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One of my all time favorites.

It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

Absolutely brilliant

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

No way is this film as funny as it should be or seemingly as funny as it thinks it is. But it does have charm, some great and colourful location shooting and some very decent performances. From the extended opening as Tom Courtenay makes he way a good length of Portobello Road to the modest and quiet ending, we smile but little more. Nevertheless the film is likeable and a pleasure to watch, Coutenay is excellent, Romy Schneider lovely though underused and James Villiers who must have appeared in every British film of the time does better than usual. There is also a great turn from Leonard Rossiter who almost brings the film to life singlehandedly. Maybe it was the time, maybe it was writers La Frenais and Clement but this film is outrageously languorous and happy to almost stop now and again. Still good fun checking out the locations and Courtenay doesn't put a foot wrong.

There's a fair amount of fun and humor in this entertaining spy comedy/drama. Director Dick Clement has a firm grasp on his material and with the assistance of a very ingratiating cast of players, he has presented us with a most agreeable movie. I particularly liked Norman Rossiter as a cheery villain – now that's a really grand idea which I think I'll use myself in my next Michaela Morris novel. Anyway, all the double-crossing remains credible without ever becoming merely confusing. There are also some wonderful set-pieces such as the hair-breadth escapes and the comic chase with the driving instructor. The director's use of his real locations is exemplary, the pace is fast, and the movie actually revels in atmosphere and style. At times, it's edge-of-the-seat exciting! The director also maintains a very judicious balance between comedy and drama, often using one (for example, the cheery badinage with Rossiter) to augment and deepen the other. Other pluses include a zippy music score, A-1 photography and some really fascinating locations.

Martin Waddell's OTLEY is about a wannabe second-hand/antiquities dealer (on the dole) who already has a line of clients and who is not particular about how he acquires what he sells. He gets in trouble for stealing an object d'art that is actually a recording device employed for espionage (for one side or the other -- I can't recall which, but it doesn't matter). He is the most reluctant of spies, though he dips and dives, toward whichever side will help him get out of trouble, over four charming, short comic novels.Tom Courtenay tries to breathe life to this character, and he is surrounded by some of Britains most individual supporting players (including Freddie Jones, Ronald Lacey and Leonard Rossiter) and the beautiful Romy Schneider. Perhaps they wanted to make a film that was both a spy movie (everyone was cranking them out) as well as a "swinging London" movie (a genre worn into the ground) but it comes off as more diverting than funny; and like most movies of the period that tried to be "modern" it looks quaintly dated. But the stars are always worth watching.

This is one of my favorite 60's films. It's based on the first of a series of books by Martin Waddell about Gerald Arthur Otley, a young man whose occasional pocket-picking inadvertently lands him in the middle of a spy plot. (The books are great fun, too). Poor Otley's in way over his head, can't tell the good guys from the bad, and like Dorothy in "the Wizard of Oz," simply wants to go home! Suddenly his dull old life doesn't look so bad. There are many funny sequences, but the one in which he takes his driving test is truly inspired.Tom Courtenay gives one of his best performances as the lead character, and he's well supported by a terrific cast of veteran character actors. Leonard Rossiter has an especially funny cameo. Moreover, "Otley" has one of the catchiest soundtracks of that era, a quirky mix of classical and rock tunes, and you'll find yourself humming the main theme for days after you've watched the film.Why isn't this available on DVD? Or even VHS? It's a major oversight. "Otley Forever!"