Release just 12 days apart and on both sides of the Atlantic were a pair of caper films involving a group of war veterans pulling off a big heist. On the American side was Ocean's Eleven the first and best of the Rat Pack film where Frank Sinatra and his ring-a-ding army pals try to rob five casinos in Las Vegas. And on the British side was Jack Hawkins recruiting The League Of Gentlemen for a caper of his own.

We never learn the reason why Hawkins is so disgruntled, but I'm sure it was a good one. And unlike Sinatra who recruited friends Hawkins did some meticulous research and came up with seven total strangers all of whom had disgraced the uniform in some manner. With all their resumes in front of him, Hawkins is sure he's found his crew. And they include Nigel Patrick, Roger Livesey, Richard Attenborough, Bryan Forbes, Kieron Moore, Terence Alexander, and Norman Bird.

Ocean's Eleven depended on the chemistry of the players and since all there were buddies in good standing with Sinatra, it had a casual kind of feeling even during the scenes of the actual robbery. In The League Of Gentlemen it was a different kind of chemistry as Hawkins forges a unit together. Not without problems because these guys are by definition individualists who did not take kindly to military discipline in the first place.

Besides Hawkins who seemed to like the idea of being back in the army so to speak, the best performances were from Nigel Patrick as the most individual of the lot who gives Hawkins some reasonable concern and Roger Livesey. I don't think Livesey's character would have been allowed on the American cinema as the Code was still in place. He plays a disgraced and defrocked chaplain. When we meet all of them in their dwellings as they get the mysterious invitation to join Hawkins at his club, we see they don't exactly have the best domestic situations going. Part of why they were easy to recruit.

This one has to rank as one of Jack Hawkins's stellar cinematic efforts. And it holds up very well for today's audience.

Do like heist/crime caper films, have done for a while, and there are good ones out there. 'The League of Gentlemen's' main interest point was the cast full of talented actors and that it was the first feature from the Allied Film Makers company, also with major members playing big roles in the film. Had seen a lot of favourable reviews as well as seeing some from those that didn't like it as much, so that raised my interest further and it was hard to not expect a lot.

'The League of Gentlemen' mostly did live up to expectations. To me, it isn't quite as good as or the near-masterpiece that some have made it out to be. There are things that could have been done better and anybody that doesn't connect with it shouldn't be grudged against. There are so many great things that outweigh those flaws and make 'The League of Gentlemen' well worth watching. Do agree with those that have taken issue with the film being labelled misleadingly as a comedy, it's a long way from that.

From personal opinion, 'The League of Gentlemen' got off to a rather stodgy start that takes too long to set up. Oliver Reed's cameo felt very out of place and was neither funny or tasteful.

Also really did not buy how the crime was solved in so little time, not realistic, and Hyde at this point goes from meticulously intelligent to ridiculously sloppy just like that.

However, 'The League of Gentlemen' is filmed with much stylish grit, perfectly suited to the uncompromising tone, while also looking oddly beautiful at the same time and making the most of the locations. It is meticulously directed by Basil Dearden and unobtrusively scored. The script is intelligent, especially when the planning is happening, and there didn't seem to be any unnecessary fat.

Once the story got going it is rousing stuff, with intricate without being too complex and thoughtfully written planning and the heisting has tension and excitement. The characters are admittedly hard to like, some understandably finding the of the time bigotry of them hard to take and a turn off. These characters though are still interesting and quite layered, especially Hyde, and Reed is the one sore of spot of the otherwise solid as rocks cast. Jack Hawkins and Nigel Patrick being the standouts.

All in all, mostly good but not great. 7/10

It's very strange, but within the caper film genre, there are TONS of wonderful films....tons. Movies like "Rififi", "Grand Slam" and "The Italian Job" are all top entertainment...and "The League of Gentlemen" follows in this same tradition.

The film begins with Hyde (Jack Hawkings) sending an invitation to seven men. When the men all arrive at this dinner party, Hawkins shocks them all by telling them their sordid military histories. All served dishonorably and all are rogues...just the sort you'd like to recruit for some illegal acts. In this case, they will commit a very daring daytime bank robbery, but this is much later in the film. In the meantime, they all move in together and behave much like a precise military unit. Next, they have another, smaller but very daring raid to do so they'll have the proper equipment for the big robbery. How all this works together so precisely is why the film is worth seeing. Very well written, directed and acted--this is rousing entertainment from start to finish. It also offers enough novelty to make it different enough from these other films.

By the way, an interesting notion is the character played by Kieron Moore. Though never explicitly stated, it sure is apparent he's supposed to be gay. And, speaking of this, look for a tiny role played by a young Oliver Reed--a very, very stereotypically gay role...VERY.