Alastair Sim's School for Laughter: 4 Classic Comedies Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		4.0

Alastair Sim's School for Laughter: 4 Classic Comedies Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman April 17, 2020

Chances are if you are like many, maybe even most, American filmgoers, you tend to associate Alastair Sim with one thing and one thing only: his inimitable portrayal of one Ebenezer Scrooge in the 1951 version of Charles Dickens' immortal A Christmas Carol. A few outliers might have vague memories of Sim in such underappreciated gems as Green for Danger (a film where he notably wasn’t even given above the title billing) or even his latter day stint in The Ruling Class, but quite a bit of the rest of Sim’s multi-decade long filmography just doesn’t seem to be that well known by the public at large on this side of the pond. Film Movement has now come to the rescue in that regard and assembled four charming Sim comedies that bridge the years of 1947 to 1960, and which offer a fine assortment of well written, performed and directed outings that have a few linking elements besides Sim himself, including plots sometimes centered around the quest for riches, and occasionally with some chicanery and other shenanigans involved.

For reviews of the four films in this set, please click on the following links:

The Belles of St. Trinian's Blu-ray review

School for Scoundrels Blu-ray review

Laughter in Paradise Blu-ray review

Hue and Cry Blu-ray review

Alastair Sim's School for Laughter: 4 Classic Comedies Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Video quality of each film is assessed in the above linked reviews.

Alastair Sim's School for Laughter: 4 Classic Comedies Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Audio quality of each film is assessed in the above linked reviews.

Alastair Sim's School for Laughter: 4 Classic Comedies Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Supplementary material on each disc is detailed in the above linked reviews.

Alastair Sim's School for Laughter: 4 Classic Comedies Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Film Movement seems to be matriculating a lot of StudioCanal material to this side of the pond, and this set of films that have at least some connection to Alastair Sim should be an attractive collection for fans of the actor or of mid-century British films in general. Technical merits are generally solid, and the supplemental package quite interesting. Film Movement might want to start providing subtitles for those who need them, and I know I'd personally appreciate more definitive information on the provenance of their masters in the verbiage of their insert booklets, but otherwise this set easily comes Highly recommended.