Copyright 1958 by J. Arthur Rank Film Productions, Limited. U.S. release through Lopert Pictures. No New York opening. U.K. release through Rank Film Distributors: 4 January 1959. Australian release through British Empire Films: July/November 1961. 7,996 feet. 89 minutes.
COMMENT: A feast for Norman Wisdom fans - though Honor Blackman's admirers are liable to feel a bit cheated, as she has little to do, alas, and is even somewhat colorless (despite a lift from Jack's Cox's lighting photography which is noticeably less flat when she is around). The script is a bit more ingenious than the usual slight but slapstick Wisdom vehicle and allows our star to be a bit more adventurous and exciting than his usual callow self.
Actually, Wisdom has two roles, one comedy, one straight, but he plays the comedy part straighter than his norm, and the straighter part with more than a touch of satire. It all jibes rather well. A script with more bite allows the support players more opportunities too. Edward Chapman, Campbell Singer and Hattie Jacques are particularly personable. Some unintentional humor, however, is provided by Brian Worth who is here forced to adopt a French accent.
Wisdom's double role scenes are neatly timed (the special effects are okay too).
Carstairs is not one of my favorite directors. His timing and pacing always seem too heavy-handed and over-emphatic. Although his direction does show more dash and flair here, the timing in general still has a blunt edge and is not as smooth and snappy as audiences have a right to expect. All the same, the film looks good, thanks to solid production values.
Once we get away from the atrocious title tune, the film improves dramatically - or rather comically - with Wisdom and Chapman as a pair of cheekily omniscient, self-important bureaucrats attempting to impose their bloated authoritarianism on the army. The military brass get their revenge by drafting the two. Norman is smitten by a pretty parachutist, then he and Ed are inadvertently dropped into German-occupied France. And this is where the fun really starts
COMMENT: A feast for Norman Wisdom fans - though Honor Blackman's admirers are liable to feel a bit cheated, as she has little to do, alas, and is even somewhat colorless (despite a lift from Jack's Cox's lighting photography which is noticeably less flat when she is around). The script is a bit more ingenious than the usual slight but slapstick Wisdom vehicle and allows our star to be a bit more adventurous and exciting than his usual callow self.
Actually, Wisdom has two roles, one comedy, one straight, but he plays the comedy part straighter than his norm, and the straighter part with more than a touch of satire. It all jibes rather well. A script with more bite allows the support players more opportunities too. Edward Chapman, Campbell Singer and Hattie Jacques are particularly personable. Some unintentional humor, however, is provided by Brian Worth who is here forced to adopt a French accent.
Wisdom's double role scenes are neatly timed (the special effects are okay too).
Carstairs is not one of my favorite directors. His timing and pacing always seem too heavy-handed and over-emphatic. Although his direction does show more dash and flair here, the timing in general still has a blunt edge and is not as smooth and snappy as audiences have a right to expect. All the same, the film looks good, thanks to solid production values.
Once we get away from the atrocious title tune, the film improves dramatically - or rather comically - with Wisdom and Chapman as a pair of cheekily omniscient, self-important bureaucrats attempting to impose their bloated authoritarianism on the army. The military brass get their revenge by drafting the two. Norman is smitten by a pretty parachutist, then he and Ed are inadvertently dropped into German-occupied France. And this is where the fun really starts