Sophie's Place

TCM ran a double feature of films with Telly Savalas some months back; not having seen either of the movies I decided to record both of them. The first of them was Crooks and Coronets.

The opening credits and plot synopsis made this one sound like it was made in England with Savalas one of those Hollywood stars sojourning in the UK. As the movie opens, there's a "state penitentiary" that seems just far enough off. Herbie Haseler (Telly Savalas) is a convict being released from prison, picked up by his friend Marty Miller (Warren Oates) who got out of prison himself a few months back and is supposedly going straight. However, it's quickly revealed that Marty stole the car he used to pick up Herbie from prison.

While confined in prison, Herbie has been reading up on the great manor houses of England, and he's become convinced that he's got a great idea for a heist that would solve all his financial problems. The Fitzmore mansion is owned by some people on hardish times, and they've got a lot of artwork that could easily be stolen and sold off in the States. But Herbie is going to need some money to fund the scheme, and the only person he knows is his old crime boss Nick Marco (Cesar Romero). The thing is, Nick already laid out money for the last scheme, the one that got Herbie and Marty in prison, and Nick has been calculating interest on that money for the entire time the two were in prison. So Nick is reluctant at first to fund Herbie, and certainly not going to accept any failure.

But Herbie and Marty make it over to merrye olde England, and eventually get to the gates of the Fitzmore place, although getting in to case the joint is not without some comic difficulties. The Fitzmores, Lady Sophie (Edith Evans) and her son Lord Freddie (Nicky Henson) are in bad enough straits that they're giving tours of the house for a price. The two crooks take one of the tours, and find somebody trying to fish one of the statues off a table, stopping the heist. That would-be robber is in fact Lady Sophie, under the ruse of trying to test the security arrangements. Herbie and Marty stop it, which gets them in good with Sophie, who being an eccentric old lady also decides to offer the two of them a place to stay, which is just the stroke of luck they needed.

Lady Sophie is so charming that, as Herbie and Marty plan the heist, they start to wonder whether they should go through with it at all, although that's a big problem too since Nick back in the States is beginning to wonder why it's taking Herbie and Marty so long to carry out the robbery. And eventually he's had enough, coming over to the UK himself to take over the heist so that he can make sure it goes according to plan. But by the time Nick comes over Herbie and Marty are thinking up ways to foil Nick in the comedic climax to the movie.

Crooks and Coronets was released in 1969. It's in a genre that had been successful over the years, although by 1969 this sort of view of British society was getting dated. Crooks and Coronets isn't exactly a bad movie, although it's one of those that feels like it doesn't have all that much that's original to it. Had it come out in 1959 it might have worked better, but by now the whole premis is beginning to feel tired. Still, it's also another of those movies where you can understand why the people involved, espcially Savalas and Oates going over the Britain, would have read the screenplay and decided they wanted to make the movie. Crooks and Coronets is modestly entertaining, but nothing spectacular.