The Square Peg (1958)

Truly the worst movie I've ever seen in a theater

Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

Masterful Cinema

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

On one level The Square Peg is just a typical Norman Wisdom knock about comedy but dig a little deeper and its quite a clever satire on small town politics.Norman plays a cocky little road mender who makes himself a thorough nuisance outside an army camp with his stop go sign.He's been told by his boss Mr Grimsdale,played by the great Edward Chapman,"Pitkin,the war's going to be won on the home front keeping the arteries of the nation open" The exasperated military see it differently and call up the entire town hall staff (His Worship the Mayor will hear about this) There is a hilarious scene with Campbell Singer as an exasperated sergeant teaching Pitkin bayonet practice."Come on Pitkin buckets of blood" Forget about Pitkin's infatuation with Honor Blackman who plays a secret agent we will cut to the quick with Pitkin and Mr Grimsdale coming out of the pub,jumping into the wrong lorry which is full of paratroopers,and finding themselves landing in France where they start digging up the french roads causing more chaos.Pitkin goes into town to buy milk where it is discovered he is a dead ringer for the local German commandant.The French resistance persuade him to dig his way into the castle and release all the prisoners.The commandant is General Schreiber,a thoroughly nasty piece of work who has a weakness for a large female opera singer played by Hattie Jacques and enjoys singing duets with her. I can give no higher praise than to say that Danny Kaye in his prime could not have been funnier.The scene where Pitkin,disguised as the general duets with Miss Jacques is sublimely funny. Pitkin of course gets caught,is put up against a wall to be shot,then falls down the hole he dug to get into the castle,makes his escape,cue happy ending.The last scene sees him as the new Mayor with Mr Grimsdale as his obsequious minion. Yes the plot is absolutely ridiculous but there are so many funny scenes along the way who cares? Norman Wisdom of course became a knighted national treasure who ended his acting career making welcome guest appearances in the long running TV series Last of the Summer Wine.

THE SQUARE PEG is a Norman Wisdom vehicle that sees him once more playing the part of Norman Pitkin, employee of gruff Yorkshireman Mr Grimsdale (Edward Chapman). The film is set during WW2 and sees the hapless pair become involved with a local army base, eventually finding themselves in occupied France of all places.This is the first Norman Wisdom film I've watched. I was inspired to watch it after getting into the CARRY ON films made during the same era. Like those, it has dated quite a lot since it first came out, with the comic hijinks feeling very genteel in the modern era of gross-out comedy. Although I found few laugh-out-loud moments, much of the film is gently amusing.Wisdom and Chapman share an excellent rapport and their scenes together are obvious highlights within the movie, although an elaborate, late-on sequence involving Pitkin, his doppelganger and a German opera singer (the delightful Hattie Jacques) marks the film's highlight. Until then there's plenty of mugging, slapstick and jokes at the expense of stiff-upper-lipped army superiors (including BERGERAC's Terence Alexander). Honor Blackman shows up as a memorably feisty female agent. I didn't find it quite as funny as I'd hoped, but I'm inspired to check out more of Wisdom's work.

All Norman Wisdom Films tend to follow a simple formula. Loveable Norman has a simple life, usually overlooked by a father figure (Mr Grimsdale) who takes care of him. An antagonist enters the frame and usually angers Wisdom. Much revenge type comedy ensues. Throw in a little child or children who needs help and a unfeasibly attractive woman for Norman to fall in love with. So once this formula has been established it's very unusual to expect anything else. Not that The Square peg does a great deal different but it looses the child element and offers up instead, Wisdom in two roles. The first is his standard 'Pitkin' role and the second is the evil Nazi general. Sure he camps up the Nazi and plays it for all the laughs possible but this film is nothing more than comic brilliance. The scene between Wisdom in his two characters and Hattie Jaques as a Teutonic opera singer is staggeringly funny.

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?!