Crooks Anonymous – 1962 | 87mins | Comedy | B&W

Plot Synopsis

Amiable if unremarkable British comedy from director Ken Annakin. Encouraged by his girlfriend stripper Babette (Julie Christie) into going straight or face losing her, petty thief Captain Dandy Forsdyke aka Fred Cox (Leslie Phillips) enrols to join a rehabilitation group for crooks called ‘Crooks Anonymous’. The group is headed by Montague (Wilfred Hyde-White), who informs Forsdyke he will be incarcerated until fully reformed by assistant Brother Widdowes (Stanley Baxter), after which time he will be released back into the community under the scrutiny of a guardian angel Brother Bassett (Michael Medwin).

After successfully completing the course Dandy returns home and visits the local employment centre in search of an honest job, he takes a position at department store as Father Christmas for the Yuletide season. The supposedly reformed crook is soon tempted back into a life of crime after hearing being accidentally locked in the store overnight. He calls on his fellow reformed crooks to help him break out, but the urge for one last big steal becomes too much for each of his rescuers when they learn that the takings have been left over the weekend. So the converts find themselves alone with the alternative of honesty or returning to crime.