There Was a Crooked Man

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

Despite this not being seen since it's general release, i was lucky enough to see this classic comedy. This really stretches Normans talents to the full, This really deserves a DVD release of some sort cause it's probably lost or forgotten, someone needs to save this film!!!!!! There are however some fine performances from certain other actors, but norman steals the limelight, accidentally getting in trouble for robbing a safe, it's probably his best work in a movie, other wisdom films at the time were "the bulldog breed" and "on the beat" both classics by far, but this one glimmers alone on a shelve in an achieve somewhere waiting to be cleaned up for our general viewing.

This long lost classic is out there somewhere. During the last Christmas break I joined a group of people in our local pub to watch Norman Wisdom in The Bulldog Breed on someone's laptop. It was from one of those streaming sites. At the end of the film someone mentioned TWACM and this chap brought it up on his screen. I sat and watched it right through - full titles, music, credits etc. Therefore if it is available to screen on the internet then surely it must be available to buy on DVD? I have tried to find a copy without luck, however, on the Darwen, Lancashire web site there is mention of this film being screened recently in the town hall in celebration of films made in Darwen - Brief Encounter etc. Apparently the town hall scenes in TWACM were filmed there.

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 ****

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.