Just My Luck

Margaret Ruthorford week on TCM! Norman ( Norm Wisdom) works in a jewelry store, but still lives with his mother. And is falling for the gal who works across the street (Jill Dixon). Norman has a plan to get rich quick, so he can buy jewelry for his lady friend. Directed by John Carstairs. The movie itself is fun, but that scene in the movie theater just goes on way too long. Were they short on story? It gets a bit three-stooges-ish. But Wisdom has been compared to charlie chaplin, so i guess the slapstick humor is to be expected. We finally meet Rutherford about an hour in... she's the eccentric owner of a racehorse, who may or may not help Norman. It's pretty good; has some similarities to the recent Just My Luck, made in 2006. Story by Peter Cusick, Al Shaughnessy. Wisdom had won a BAFTA in 1954. Rutherford had won for VIPs. Carstairs, Wisdom, and Rutherford made three films together over the years.

I first learned of Norman Wisdom -- who died last year -- a few years ago when I watched some of his movies dubbed in Russian. I could have turned the sound off and they still would have been funny as hell.

I didn't like "Just My Luck" quite as much as "Up in the World" or "A Stitch in Time", but I certainly laughed throughout it. Wisdom returns as Norman, the inept but goodhearted underdog. In this case, he works in a jewelry workshop and wants to be in a relationship with the shop window dresser across the street, and decides to give her a diamond necklace. So, he takes up gambling on horse races.

I didn't really understand any of the stuff about the races. It was just a pleasure to watch the guy get himself into a series of embarrassing situations, including one that probably gave millions of boys their first carnal experience.

Wisdom's movies are really popular in Albania. Enver Hoxha, who was president of Albania from 1945 to 1985, interpreted them as proletarian parables and so he widely distributed them throughout Albania. The Albanian people found them just plain funny. I couldn't agree with them more.

Norman works in a jewellers where he polishes, melts, delivers, run errands and generally is put upon by Mr Stoneway and his colleagues. His only real dream in live is to get to know the girl who works as a window dresser in the store opposite his work place. The best way he can think of doing this is to try and save up to buy the prettiest pendant in the shop to give to her but on his salary it will take him several hundred years to manage to get the money together – by which time it is likely that both he and the girl will both be dead. When he learns about betting and just how easy it is to win loads of money with a simple accumulator bet he decides to play the gee-gees to get the money.

Although the subject of a compulsive gambling streak is perhaps not the greatest subject for comedy but this is not the problem with this film for most viewers. Instead it will be just how basic the plot is – even by Norman Wisdom standards this is a very thin frame indeed. The gambling idea is stretched thin to provide comedic scenarios that sometimes don't even fit into the story at all without a massive cinematic shoehorn. Of course fans of Wisdom won't mind this too much as the basic aim is the usual "getting the unobtainable girl" stuff. The usual stumbling slapstick is all there and, although it has dated and is unlikely to appeal to younger viewers, is still enjoyable to fans of the period and of Wisdom. The lack of a decent plot is perhaps a bigger problem than with his better films but fans will still forgive it more or less.

The cast are a disappointment. Wisdom isn't brilliant but his usual stuff is all up there on the screen – if you like him you'll like it, if not you won't. It is the support cast where the potential is missed though, which is a shame because there are so many good faces in there. Sims has little to do and is roundly wasted. Philips may be most famous for doing the one type of role but there is a reason for that and it is notable that he plays it straight here and therefore is quite dull. Rutherford has a cameo that is amusing and overplayed but her eccentric turn is welcome to produce a bit of lively energy. Chapman is a welcome familiar face to Wisdom fans but he doesn't have much to do. Dixon is about as bland as you can get but this is no surprise considering the role she plays within the formula. Although there are a few good performances, the cast certainly do not get anywhere near what you would expect from this list of names.

Overall this is an average Wisdom film that will please his fans but even they will acknowledge that this is not one of his better films The plot is about as thin as it could have been and the comedy is really forced into it but is still quite pleasing and amusing (although rarely funny). These problems I could live with but the film's inability to use a comparatively stellar cast is a real let down.

Another solid effort from Norman Wisdom.

Norman chances on a betting scam, and since he wanted to buy a toy car for an orphan, he tried his luck to win the money from a £1 he scrounged, and guess what, he won the accumulator, the betting gang had other ideas about paying out, but a good natured secretary of theirs made sure Norman could collect his winnings.

Note Joan Sims and Cyril Chamberlain in a pre- Carry on role, and a few bit role actors

There was many moments of mirth, my wife, who had never see a Norman Wisdom film until this week, was in stitches, its worth a star just to see her laughing.

Norman is on top form with this splendid tale of the turf. Dreaming of the shop girl he sees each day, Norman borrows a pound from his Mum and backs a six horse accumulator. Against the odds, each horse keeps winning and an increasingly excited Norman dreams of riches. There are delightful cameos from Leslie Phillips and Margaret Rutherford (bathing a chimp!?) and see if you can spot the uncredited Stringer Davis. This is one of Normans best films simply because it has all of the ingredients. The scenes when he is 'drunk' on chloroform gas are priceless.