Crooks and Coronets

Crooks and Coronets
Original UK quad poster by Tom Chantrell
Directed by	Jim O'Connolly
Written by	Jim O'Connolly
Produced by	Herman Cohen Clifford Parkes
Starring	Telly Savalas Warren Oates Dame Edith Evans Cesar Romero Harry H. Corbett
Cinematography	Desmond Dickinson
Edited by	Martin Charles
Music by	Patrick John Scott
Production company	Herman Cohen Productions
Distributed by	Warner-Pathé (UK)
Release date	2 April 1969 (1969-04-02) (UK)
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

Crooks and Coronets is a 1969 British crime comedy film and/or heist movie written and directed by Jim O'Connolly. It starred Telly Savalas, Edith Evans, Warren Oates, Cesar Romero and Harry H. Corbett. The film was renamed as Sophie's Place for the US market.

Story

Two recently released convicts, Herbie Haseler and Marty Miller, go to work for New York mob boss Nick Marco. Marco sends them to England to set up the robbery of a large English mansion. The mansion is owned by the kindly and elderly eccentric, Lady Sophie Fitzmore, who plans to pass the mansion and its priceless treasures on to her loyal nephew, Freddie Fritzmore. Sophie owns a full grown male lion named 'Bo-Bo' who is somewhat domesticated but nevertheless guards a portion of the estate. Herbie and Marty tour Lady Sophie's mansion and ingratiate themselves with the old lady. She invites them to live in the mansion with her, a windfall that will help them plan the robbery. Herbie and Marty also meet Frank Finley, the London mob contact for Nick Marco. Herbie, Marty and Finley plan the robbery and the escape route, and make general arrangements for Marco's arrival for the heist. Over time, Herbie and Marty grow fond of Lady Sophie, Freddie, and their servants. At the last minute, they decide they cannot go through with the robbery. Their fondness for Sophie prompts them to prevent Nick and Frank from committing the robbery.

Cast

• Telly Savalas as Herbie Haseler
• Edith Evans as Lady Sophie Fitzmore
• Warren Oates as Marty Miller
• Cesar Romero as Nick Marco
• Harry H. Corbett as Frank Finley
• Nicky Henson as Lord Freddie Fitzmore
• Hattie Jacques as Mabel
• Vickery Turner as Annie
• Arthur Mullard as Perce
• Frank Thornton as Cyril
• Thorley Walters as Hubbard
• Jeremy Young as Reilly
• Leslie Dwyer as Henry
• Clive Dunn as Basil
• David Bauer as Jack
• Ivor Dean as Bellows
• David Lodge as Police officer

Critical reception

The Radio Times wrote, "strange casting - a sort of Carry On meets The Dirty Dozen - gives the film a certain interest, not to mention eccentricity...but the overall tone is far too frantic and full of those terribly dated, Swinging Sixties fads and fashions."; while Allmovie described the film as a "delightful crime comedy"; and Sky Movies wrote, "at times, the pace is as sedate as the English aristocracy portrayed: but the magnificently lunatic climax is worth waiting for, as crooks...are finally repulsed by a concerted counter-attack involving crossbows, a lion, and Edith Evans at the controls of a vintage German plane. It has to be said that Dame Edith has no trouble in beating the Americans at the acting game, either."

See also

• Candleshoe (1977)

External links

• Crooks and Coronets at IMDb
• allmovie/synopsis; Crooks and Coronets
• Crooks and Coronets at the TCM Movie Database
• Sophie's Place at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films