Why, someone must have thought, isn't there a 'crooks anonymous' as you have an alcoholics anonymous as well? That's the premise of this film, in which 'brother' Forsdyke undergoes the program, to win back the heart of his love, Babette la Verne. Forsdyke is forced to go in rehab, to get the criminal instincts out of his veins. He is tortured by booby trapped safes only to look for a cigarette.It is a must-see for fans of British comedy, with a lot of 'I saayyy' and 'sport', witty humor, an unrivalled politeness of the characters and, last but not least, almost invisible sexual innuendo ('You'll get my Christmas present later', says a man when hasty leaving after a kiss).I enjoyed it a lot, thanks to decent comedic acting of Leslie Philips, Wilfird Hyde-White and Stanley Baxter (in a fitting part in which he changes his outfit all the time, as a predecessor of his own TV show that started a year later). Perhaps only Julie Christie, in her first serious role, is a bit of a dissonance. But she would be great in Fahrenheit 451 a couple of years later.Director Ken Annakin made all kinds of films (The Battle of the Bulge, for example), but was really into silly adventure comedies with rather long titles, like Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines or How I Flew from London to Paris in 25 hours 11 minutes and Those Daring Young Men in Their Jaunty Jalopies, all scripts from Jack Davies, as is also this one. Of course, it is all a bit dated now and then, but sometimes I wonder why this kind of innocent comedy has just died out in this day and age. It is almost impossible nowadays to see a film that is not either totally ludicrous, or over-dramatic. That's why we have this problem today that so many comedies are packed with boring melodrama. Not this one though!

The first half of this film is very funny.Stanley Baxter is the real star.He said in a recent interview that his film career came to an end because the company to whom he was contracted went bust.As usual he pops up in a variety of disguises.The best part is the aversion therapy treatment to stop Leslie Phillips going back to his old ways.Alas the film runs out of steam in the last half.Stealing the money from the department store then putting it back is typical of the farciCal devices used to end films ,utilised by many British comedies of the period.Julie Christie is clearly on her way up the ladder and Leslie Phillips would outlive most of his contemporaries and have a long and distinguished career.

Dandy Forsdyke (Leslie Phillips) is a career criminal who has no desire to work--just steal and lie his way through life. However, his girlfriend, Babette (Julie Christie), has no patience for his conduct even though she inexplicably loves him. So, she gives him an ultimatum- -either change and live a respectable and legal life or she's leaving him. Dandy is in a bind--he loves being a crook but loves the girl even more, so he vows to change. On his own, however, he hasn't a prayer of going straight so he enlists the help of a philanthropic organization-- Crooks Anonymous! C.A. is much like a drug or alcohol treatment program except that it treats thieves...but in the most unconventional way. I would say more about C.A.'s methods, but you just have to see them to appreciate them!Later in the movie, Dandy has apparently changed--and certainly for the better. However, even with the help of C.A., what is Dandy to do when he's given the chance to do a nearly perfect crime with very little risk. After all, it drops right into his lap! Well, what happens next is also something you'll just need to see for yourself--and it's quite clever and funny.I had a hard time deciding whether to score this o 7 or an 8--either way it's very original and quite cute. Well worth seeing.

Crooks Anonymous is directed by Ken Annakin and written by Henry Blyth and Jack Davies. It stars Leslie Phillips, Stanley Baxter, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Julie Christie, James Robertson Justice and Pauline Jameson. Music is by Muir Matheson and George Martin and cinematography by Ernest Steward. Plot finds Phillips as a habitual criminal who is desperately trying to go straight for his gorgeous girlfriend (Christie). He enrols at Crooks Anonymous, a secretive organisation run by Hyde-White that uses interesting tactics to wean their clients off the thieve.Out of Anglo-Amalgamated Film Distributors, Crooks Anonymous is the kind of innocuous black and white British comedy that gets in and does its entertaining job without fuss or pointless filler. Cast are most agreeable, the story has the requisite daftness about it, and it's all smiles come the finale. Trick of the narrative is having us the audience be on the side of the thieving bounder, who is wonderfully essayed by the suave Phillips. That he wants to do right by the scrummy Miss Christie (her first year of big screen acting) obviously resonates with the red blooded male members of the audience, but that he is so charming, elegant even when relieving unsuspecting members of the public of their possessions, really has all comers cheering the gentleman cad on! Fun is garnered here from the tactics used by Hyde-White to get Phillips on the straight, methods such as booby trapped safes bring the joy, as does the many guises used by an on form Stanley Baxter. While a flip flop for the Christmas set finale has a delicious ironical flavour to it. There's nothing overtly side-splitting about the film, and definitely there's no raucous-like-screwball histrionics within either, this is just good old enjoyable fare from a production company who had a particularly good track record in the light entertainment department. 7/10