Deux des commandos

When he is pulled up in court for selling stuff on the street, Horace Pope says he was only doing it while waiting to enlist. The judge calls his bluff and forces him to sign up. Pope makes friends with the easy going but loyal Pedlar Pascoe, who happily goes along with all of his scams in an effort to avoid the front lines and make a bit on the side. However, his scams cause trouble where he goes and there are only so many places he can go before France beckons.

I watched this film recently in a sort of tribute to it's main star Alfred Lynch, who sadly died over the Christmas holiday 2003. I had never seen this film of his before and didn't even know when it was made. The reason I mention that is because this film feels like one of those Norman Wisdom films where the English cheeky chappy unwittingly does heroics in the war, all with a `blimey gov'ner' and so on. Instead this was made in the 1960's, although I can't think why. The basic plot sets up a series of little amusing scams before the sudden heroics that we all know will come sooner or later. While it is rarely hilarious, it is amusing at turns and is worth watching as long as you don't expect too much of it.

Lynch plays a character that wouldn't have really worked in the 1940's as, regardless of his later heroics, he is really far too cowardly and weasely to be a wartime hero - but 15 years later it can be overlooked. He does OK and is a standard cockney type - although it is strange seeing him taking the lead role over Connery. Connery was only a year away from being the legend he now is with Bond and plays totally against what would now be considered type. He is a little bit simple but good hearted; while the role is hard to swallow now, he does play it well. The support cast is surprisingly deep considering the material; Parker, Le Mesurier, Owen and Windsor are among the famous faces.

Overall this is an enjoyable film that is never hilarious but has the amusing, music hall air of a propaganda movie from 15 years older. I wonder how this film was received as it must have seemed outdated even the day it was released - watching it now is probably better cause it is just an `old' film. It's not great but the cast is famous and the comedy is gentle and old fashioned - an average film but still worth seeing.

You could never have made a service comedy like On The Fiddle during the World War II years in the United Kingdom. When the UK was fighting for its very life with Hitler only hours away by air, a film with the central character of a conman slacker like Alfred Lynch would have gone over like a lead dirigible. You could do it the USA with us thousands of miles away, but not then in the UK.

Lynch is a fabulous character though, a cockney conman who gets pinched peddling his wares at a recruitment station line and then has to enlist to prove those were his intentions being there. But once in the service he sees Ferengi like lucrative opportunities to make business killings.

His best friend turns out to be an amiable and diffident Sean Connery who just cheerfully accepts life as it comes. He and Lynch become quite a team in their business enterprises and in their skillful avoidance of where the fighting is until almost the end of the war.

The film also has in it the presence of American comedian Alan King of our Army Airs Corps who is as skilled an operator for the Yanks as Lynch and Connery are for their king and country. King was a rising star at the time, Ed Sullivan always had him on his variety show several times a year and no doubt his presence helped sell the film on this side of the pond.

Two great British character actors are here as well. Cecil Parker playing a most pompous air marshal who just can't quite put these guys out of business. Their enterprises do come to his attention. And Stanley Holloway plays a butcher with whom they go into profit selling black market beef from the RAF Commissary. And to hear them tell it, Lynch and Connery are doing a patriotic service as well as making a few bucks on the side.

It's been said that Sean Connery shows no gift for comedy. If you saw A Fine Madness you might have some grounds for saying that, but in On The Fiddle, he's quite droll in some of the lines he drops. Anyway his fans will not be disappointed.

A film that hasn't "dated", a good script and full of all the reliable British actors of the time. Alfred Lynch is superb as the main RAF "spiv" charachter supported by a subdued Sean Connery. The US comparisons with Sgt Bilko are very valid and in the same way that Bilko had the strength in some brilliant minor cast members, so it is with "On the Fiddle". A really good "watch" for Sunday afternoon TV and although there are a few touches of "farce" around it captures the feeling of ordinary Service life towards the end of World War II extremely accurately. Alfred Lynch was a real class British actor who drew brilliantly on his East End background for many of his films. I was sad to hear of his untimely death just before Christmas (2003).

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.

"On the Fiddle" is a good enough film for those who have an hour and a half to spare. Sean Connery was just 1 year away from becoming one of the biggest stars of our time when he made this war comedy/drama. Apparently, it was "On the Fiddle" that led to his being considered for James Bond. Alfred Lynch - largely forgotten today - takes the lead as a fast thinking lovable rogue who knows every dodge there is. Sean Connery is cast as Lynch's slightly dimwitted but loyal friend as they both share various experiences during the second world war. The tone is kept quite lighthearted until about the last 20 minutes of the film. Then both characters are confronted by how truly horrific war is. This film disappeared from everyone's radar apart from rare television broadcasts. The pace is pretty good and the film is a lively one. The joint leads work well together and they carry the film most effectively. All kinds of familiar actors crop up along the way: Stanley Holloway, Kathleen Harrison, Kenneth J. Warren, Hugh Lloyd (of Tony Hancock fame) and others. Alfred Lynch is given the chance to display a more tragic side to his character and it shows there is more to his character than just being a cockney spiv. This is worth a look.