Sid James Collection - Comic Icons (DVD)

Filmed in 1965 this British comedy still has the power to amuse. This is despite the fact that the plot is riddled with unlikelihoods and has an unsatisfying ending. This doesn't really matter, though. This is the surreal world of bumbling cops, lovable robbers and slapstick tumbles that audiences felt at home in at this period. Since it boasted Sid James and a crew of familiar faces as the villains, everybody knew beforehand what to expect.
However, today's viwers would demand a little more originality and plausiblity, and a plot that wasn't focussed so much around a single idea.
So, to enjoy the movie properly, just give credence to Sid's clumsy criminal schemes as you watch them unfold:- a hamfisted bank robbery, a getaway that doesn't get away, a fifteen-year stretch in Wormwood Scrubs, then a string of capers to retrieve the loot from a hollow tree-trunk in the grounds of a police station.
Dick Emery, Lance Percival, Joan Sims, Sylvia Sims, Jim Dale and Edina Ronay contribute to the gang's mishaps.