Terry-Thomas, and some dim coppers....
Happy days, indeed...
It is entertaining and is best viewed on a rainy day with a nice cup of tea. HTe plot of Terry-Thomas' rich caddish rake who finds his life turned upside down when his wife discovers his philandering ways and sides with the criminals who have kidnapped her by mistake is well-handled; there are some great moments, and good character acting by some of the future Carry-On team.
My gripe, and it's really a small one, is that we never feel enough sympathy for any character - so we never quite get the satisfaction that some of the best of British comedies deliver.
That aside, this is classic British comedy: incompetent thieves, a dastartdly Terry-Thomas, and some dim coppers....
Happy days, indeed...