The Sandwich Man

This is quite a strange and eccentric movie and parts of it will look very strange to modern audiences.

In particular, the racial stereotyping which nowadays will be regarded by many as 'politically incorrect' to say the least.

The humour is rather zany but you need to remember that Michael Bentine was a member of the Goons: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0298349/ which itself was rather surreal.

I think that this is a gem of English cinema.

It contains lots of old English character actors, most of whom are, sadly, no longer with us.

Most of the performances are of the 'cameo' type, lasting only a few minutes.

It is set in the Swinging Sixties and shows London at the time. Because London was like that (although not as eccentric!).

Many people nowadays will consider the movie to be 'lame' but it is enjoyable for those with an interest in social history and the actors of the time.

I was surprised that I had never seen this film before. I particularly enjoy films of the period, perhaps in part for the nostalgia of seeing the world that I was born into. This captures the period very well, appearing to have been filmed entirely on location.

The story is a little dull and not particularly funny, but does contain some interesting cameos. In the opening minutes, a collection of racial minority characters are introduced but thankfully it doesn't stray into the politically incorrect stereotypes much of 60s and 70s film and television did, and ends up being an early introduction to multicultural Britain

I would highly recommend this film to anyone interested in seeing a nicely shot, high quality representation of 60s London, but as a comedy, it's average and it's not particularly entertaining.

If one was reviewing The Sandwich Man by the head alone and not the heart, then 5/10, possibly even 4/10 might be in order, here.

Being mid 40's, I can just recall Michael Bentine on TV when I was very young. These must have been repeats of his BBC shows 'It's a Square World' and whilst he appeared funny and weird, the material was, obviously, above me.

Now, on UK Gold, comes 1966's The Sandwich Man. As others have said, it's a time capsule of swinging London and its rainbow of colourful characters. From Dora Bryan to a real who's-who of every comic actor that even I'd heard of and have enjoyed and been brought up with. They're like an extended family!

Though many hang their heads in shame these days, the playful way that white actors played ethnics is a part of the package and it was FAR more innocent and affectionate than most folk ever realise. It's actually part of our television and film heritage, so enjoy and accept it for what it was THEN.

As my subject line says, the script definitely takes second fiddle, to the point where I wonder if there actually was one, or at least stuck to! And, the gags now have been so overdone and are so familiar through countless Carry On's and similar comic vehicles, that, really, they barely raise a titter these days. However, the idea of Bentine wearing a sandwich board and going round the locations, catching up with his friends is a good one and I have to admit, the Park scenes, toward the end, with the escaped sit-on mower was actually really funny and his final 'escape' will surprise you - it did me!

Still, I had fun watching it, looking out for the stars of yesterday and comparing a largely lost London with our society today.

I enjoyed this film very much - in a simple-minded sort of way. It's a very strange mixture of different types of comedy, in fact you could guess that the "script", such as it is, was written to fit whichever film and TV actors Micheal Bentine could persuade to do turns for him.

There are some longeurs, especially a sequence about a heavy-handed motorcycle cop, but never mind because a few minutes later another famous face pops up to amuse us. My favourite characters were the Sikh jazz musicians ("De Sihkers" - groan !) and Norman Wisdom's Irish priest, who tries to instruct a group of boys about gymnastics. Half the fun is in realising that in today's politically correct world, characters like these would never reach the screen - more's the pity. Incidentally, I can imagine Spike Milligan coming up with both the above stereotypes, so maybe the falling out between him and Bentine was more to do with personalities than material.

This film seems to have been made entirely on location around London (and I spotted Tolworth Tower in the escapologist sequence, which is near where I grew up), and you can tell it was made in a great hurry with very little money.

But who was the intended audience? Surely in 1966, at a time when adult cinema-goers were getting used to more sophisticated and subversive films, this one couldn't have held much appeal. In fact its resemblance to the Children's Film Foundation shorts (also funded by the Rank organisation) makes me think that this was intended to be shown at "Saturday morning picture shows" for kids. There is nothing here that a child couldn't understand (though I'm not so sure about the comment,"He's buying me a black jacket, not a red one ! He's kinky, not a communist!"). And what on earth are those wrestlers at the very end all about ???

This film is now available on DVD, curiously in 4:3 picture ratio - is this the only print available ? and it's 90 minutes of innocent fun. If you're still not sure what sort of comedy it is, think:

The Beatles' film "Help". The TV silent classic "The Plank". "Some mothers do 'ave 'em"

Recommended

Worth a six just to see London how it was in the 1960's... So many National Treasures in one film... Sadly most of them are long gone... Think Bernard Cribbins is the only one left in 2022... Quirky and worth a watch on a miserable winter afternoon...