On the Fiddle (1961)

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

ON THE FIDDLE is a WW2-era comedy starring the long-forgotten Alfred Lynch as a spiv who finds himself enrolled in the army and sent to France to fight, against his best intentions. The problem is that Lynch is a bit of coward and a man who's more interested in making money through his black market dealings than actual fighting.This quaint and genteel comedy has dated, particularly in comparison to the early black-and-white CARRY ON films which were coming out at the same time and which feel almost highbrow in comparison. The main problem for me is Lynch's character: he plays an arrogant and cocky so-and-so who's impossible to like and I ended up waiting for him to get his just desserts, but sadly that never happened. Some might call him irrepressible, I just call him irritating.Still, fans of the era will find much to enjoy in the presence of a number of notable British names in the supporting cast. Not least of these is Sean Connery, second-billed and playing Lynch's army buddy. In the USA, the film was retitled OPERATION SNAFU and the poster figured Connery's name predominantly to cash in on his new-found fame as Bond (DR NO was his next film after this) but I'd argue that his performance in this, as the slow-witted but lovable rogue, is actually better than his Bond. Others may disagree.Meanwhile, there's a full parade of familiar faces who usually pop up in one-scene roles. Watch out for Stanley Holloway, John Le Mesurier, Eric Barker, Victor Maddern, Patsy Rowlands, Bill Owen, Wilfrid Hyde-White and last but not least Barbara Windsor in one of her earliest screen roles. These actors - who feel like old friends to any fan of British cinema - certainly keep you watching and take your mind off the weak jokes and otherwise episodic feel of the storyline.

'On the Fiddle' is OK, and won't let you down on a quiet afternoon. It's more interesting for the fact that it's a comedy war film from the point of view of the average soldier, and the officers who do appear are shown as complete idiots. Nowadays this is a given, but in 1960, when the UK still had conscription, to make a film like this was to take sides in the social changes that were happening. It's a forerunner of 'Kelly's Heroes' on a tiny budget, and it looks like it was fun to make, so you can't judge it too harshly. And there are few better than Sean Connery at buddy movies. In a way, it shows how Bond constrained Connery for the years he did it, and I wish there were more films of the time with him not wearing a toupee or being a psychopathic MCP.

A sly cockney (Alfred Lynch) and a rather dim gypsy (Sean Connery) team up during World War II to turn events to their own financial advantage. Note for pub quiz players. Sean Connery's last role before playing James Bond was this one: playing a thick-as-short-planks Gypsy! Whether the casting people saw this before they gave him the role is open to doubt, but I believe that he plays stupid better than he plays clever. Do you believe that Connery really had a double first and could speak fluent Japanese? Well that is what 007 is supposed to be! But I digress. This is what I actually like in a cheap and cheerful film. Give us a bit of everything from comedy to drama and keep it rolling along before we get bored. They are not really con men, but fly-by-nights that want to turn everything to their own advantage. Laughable small timers really. The film changes tone at the end from comedic to dramatic as the twosome have to do a bit of real fighting instead of skiving. Looks a bit out of place, but brings in the twist that was sure to be coming. Not that great a movie, but star power and character acting keep us involved to the finish. If you give this movie a chance you will probably find that you are in it for the full term. Lots of fun - but only B movie candy floss.

Sean, you know I think that you are absolutely the greatest actor in the world, but I can't commend you for this. Comedy just isn't your strong suit.However, it wasn't all your fault. Some of the stuff was just too hard to understand. Alfred Lynch did a decent job, but you gotta wonder where the lines came from from the beginning.Once again, Sean... I apologize.