Press for Time

To clarify matters a bit. It is only these comments entries on IMDb that have to be a minimum of ten lines. If you add some info on the other topics, such as goofs, it is handled in a different way.

This is my favourite Norman Wisdom film, simply because of the location shoots. And I really like the music too ! Well, I am getting a bit old now. Watched a TV programme last night about the man himself and sadly he is showing the signs of his great age. But he has the most wonderful family and is now happy being looked after in a carehome on his beloved Isle of Man.

Now I got to waffle a bit to make up the entry to enough lines.

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The best analogy for American audiences for a Norman Wisdom film is Jerry Lewis. Like Mr. Lewis, Mr. Wisdom, at least in the films I've seen, have him playing bumbling, fish out of water, slightly dim characters. This film is no exception, as he plays Norman Shields, the grandson of the Prime Minister (also played by Wisdom), who gets sent to provincial seaside town Tinmouth in England to become a reporter. Things happen, mostly slapstick type mishaps, all because of him. There is political commentary here which is lost on me, bit it hardly matters. Its a silly comedy, but its a Norman wisdom comedy, so its hard to take seriously. For the uninitiated, try "Just My Luck" or "Trouble In Store" first. For those who know of Norman, add a notch to my vote and enjoy.

Norman Wisdom comedies aren't to everyone's taste. Sometimes his slapstick can be childish and he can overdo the pathos of his 'little man' routine. Nevertheless this - the last major film Wisdom made in his traditional manner - is one of his best.

The comedy is well-paced and Wisdom's character is rather more mature than usual, capable of using some initiative rather than simply being a clumsy fool. The photography of the attractive seaside locations is excellent. Perhaps another reason I find this film particularly likeable is that it reminds me of the seaside town I grew up in at about the same time, the petty-politics and small-town journalism especially.

This is a pleasing comedy from a simpler, gentler age.

This is the last film in Carlton's 12-Disc "The Norman Wisdom Collection" (and his last official starring vehicle), also made in color and featuring the star in no less than three roles - a young ne'er-do-well, his ex-suffragette mother and the spastic British Prime Minister (who'd rather not get involved with his lowly relatives). It's not bad and the star - who's beginning to show his age - is in good form, with the best scenes being his disruption of a Council meeting and the sustained set-piece in which he contrives to destroy the stage during the inauguration of a new housing block (followed shortly by the edifice itself). Bafflingly, the only film of Wisdom's not to have made it to DVD as yet is the well-regarded caper THERE WAS A CROOKED MAN (1960) as, in fact, even the atypical THE GIRL ON THE BOAT (1962) has been given a budget release!

In any case, PRESS FOR TIME is also notable for the presence of Stanley Unwin (as the Town Clerk), an eccentric British comic best-known today perhaps for providing the "gibberish" narration to The Small Faces' song suite on Side Two of their classic psychedelic album, "Ogden's Nut Gone Flake" (1968). The film's lively score, then, was the first for the cinema by ex-Manfred Mann band member, Mike Vickers, who would go on to score a number of rather dismal British fantasy flicks. Curiously enough, PRESS FOR TIME was produced by Robert Hartford-Davis and Peter Newbrook (serving also as cinematographer) who are best-known as directors for their own dabblings in the Horror genre like THE FIEND (1971) and THE ASPHYX (1973) respectively!

Norman Wisdom plays three roles in "Press for Time," although two are very brief. He sells newspapers and is the grandson of the prime minister of England. His mom and granddad (in his other roles) want Norman Shields to do better. So, granddad leans on a political crony to get him a job on a newspaper the crony owns. It's located in Tinmouth (actual Teignmouth), along the English Coast.

Others have noted that in this late film in Wisdom's career, his character seems to have lost its innocence. He still has crazy antics, but they are missing the playfulness and humor of his earlier escapades. His humor with the mix of local politics doesn't come off as funny. But, there still are some laughs in this film. Stanley Unwin as the town clerk, Mr. Nottage, is very funny in his garbled talk.

This is one of the lesser Wisdom comedy films. Die-hard fans will enjoy it. Those not familiar with Wisdom would better watch another film to appreciate Wisdom's humor and energetic talent for comedy. "On the Beat," "A Stitch in Time," or "The Bulldog Breed," are all first-rate comedies.