JohnHowardReid 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

MARIO GAUCI This service comedy (another favorite situation with star comedians) - part army-base shenanigans and part dangerous mission - ranks as possibly the best Norman Wisdom vehicle there is, with a consistent string of often hilarious gags and the star - turning up again in drag and also appearing in a dual role (including one as a Nazi General) - in top form.Supporting him are Edward Chapman (virtually rising to sidekick status here, he and Wisdom make an engaging comic pair), Honor Blackman (perhaps the most substantial of the star's leading ladies) and Hattie Jacques (as a German opera star).

Arthur Kay Although we don't roar with laughter now , there are some 'classic¬ scenes:- 1. changing step when arrested and the others copy and lose step - quite clever. 2. best of all - the performance of the German lieder with the exaggerated German " Dein ist mein Hertz " - some professional singers roll about at that ! What a fantastic wide mouth. 3. During the scene with Hattie Jacques there is a fine touch of sexual innuendo for brief seconds. 4. No sentimental songs to interrupt the action. 5. His infatuation with Honor Blackman is not over done or carried though to the point of implausibility. So, although this is not his best film, it has one or two memorable, even "classic" moments. Worth watching - if only every 5 years !

bob the moo When Council employees make live hard for the soldiers on a local military base, the army drafts them to treat them badly. However Mr Grimsdale and Pitkin accidentally get on the wrong truck and are parachuted behind enemy lines. When Mr Grimsdale is captured by the Nazi's the resistance decide to use Pitkin's uncanny resemblance to Nazi General Schreiber to effect a rescue.In stead of Norman Wisdom's usual plot of `working class lad showing up the rich', we have `working class lad showing up the military and the Nazis'. Here the plot allows several funny set ups before eventually falling back on the old `lookalike' chestnut. However it's still quite funny – it's not Wisdom's best, but it has it's moments and happily there is very little of his usual `dreaming of unattainable girl' stuff that he usually does.The cast is better than usual. Wisdom still has his innocent `salt of the earth' thing going on and is funny and charming. Chapman fits well with him as Grimsdale, although the two have had better films together. A very young Honor Blackman (her voice hasn't changed a bit!) is good if fleeting and even Hattie Jacques turns up. The army officers are filled out with familiar faces and everyone tries hard.Overall this isn't Wisdom's best – but the working class Council worker triumphs over the Germans and upperclasses as a whole – who can't get some enjoyment out of that?!