Norman Wisdom's first film in color is, alas, one of his lesser vehicles; this time around, he's a milkman with Edward Chapman's modest firm (he is its only employer and even lives with his boss!) which is being run out of business by a big corporation that has, as its manager, the ubiquitous (and, by now, quite aged) Jerry Desmonde. Despite some good moments - an amusing but protracted opening gag involving Norman's elaborate waking methods, the star's Western-style showdown with a competitor, the utilization of his milk-bottles as weapons in a domestic squabble and Norman's demolition of Desmonde's garden - the film bogs down soon enough with a recurrent subplot about Chapman's tentative romance with his chubby middle-aged landlady (which is constantly interrupted by Norman bursting into their room) and the star's sentimental attachment to an old cart-horse (and whom the competition even contrive to poison in order to get them out of the way!). Besides, two extended set-pieces - one with Norman dressed as a priest disrupting Desmonde's golf game with John Le Mesurier, and his stint as a fireman (targeting Desmonde's entire office block) and featuring a young Peter Jeffrey as the fire chief - tend to fall flat on their faces rather than provide the intended hilarity!
Review of The Early Bird
