Movie, 1962

Early 1960s comedy, starring a slightly undercharged Leslie Phillips, trying to go straight and win over his fiance, with the help of a reforming, crusading agency, Crooks Anonymous. A gentle romp which looks and to some extent holds up power and social structures for review, while showing how individuals struggle against them. The film feels formulaic in places, and while the characters and actors are robust, some of the actin is a little predictable and the film moves on through stock appearances and interjections of fairly obvious and recognisable set pieces. For all that, there’s something about morality and influence that’s a little more interesting, in a slightly plodding, but very watchable entertainment.