GusF The fourth, last and weakest of the original "St. Trinian's" films, it never really takes off. It is an attempt to modernise the series which is not terribly successful. As the title would suggest, it was inspired by the Great Train Robbery in 1963, which is kind of interesting but the idea is not used well. There is some nice light satire of Labour's policies and sex scandals with the Minister for Schools Sir Horace's affair with the new headmistress Amber Spottiswood but there are no belly laughs unlike in the first three films. The train robbery plot is a parody of the Bond films but it falls flat. The attempt to modernise the films mean that it has dated far worse than the first three films, though that wouldn't be a problem if it was a better than average film. The main problem with the storyline is that focuses far too much on the adults and far too little on the students, even less than in "The Pure Hell of St. Trinians".It has a great cast including Frankie Howerd, George Cole, Richard Wattis (who was absent from the previous film), Raymond Huntley, Dora Bryan, Michael Ripper, George Benson and Colin Gordon. However, Cole is wasted in a smaller role than in the first three films and the absence of Joyce Grenfell and Lloyd Lamble is very noticeable. On the bright side, Michael Ripper - the only actor besides Cole to appear in all four films - has his biggest role in the series and he also has the best line in the film: "That headmistress is his concubine!"

didi-5 A lesser St Trinian's film, this does benefit from scatty Dora Bryan as the headmistress; Raymond Huntley as her MP beau; Richard Wattis and co as men from the ministry; and Frankie Howerd, Reg Varney, Arthur Mullard and others as train robbers.If you have seen the other films, you know the formula. The St Trinian's schoolgirls are little terrors who frighten the life out of authority and everyone else. The teachers are boozers, smokers, fighters, and gamblers. Put these together and the plot will sizzle.Not as good as the others, and drags a bit towards the end, but it is a fun film which diverts for at least an hour.

churchofsunshine As youngsters, there are certain things that we all believe in. Father Christmas. The Easter Bunny. The Tooth Fairy. Not me, though. I was different - I believed in St. Trinian's school. I was convinced in fact until I was at least twenty that this school was actually a real place. I'm not a stupid person by any means, so it must have been because I wanted such a place to exist that I spent most of my time in the library browsing phone directories in a fruitless effort to discover exactly where it was. I thought I had it narrowed down to the Home Counties somewhere in Hertfordshire or Bedfordshire, and was quite prepared to try and visit the place in person and leer at all those sixth-form schoolgirls in their gym-slips, stockings and suspenders. The best day of my life was probably when we had a fancy dress day at school and a couple of my female class-mates turned up in a replica uniform, and boy, did they look good! I'm not sure what the teachers thought, because they were only about thirteen I should think, and they definitely were wearing the stockings and suspenders! These days of course the politically correct brigade would do all they can to prevent young girls dressing like this (even though it was all in good fun and for charity) and these films are often treated in the same way by many reviewers - with scorn and ridicule. The "girls" in the film who are wearing the full "sixth form" stockings and suspenders style uniform are of course well over the age of sixteen and into adulthood, though that doesn't stop some people wondering that maybe films like this encourage paedophilia and turning young girls into sex objects. Maybe there are some dangerous people out there who get a hard-on over uniforms and schoolgirls by watching this film, but I would hope that most, like me, were schoolboys themselves when they first saw this film, and that kind of makes it alright. It's all a bit of harmless fun, and like the "Carry On" films and other more politically incorrect 'stockings and suspenders' stuff where women are shown as sex objects first and characters after (Vicki Michele from "Allo Allo" is a good example), it's true to say they don't make stuff like this any more.St. Trinian's itself, the brainchild of artist Ronald Searle (as I later discovered!), is seen here for the first time in colour. This, "The Great Train Robbery", is the fourth in the series. A little-known and less-often seen fifth film from 1980 is "The Wildcats of St. Trinian's". As is usual with long-running franchises such as this, the quality does tale of noticeably with each instalment. This film, though not in the same league as the first "Belles of St. Trinians" in 1954, comes across as "Citizen Kane" in comparison to the very weak "Wildcats" entry in 1980. The main advantage this has over the first three is probably the fact that it is in colour.Unlike most people, I happen to think that St. Trinians rocks. I always have done. I wanted to go to school there. I still do. Words cannot describe how disappointed I was when I found out it didn't really exist. In this day and age of political correctness, it probably never will again - and that's a bit sad. 7/10

Stephen Bailey There were 3 films in the St.Trinians series and this, the final of the 3, is always referred to as "the weak entry" - and that's not fair. I actually don't like these silly girls waving tennis rackets & hockey sticks around and "frightening" adults in the process & George Cole (Flash Harry) irritates me in everything he's ever done; yet I still love this film, for everything BUT the ludicrous schoolgirls and Mr Cole. The plot is quite simple; a gang of bank-robbers stash the loot from a train robbery in the cellar of an abandoned house, but before they can collect it the "infamous" girls of St. Trinians are billeted there, having burned down their own building. The robbers pose as caterers on school Open Day and recover a lorry-load of cash but get disturbed by the girls and a chase then ensues involving all manner of weird and wonderful people who all want to get their hands on the reward. There's also a very funny sub-plot involving Richard Wattis as a civil servant investigating the criminal activities of ALL the staff and trying desperately to get the school closed down. Frankie Howerd is hilarious throughout as the gang leader who eventually escapes from the police disguised as a Pakistani railway worker and the scene where he 'clobbers' a Morris Dancer and has to take his place is NOT to be missed. Morris dancing is daft enough as it is but Frankie Howerd's "attempt" will have you roaring with laughter: "Just keep dancing, I'll explain everything later." Arthur Mullard is priceless as the dim-witted "heavy" of the gang, Big Jim, and the running gag involving a railway points lever is also essential viewing. I also liked Reg Varney as the 'serious' member of the gang who gets flustered to the point of homicidal rage by the stupidity of the others. The film is very well directed, beginning slowly and gradually working up to a frantic pace as the chase gets under way. If you can ignore the silly schoolgirls and George - yawn - Cole I'm sure you'll really enjoy this film.