There Was a Crooked Man

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 ****

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.

What a surprise to find this film available from Network on Air via Amazon. Norman plays a much calmer role than his usual Gimp character, and so shows a completely different side to his acting. and I must say what a wonderful script for this film as it was a joy from start to finish with some real twist and turns, Wisdom still had the chance to do some of his slap stick which he seemed to do the stunts himself. Picture quality of the new DVD was a mostly very good and was in full widescreen, although I would also love to see this released on Blu-ray as it must be one of Normans greatest achievements, I worked with the great man on a charity film "Cosmic Brain suckers" and had the chance to spend many hours chatting to him over the shoot, I found him to be a most charming man with immense talent but also for his ability to play many musical instruments and through one of his later TV performances in Going Gently about a man dying of cancer. a great and powerful performance in a strait acting role. Thanks so much Network for releasing this great film so we can all enjoy it after not being seen for more than 50 years.

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

You might have thought that every single film Norman Wisdom ever made had been on TV at least twenty times in the past five years. But this - his personal favourite - has been unseen on British television for over half a century (although it is thankfully now available on YouTube and DVD).

Chafing at the restrictions imposed by Rank, Wisdom made two independent productions (the second being a version of Wodehouses's 'The Girl on the Boat') described by Robert Murphy as "refreshingly unusual" released through United Artists for a company that promptly went bust (the former having already been swiftly withdrawn from cinemas following protests from the Americans at the way they were caricatured in it); leaving them in a rights limbo that has kept both off television for a generation while his Rank productions are on all the time.

Based on James Bridie's 1949 play 'The Golden Legend of Shults', directed largely on location at Darwen in Lancashire serving as mill town Sleeth-on-Sea by theatre director Stuart Burge; further enhanced by terrific photography by Arthur Ibbetson fresh from 'The League of Gentlemen' and slick editing by future James Bond director James Hunt it all builds to a memorably explosive conclusion.

An excellent supporting cast (with venal authority embodied by Andrew Cruickshank rather than Jerry Desmonde) includes blonde bad girl Jean Clarke, little seen thereafter, and - in only her second film - an appealing young brunette named Susannah York, much seen thereafter.