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The League of Gentlemen

1960 · TMDB 7.1

Directed by Basil Dearden

Involuntarily-retired Colonel Hyde recruits seven other dissatisfied ex-servicemen for a special project. Each of the men has a skeleton in the cupboard, is short of money, and is a service-trained expert in his field. The job is a bank robbery, and military discipline and planning are imposed by Hyde and second-in-command Race on the team, although civilian irritations do start getting in the way.

Why it matters

The League of Gentlemen takes the polite, rigid decorum of the British middle class and weaponises it, turning disgraced ex-soldiers into a disciplined, cravat-wearing criminal unit.

From The Quiet Art of the British Character Actor

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