What's Good for the Goose

I remember when I first saw this movie, back in 1969, I didn't like it because I was "old school" Norman Wisdom. I still am, I prefer his silly lovable fool character in his older movies. However having seen this all over again, first time in 35 years, it was pretty entertaining, not overly funny but enough to pass 100 minutes or so. Norman plays it almost straight, there are a few touches of his silliness, but not overly slapstick. Sally Geeson, I was in love with her then, and she still has spark. Pity she retired from acting after Carry On Girls (1972), to become a school teacher, lucky kids! It does manage to give a great feel for the sixties, very psychedelic, and great music by the Pretty Things, Norman even sings the title song himself. Sally looks great in the "skinny dipping" scene, but I could've done with seeing one of my fav comedians (Wisdom)naked! Anyway, worth a few laughs, especially Norman's battle of wits with Desk Clerk, David Lodge.

This film is a great period piece but with a midlife crisis theme still relevant today. Released in 1969, in the period when the new 'permissive society' became relevant and news worthy, an assistant bank manager makes a fool of him self at a banker's conference in Southport as he falls in love with a teenage girl hitch hiker. It has aged much better then the traditional Norman Wisdom gimp movie, although it still has many of the Norman hallmarks - he takes credit for the script and is associate producer. There are parts which can make me cringe but only because, as a bloke in his fifties, I see painful reflections of my own behaviour. Sally Geeson is, as ever, a delightful presence. She quit acting much too soon! Not a truly great picture but sympathetic and, with a great supporting cast of British stalwarts and some good laughs, vastly better than many reviewers would have you believe.

Sod yer Jodorowsky's or David Lynch's – is this not the strangest movie ever made? Actually, the Jerry Lewis comedy Slapstick of Another Kind probably takes that honour – but this comes close.

From purveyor of violent kitsch Menahem Golan, this sees mild-mannered banker Timothy Bartlett (Wisdom, in his final film) getting turned on by the flower power generation, including a scrumptious Sally Geeson, down at the 'Screaming Apple' Discotheque and having it off with them to a grooveadelic soundtrack by The Pretty Things.

Unlike the reactionary Carry Ons there's not a euphemism in sight: here it's all, "Do you want to have sex?", though at the same time this utterly encapsulates the British reality of sex in a Rita and Sue kinda way: however day-glo the trousers, or far-out the argot, the end result still spells a good-old bunk-up with giggling and Y-fronts in a Southport hotel room.

Fascinating in all sorts of ways; and ultimately, surprisingly smart and touching, too.

Hopefully I can get the attention of another fan of the film, although looking at all the negative reviews of it I somehow doubt it possible. Anyway, here goes. Is it me or is the bedroom scene with Sally G cut when compared to the version Channel 5 shown, late at night, sadly over 20 years ago????? As a teenager I remember being shocked by her going topless in bed with old Norman but that segment isn't on the DVD or any of the vids. If someone can clarify this I'd be most grateful!(surprised nobody else has noticed this). I do like the film and I am a big fan of Norman (Seen him Live twice), but I think the reason it works for me is that I don't expect him to be Pitkin.I really do see him as a different character here, unlike most of his other more popular films. Reading between the lines, most of the 'reviewers'(Who slate the film) seem to want him to be like his stereo-typical clumsy little fool.Wasn't he allowed to break out of that millstone for just one film?????????? Where the film probably winds people up is when Norman slips in little bits of Pitkin into the Mr Bartlett character; this is confusing some disappointed fans who expect the rest of the usual package and get a Peter Stringfellow mix.

It's unfortunate this film has taken as much criticism as it has. I understand why it has -- anyone expecting a 50s Wisdom farce will not find what they're seeking. It is by no means the funniest film he made.

But its charm isn't in the funny bits. Understood as a poignant, even sad, tale of a middle-aged banker desperate to be young again, it comes off surprisingly well. Nikki (Sally Geeson) is as dangerous as she is delicious, and the audience (at least the men in the audience) are likely to fall for her right along with Norm.

Judge this film on its own terms and understand it's an atypical Wisdom film. Look for the sadness, not the laughs, and you'll find there's more there than you thought.