Leslie Phillips stars as Dandy Forsdyke, a compulsive pickpocket and safecracker who cannot resist the thrill of the crime. His girlfriend, Babette (Julie Christie in one of her earliest film roles), is tired of his criminal lifestyle and has given him an ultimatum: go straight or else. In the wake of his latest crime, Babette desperately seeks help from an underground group of reformed criminals who run an organization called "Crooks Anonymous," which offers support for thieves looking to live on the straight and narrow path. The organization agrees to help Forsdyke, but his rehabilitation proves to be far more difficult than they originally thought and each member of Crooks Anonymous is faced with temptation, threatening their position on the wagon as recovering thieves.
With a career spanning over 70 years, Leslie Phillips got his start in films as a child actor, appearing in small uncredited roles in productions such as The Four Feathers (1939), The Thief of Bagdad (1940) and Anna Karenina (1948). In the 1950s and 1960s, Phillips starred in numerous British television series and films, including The Man Who Liked Funerals (1959) and The Longest Day (1962), reuniting him with Crooks Anonymous director Ken Annakin.
Scottish-born Stanley Baxter is perhaps best known for his work in television in various variety programs and specials, as well as numerous radio programs. Baxter is also known for his work as an impressionist and stage actor, appearing in the original stage production of What the Butler Saw in 1969 starring Ralph Richardson.
After starring in the television series A for Andromeda in 1961, Julie Christie made her feature-length film debut the following year in Crooks Anonymous. While her role in this film was a supporting one, Christie's popularity was on the rise, starring in Billy Liar (1963); Young Cassidy (1965); Darling (1965), which earned her the Academy Award for Best Actress; Doctor Zhivago (1965); Far from the Madding Crowd (1967); and Petulia (1968).
Crooks Anonymous features a who's who of British character actors, including James Robertson Justice, best known for roles in The Guns of Navaronne (1961) and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968); Michael Medwin, best known for his role in 1970's Scrooge; and the legendary Norman Rossington, who starred alongside The Fab Four in Richard Lester's A Hard Day's Night in 1964. Norman Rossington isn't the only Beatles' connection in Crooks Anonymous; music composer and producer George Martin, nicknamed "The Fifth Beatle" because of his enormous contributions to The Beatles' sound, received co-credit with Muir Mathieson for the film's musical score.
Director Ken Annakin got his start directing short features during World War II in 1943. By the late 1940s, he transitioned to feature-length films, hitting his stride in the 1950s and 1960s with famed collaborations with Walt Disney, including the 1960 family adventure film Swiss Family Robinson. Annakin also received co-directing credit on the epic 1962 war film The Longest Day and an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay for Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines or How I Flew from London to Paris in 25 hours 11 minutes (1965), which he also directed. Annakin continued working on television series like Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color and directing feature length films such as the cult classic The New Adventures of Pippi Longstocking (1988), which was one of his last films.
Crooks Anonymous was primarily shot at Independent Artists Studios (who also produced the film) in Buckinghamshire, England, with some on-location filming throughout London.
Director: Ken Annakin
Producer: Leslie Parkyn and Julian Wintle
Screenplay: Henry Blyth and Jack Davies
Cinematography: Ernest Steward
Editing: John Trumper
Art Direction: Harry Pottle
Music: George Martin and Muir Mathieson
Cast: Leslie Phillips (Dandy Forsdyke), Stanley Baxter (R.S. Widdowes), Wilfrid Hyde-White (Laurence Montague), Julie Christie (Babette La Verne), and James Robertson Justice (Sir Harvey Russellrod)
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Sources:
BFI.org
By Jill Blake
