Rotten to the Core (film)

Rotten to the Core is a 1965 black and white British comedy film directed by John Boulting starring Anton Rodgers, Charlotte Rampling, Eric Sykes and Ian Bannen. It was co-written and produced by Boulting and his brother Roy Boulting. The film received a BAFTA nomination for Alex Vetchinsky's production design.

It was Charlotte Rampling's first credited role. The principal comedy sections are supplied by Eric Sykes in various guises as an undercover policeman.

Plot
Upon finishing a prison sentence, a trio of crooks go in search of their one-time leader, known as "The Duke", who was supposed to safeguard their share of the money which was never recovered. However, the Duke's girlfriend Sara tells them the Duke is dead and the money is long gone. Later, the gang discover that she's lying, and that the Duke has set up a spa, the Hope Springs Nature Clinic, as a front. The Duke is planning a major heist with some criminal cronies.

The complex plot involves the police, the British Army, officers of the German army and a complicated deception by means of rail, with real German army officers being tricked into getting off the train one stop early, to be replaced by criminals in their guise. Leading the army group is Lt Vine who is successfully deceived by the whole affair (aided by Sara feeding him false information) and he has to bear the brunt of the blame.

Cast

 * Anton Rodgers as the Duke
 * Charlotte Rampling as Sara Capell
 * Eric Sykes as William Hunt
 * Ian Bannen as Lt. Percy Vine
 * Thorley Walters as Chief Constable Preston
 * Peter Vaughan as Sir Henry Capell
 * Dudley Sutton as Jelly
 * Kenneth Griffith as Lenny the Dip
 * James Beckett as Scapa Flood
 * Victor Maddern as Anxious O'Toole
 * Avis Bunnage as Countess de Wett
 * Frank Jarvis as Moby
 * Raymond Huntley as prison governor
 * Dandy Nichols as woman in cemetery

Production
The film was based on an original idea by Roy Boulting which he gained, he told The New York Times, when recuperating from a broken neck in 1964. "Call it a cynical comment on organised thievery today," he said. Filming began in February 1965 at Shepperton Studios.

Critical reception
The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "This is the film about bumbling crooks emerging from jail, mounting a daring coup, and ending in total disaster, which British studios seem to produce with unfailing regularity roughly once a year. The jokes are occasionally mildly funny, but usually very familiar. Anton Rodgers plays (rather well) the Peter Sellers role as the mastermind; Eric Sykes contributes his turn as a bumbling private detective; and so on, and so on. Only Thorley Walters, in an engaging performance as a narcissistic and health-obsessed police inspector, manages to break the bonds of routine."

Variety wrote that Anton Rodgers "shows versatility in four or five characterizations...(But) the Boulting Brothers' knives are less sharp than customary. The Boultings put their faith in an unknown girl (Charlotte Rampling) as the Duke’s moll. She is quite easy on the eye but lacks the experience and personality."

Time Out wrote the film had "some mildly funny moments, but most of the jokes are laboriously set up and loudly telegraphed."