Henry Palfrey, the head of a family firm in London, travels to Yeovil to enroll in the College of Lifemanship, run by its principal, Mr. S. Potter. Arriving late, he overhears Potter explaining to his new intake of students that his courses focus on the science of "being one up on your opponents at all times". Palfrey is given an object lesson by Potter when he interviews them, when he loses a name-calling game without knowing it. When Potter delves in to why Palfrey has enrolled at his school, he deduces a woman is involved. Palfrey proceeds to explain the circumstances behind him travelling to Yeovil, in the form of a flashback.
Shortly prior to enrolling in the college, Palfrey had an encounter with April Smith, a beautiful woman who he fell in love with after accidentally running into her while trying to catch a bus. Despite his good fortune of arranging a dinner date with her, Palfrey arrived at work late, where he proceeded to suffer the usual problems—a lack of respect from his employees, and being patronised by the firm's senior clerk Gloatbridge, who commands more respect from the workers and thus makes all the business decisions. Later that evening, Palfrey took April out for dinner, but after finding his reservation was voided for being late, the pair managed to gain entry after encountering a causal acquaintance of Palfrey, Raymond Delauney, who swiftly proceeded to seduce April and cast his friend in a bad light. The following day, Palfrey attempted to acquire a car of his own, after noting the fancy sports car Delauney had, but was conned into buying a ramshackle 1924 car by two second-hand car dealers. The final humiliation for Palfrey came when Delauney suggested a "friendly" tennis match at their local club, which he won easily, leaving Palfrey to feel completely despondent with his life.
Back in the present, Potter recommends Palfrey to pay attention to the courses given. Over the next several weeks, Palfrey proves an apt pupil, learning several ploys that can give him an upper hand. In order to complete his education, Potter assigns Palfrey a field test of his skills to evaluate him. Returning to London, Palfrey first returns to the car dealers who conned him, and convinces them that, after a tune-up, the vehicle they sold him turns out to be valuable and sought-after. Eager to reacquire it, the pair offer to trade for it, and Palfrey cons them into handing over an Austin-Healey sports car and 100 guineas (£105) for the car, which promptly breaks down after he leaves. Returning to his family firm, Palfrey next puts Gloatbridge in his place by pretending he is arranging a merger with a larger firm and that Gloatbridge's bookkeeping has gotten sloppy, allowing him to also earn the respect of his other employees in the process.
Finally, Palfrey challenges Delauney to a tennis rematch. He uses various ploys to frustrate Delauney before they even start playing, including making him so flustered that he damages his own car and making him late to pick up April. When they eventually get around to playing tennis, Palfrey proceeds to win six straight games (one set) with ease. Potter was secretly watching, and gives Palfrey a diploma after the match. Delauney, angered by what has happened, belittles Palfrey after he departs, which disgusts April, who was already upset by Delauney's tardiness, and she leaves to join Palfrey for a drink. Left alone, Delauney notices Potter as he departs, and learns that the stranger was Palfrey's guest at the club. Suspicious, he follows Potter.
Meanwhile, Palfrey brings April to his apartment, where he proceeds to use his wooing tricks on her, including spilling her drink on her dress and convincing her to change into his dressing gown. Eventually, she winds up in his bedroom, but Palfrey finds himself unable to take advantage of her. Before he can send her home, however, Delauney barges in, with Potter now following him, and reveals the truth to April. Potter advises Palfrey to use another ploy, but Palfrey admits everything, and April realises that Palfrey's sudden decision to send her home was because he genuinely loves her, leading them to embrace. Both Delauney and Potter are disgusted by Palfrey's display of sincerity, with the latter breaking the "fourth wall" to apologise to the audience for his pupil's behaviour. As the end credits roll, Delauney gets off the train at Yeovil and makes his way toward the College of Lifemanship.
Some interest in creating a screen version of Stephen Potter's successful Gamesmanship series of books was shown by Cary Grant and Carl Foreman, but this project stalled when it proved difficult to translate the dry humour of the books for an American audience.[5]
The film's title is a reference to Richard Brinsley Sheridan's 1777 comic play, The School for Scandal.[5] As Potter's books were not written in a narrative form,[1] the device of Potter (Alastair Sim) having set up a "College of Lifemanship" in Yeovil to educate those seeking to apply his methods for success was invented for the film.[1] Although the film only credits Patricia Moyes and producer Hal E. Chester for the screenplay, it was co-written by Peter Ustinov and Frank Tarloff.[1] Dunstan and Dudley, the dishonest "Winsome Welshmen" car salesmen, were based on similar characters in a 1950s BBC radio comedy series, In All Directions, in which the leads were played by Ustinov and Jones; their catch phrase "Run for it!" was recycled in School for Scoundrels.[5]
Director Robert Hamer was sacked during filming due to his drinking, and the film was completed by an uncredited Cyril Frankel and producer Chester.[1] Hamer did not work in the film industry again, and died in 1963.[1]
School for Scoundrels was made at Elstree Studios, and location scenes were mainly shot in the neighbouring vicinity.[6] The location used as the tennis club was then a private members club, and is now a hotel. The hotel hosted a screening of the film in 2016 that was attended by Janette Scott, who answered questions about its filming.[7]
In the film, Palfrey foolishly buys a "1924 4-litre Swiftmobile" from the crooked "Winsome Welshmen", and later succeeds in trading the car back to them for an ex-works Austin-Healey 100-six and 100 guineas (£105). The "Swiftmobile" was based upon a 1928 4½ litre Open four-seater Bentley, with a custom two-seat open body. The car, minus the body, was sold by the studio in 1961 for £50, and re-sold (with a new body) at an auction in 2003 for £110,000. The Austin-Healey 100-six used in the film was passed in at auction in the 1970s at around £30,000. The "Bellini 3.6" driven by Terry-Thomas was, in fact, a disguised Aston Martin DB3S.[8]
Release
After passing the British censors on 14 December 1959[2]School for Scoundrels premiered at the Warner Theatre in Leicester Square, London, on 24 March 1960.[3] When the film was released in the United States on 11 July 1960, it was given the subtitle "or How to Win Without Actually Cheating", as reflected in the US poster by Tom Jung.
Reception
Kine Weekly called the film a "money maker" at the British box office in 1960.[9]
The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "The joke of Lifemanship, so elaborately worked up by Stephen Potter in his series of books, already looks a little fatigued, like the game of U and non-U. School for Scoundrels might have used it as a foundation for some edged social comedy; and occasionally it seems that this may be just around the corner. But the corner is never turned and the film keeps to a simpler formula: the before and after manner of the advertisements, with the one-down man rather monotonously demonstrating how Potterism has helped him to become one-up. In view of the limitations of the script, which makes nothing of the underlying savageries of the Lifemanship game of humiliation and inspired bad manners, Robert Hamer has directed with intelligent restraint. If the comedy lacks sharpness, he has not allowed it to become further blunted by bogus joviality."[10]
While the review in The Times was very noncommittal,[3]Leslie Halliwell described the film as "an amusing trifle, basically a series of sketches by familiar comic actors", and awarded it one star (out of a maximum of four and a minimum of zero).[11]
Michael Brooke, reviewing for the British Film Institute's Screenoline website, criticised the film as having "little sign of the elegance and wit that characterised earlier Hamer films such as Kind Hearts and Coronets or The Spider and the Fly", but praised its script and performances, particularly those of Terry-Thomas and an "under-used" Sim.[1]
In 2007, CNN listed the performance of Terry-Thomas among the top 10 British film villains, stating: "Thomas was the template for the lily-livered upper class bounder. Generally found twirling his cigarette holder while charming the ladies — at least, when not swindling, cheating or behaving like an absolute rotter..."[12]
