There Was a Crooked Man

I have been a Norman Wisdom film since my pre teen days, when they showed them every tuesday night on TV. I couldnt get enough of his films, so funny, such a great snapshot of england in the 50's. As with all great artists, he made the occasional questionable film, notably "the girl on the boat", and fans are divided by "Whats good for the goose", but he made a lot of other great films, too many list here. I thought I had seen them all, til i learned about this film a few years ago, and how it was only shown for a few days, then pulled, as the film company didnt have the rights to the film. What a frustration, a film by one of my all time comic heroes, was there in the vaults and it couldnt be seen. I since learned it had been shown on TV twice in the 60's, so chances are I had actually seen it at the time, but i would only been about five and wouldnt remember it.

And then the unbeleivable happened, they were going to release it on DVD. Oh happy day!!!

Here comes the serious bit, it was supposed to be digitally restored, but the it still looked like an old print, even though technically the prints wouldnt have been shown that much, so most of the original copies should have been pristine.

Down to the film itself, Norman doesnt play his usual "gump", but he doesnt play it straight either. What you get is Norman trying to move onto to something better, and develop his gump character, but it wasnt the crowd pleaser, and it didnt sell well at the time. Was this the reason why it was originally pulled? The sleeve note seem to indicate this, but why has it gone unseen for 50 years? My two cents goes with the original copyright holder passing on, and that meant it could be shown again. Maybe we will never know, but at least its out there.

Down to the nitty gritty, was it worth the wait? The film has an odd story line, and takes some beleiving, but there are funny moments, and its worth watching, but time hasnt done it any favours, and maybe people nit pick about things more nowadays, something that brings to light the films shortcomings. Now dont get me wrong, i will be watching this again, and again and again and again. Its a long lost film that i should have seen a million times since the early 70's, and i think it will get better each time i see it.

Imagine there was a long lost episode of star trek, and it met a mixed reaction, you would be grateful to have a chance to watch, and you would watch it again and again...this is like this.

This would make great material for "Talking Pictures" TV, but its not as good as his best things like "man of the moment" , "trouble in store" or "on the beat", but better than the one with the lady on the boat.

Recommended for fans...........other people will watch it once, and then probably erase it from their set top box.

Me? I will watch it again and again.

I would have given five out five if the picture quality was pristine 35mm, but it was worth the 50 year wait in any form :)

While there are those who are left cold by Norman Wisdom, I am not one of those people. In fact, I am quite fond of him. There Was a Crooked Man is my favourite film of his, and he couldn't have been more perfect here in his role as he teams up with crooks to outwit the mayor of a northern town. His role here allows him to maintain his poor but honest persona and his wide eyed innocence that makes him so endearing to me, but it is probably the most versatile of his roles as well. There Was a Crooked Man benefits further from striking filming, quirky music, fun direction and sparkling dialogue. In terms of performances, Wisdom makes the film for me, but he has some excellent foils also in the form of Alfred Marks and Andrew Cruishank. Then there is the comedy, There Was a Crooked Man in my opinion contains some of the best things Wisdom ever did. The bank robbery, the battle with the factory machinery and Brian Oulton taking a shower unaware that Wisdom is in the stall with him particularly stand out. In conclusion, a divine comedy and my favourite of a talented performer. 10/10 Bethany Cox

Screenwriters David Newman and Robert Benton, then-hot off their success with "Bonnie and Clyde", penned this story of a bandit in 1880s Arizona who is given 10 years in a desert prison after robbing $500K from the home of a rancher (the crooked man gets caught when he and the rancher visit the same brothel on the same night). Also incarcerated: an infamous train robber; a drunk who took a shot at the sheriff, plus a couple of inept con-artists and a young man who accidentally killed his date's father with a billiard ball. Although the film never rises above the level of inconsequential fare, there are a lot of talented people on-screen to watch, including Kirk Douglas, Henry Fonda, Warren Oates, Burgess Meredith, Lee Grant, Bert Freed, Jeanne Cooper (who flashes a breast or two), Pamela Hensley (who flashes a breast or two), Victor French, Alan Hale and Barbara Rhodes. Director Joseph L. Mankiewicz later complained that his 165mn final cut was drastically edited down to 126mns by Warner Bros., leaving Grant in particular with reduced screen-time. It looks good and moves fast, but there's nothing overwhelmingly memorable about the picture--it fades quickly in the memory. Trini Lopez sings the awful title song, composed by Charles Strouse and Lee Adams. **1/2 from ****

I was never a fan of Norman Wisdom. I found that the plots were very simple,unfunny,with a tendency towards mawkishness.

So I was surprised by the first hour of this film which was actually watchable,but even funny in places.

Alas after an hour it goes very much downhill. Wisdom decides he could do an American accent,for some reason. The plot changes course and becomes a bore. At one hour forty seven minutes this is about thirty minutes too long.

The supporting cast is fine. Debutant Susannah York, with a brunette hair do,shows some early promise. Reginald Beckwith was always a favourite of mine and he is always reliable.

It's a shame the writer couldn't have come up with a funnier last act.

Out of the 20 films the great Sir Norman has made this is the only one I have yet to see- but why? All film books say it is one of his best, and yet it has never been screened on TV or released on video/DVD. Come on, whoever can make it possible, show this film, or make it available for all die-hard Sir Norman fans so we can experience more of this amazing mans talents. Sir Norman is a national treasure to be cherished for all time and, having met him 6 times I can honestly say what a lovely, down to earth person he is, and I am sure he would want this one missing film of his to be available to his legion of devoted fans, so come on, someone, put right this glaring oversight.