The Square Peg

What a hilarious romp! Caught my interest right away!

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).

Just outside the Sefton Hotel in Douglas, Isle of Man, a bronze statue of Sir Norman Wisdom greets patrons to the bar inside that is dedicated to his memory. Although Wisdom is largely unknown in the U.S., the diminutive actor-comedian made a popular series of films in the 1950's and 1960's that featured his on-screen persona, Norman Pitkin. An amusing entry, "The Square Peg," dates from the middle of that period. Norman plays Norman, who is doing road repair to keep Britain's arteries moving during World War II. Both Norman and his boss, Mr. Grimsdale, played by Edward Chapman, run afoul of the local military and find themselves inducted into the army.

The logic is not strong, but the humor is. Private Norman falls for a uniformed Honor Blackman and finds himself behind enemy lines in France, where he encounters a look-alike German general. Do not ask why or how, just suspend disbelief and follow the flow. As his doppelganger, General Schreiber, Wisdom scales the comic heights with the hilarious seduction of a somewhat over-ripe opera singer. The film makes no sense, but serves as a springboard for sight gags that involve a road sign and military salutes and for comedic situations with a plane full of parachutists that highlight the talents of Mr. Wisdom. Although Chapman has his moments, Blackman and the rest of the cast have little to do. Evidently a low-budget programmer, "The Square Peg" is a serviceable and entertaining introduction to an instantly lovable comic.

Following up on the zaniness of "Up in the World", Norman Wisdom returned as witless Norman Pitkin in "The Square Peg". In this case, he joins the army in WWII and gets dropped into Nazi-occupied France, where he's a dead ringer for a Nazi general.

I will say that I didn't find this one quite as funny as the previous movie, but the scenes where he's in the general's headquarters are just a hoot - you could turn the sound off and it would still be great. This is one movie that you're sure to love. Also starring is Honor Blackman (that's right: Pussy Galore!) and Edward Chapman.

And to think that I'd never even heard of Norman Wisdom until yesterday when I watched "Up in the World"!

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.