Reel Britannia

Episode 196 - School For Scoundrels (1960) "Hard cheese old boy!" School for Scoundrels is one of those wonderfully sharp British comedies that takes something faintly ridiculous and plays it with a completely straight face, which of course makes it even funnier. Released in 1960, it follows Henry Palfrey, a polite, mild-mannered man who seems to be permanently stuck on the losing side of life. He is decent, respectable and reasonably successful on paper, yet somehow he always ends up second best, especially when faced with people who have more confidence, more nerve and rather fewer scruples. Chief among those people is Raymond Delauney, a sleek, smug and maddeningly self-assured rival who seems able to outmanoeuvre Henry at every turn. Whether it is in romance, social situations or the small but humiliating battles of everyday life, Delauney has the infuriating knack of always coming out on top. Henry, increasingly fed up with being the one left floundering, is drawn into the orbit of the mysterious Mr P