Die größten Gauner weit und breit (1970)

Die größten Gauner weit und breit: Directed by Silvio Narizzano. With Richard Attenborough, Lee Remick, Hywel Bennett, Milo O’Shea. Based on the play by Joe Orton, this film follows the adventures of two pals who have pulled off a bank robbery and have to hide the loot. Fortunately one of them works in a funeral parlor and they have a coffin to spare. Then there’s the gold-digger nurse and the gonad-grabber detective and a host of other wonderful characters.

“From his subsequent work, this film comes closest in spirit to the directoru0026#39;s best-regarded effort, namely GEORGY GIRL (1966); incredibly enough for such a light-hearted farce, it officially competed at the Cannes Film Festival where it vainly faced such tremendous contenders as THE GO-BETWEEN, DEATH IN VENICE, JOHNNY GOT HIS GUN, TAKING OFF and WALKABOUT – albeit all being released in 1971! The film was also the second play (which, for the record, was staged locally not too long ago) by the controversial if short-lived Joe Orton to be turned into a movie after ENTERTAINING MR. SLOANE, released earlier that same year and which – like Stephen Frearsu0026#39; biopic of Orton, PRICK UP YOUR EARS (1987) with Gary Oldman and Alfred Molina – I also own but have yet to watch (the latter on the strength of LOOT itself!).u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAnyway, to get back to the film at hand, the central casting is certainly splendid: Richard Attenboroughu0026#39;s character may be a caricature but he is undeniably funny (his Scotland Yard Inspector poses as an officer from the water board and whose professed integrity proves as much a sham as his act); Lee Remick is served with a sluttish role (as a go-getting and husband-killing nurse!) that actually takes the actress back to her debut in Elia Kazanu0026#39;s A FACE IN THE CROWD (1957): I do not know how she ended up in Britain just then (being reteamed with Attenborough soon afterwards for the Iris Murdoch adaptation A SEVERED HEAD {1970}), but it is safe to assume that she would never have been involved in anything this crude in Hollywood!; Hywel Bennett was fashionable for a brief period (this, in fact, came towards the end of his heyday) but he is terrific as the delusional – as much about romance as get-rich-quick schemes – morgue attendant who conducts his escapades inside a hearse!; Roy Holderu0026#39;s name was unknown to me but he is delightful as the effeminate half of the bungling criminal duo (calling his partner u0026quot;babyu0026quot; and who repeatedly gets them convicted because he has a compulsion for telling the truth!) – he also comes up with the filmu0026#39;s funniest line, describing his u0026#39;closeu0026#39; relationship with his motheru0026#39;s corpse u0026quot;a Freudian nightmareu0026quot; (the couple stash the money from a bank robbery in her coffin, while the body is constantly turning up at the most inopportune moments!); Milo Ou0026#39;Shea, another familiar face from this era thanks to his lead role in the movie version of yet one more classic source i.e. James Joyceu0026#39;s ULYSSES (1967), is Holderu0026#39;s flustered father who also drools over Remick (she, in turn, has already eyed him for her next victim!).u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003ePerhaps the wildest idea here is having the criminals undertake the robbery in their birthday suits, so as not leave u0026#39;forensicu0026#39; traces; the comic highlight, then, is a funeral procession that develops into a Keystone Kops-type chase(!), while its brightest touch is the adoption of a song score (not particularly outstanding but still quite nice and loud) to intermittently comment upon the silly-cum-tasteless (albeit rapid-fire) action! Interestingly, the busy finale is a combination of morality (characters owing up to a deed they are innocent of so as to make amends for past mistakes), cynicism (the fact that one cannot even trust authority figures anymore) and a curious u0026#39;honor-among-thievesu0026#39; attitude (Bennett not only gets the girl after all but there is every reason to believe that, with Remick along for the ride, the gangu0026#39;s exploits can only get better and grander still!). By the way, I may be wrong but the filmu0026#39;s manic style would seem to have anticipated some of the more stylized episodes in the long-running (and beloved) u0026quot;Fantozziu0026quot; series from Italy!”