The Early Bird

'The Early Bird' just has to be THE Norman Wisdom film. From the marvellous opening sequence, to the finale, there is not a single dull moment. Of all of his films, this has to be his most popular.

Norman plays a milkman for a local town dairy, his boss is the laid-back Mr. Grimsdale, superbly played by Edward Chapman. However, a large corporate dairy starts to muscle in on their patch, and Norman is soon pitted against a sneaky and unscrupulous Austin (Bryan Pringle). The laughs are soon flowing thick and fast as war develops.

In many ways this film symbolises the changing times of the '60s when the pace of life speeded up, aptly summarised by the quote 'You can't impede the wheels of progress' from the film. As always, Norman manages to save the day, and dispense his particular brand of common sense. In this film, though, his victory is more by default than judgement.

The film contains many classic moments, the sick horse, the apples, the 'shootout', the golf, the fire, and many more.

Finally, I have often wondered if Benny Hill got his inspiration for 'Ernie' from this film?

Definitely **** out of *****

Norman Wisdom's first film in colour also marked the final appearance of Wisdom's longtime foil Jerry Desmonde and by Edward Chapman as Mr. Grimsdale.

It has moments of technical sophistication - as in the use in one sequence of split-screen - while rival milkman Bryan Pringle comes up with the highly implausible reason that thirst-crazed moggies are the ones that have been smashing his milk bottles.

Norman Pitkin works in a small, very basic dairy for Mr Grimsdale. Their quiet, horse-drawn existence is threatened by the expansion of a huge modern dairy (Consolidated Dairies) with a fleet of milkmen, some of whom are muscling in on Grimsdale's patch by breaking their bottles.. Norman sets out to ensure his dairy's survival – hilarity and much chaos ensues.

I love Norman Wisdom but this is nowhere near his best. Here the plot is actually quite good but it's only used well once or twice. Instead we have several set piece scenes which were clearly thought up before the actual plot because they are almost crowbarred into the film. For example – the whole golf scene is very thinly inserted and things like the lawnmower scene and the fire fighting scene bear little relation to the story itself.

This wouldn't be a major problem if it was very funny, however, like the scenes themselves, the comedy feels a bit forced and not natural in the way Wisdom's best routines are. The whole golf scene is forced and the lawnmower scene will have you asking why he didn't just let go of the thing. There still is plenty to enjoy – my favourite being a cowboy pastiche – but overall it is really just Pitkin falling down as much as possible with the plot forgotten.

Wisdom looks old and well fed – a strange comment perhaps, but it offsets his usual image as a working class hero. Being in full colour doesn't help but he isn't the character he was 10 years ago. Chapman is OK but his extra material and love interest make him less enjoyable as a comedy character. Desmonde is the upper class fool as always but here the comedy almost demeans his talents. The upside of the film is that there is no wasted time for Wisdom to chase a pretty young ankle – we have no love interest.

Overall this is enjoyable for die-hard fans and children. The reliance on physical humour is to the detriment of the plot and regularly feels forced and unfunny. It is sill amusing and I had a few laughs but this is many miles from Wisdom at his peak.

Milkman Pitkin (Wisdom) and his employer, Mr Grimsdale (Chapman), pit their small, archaic dairy against a conglomerate, hell bent on taking their business by fair means or foul.

This film is largely innocent and boisterous fun, slapstick and so forth. Even in its day it was hardly considered cutting edge, so it may be of limited appeal to folk who know not of Norman Wisdom and his earlier outings. This is the first Norman Wisdom film in colour and the last to feature regulars Wisdom, Chapman and Desmonde together.

Wisdom we expect to fall about, but others didn't have it easy either; Desmonde passed away two years after this film was made and was in his late fifties (and possibly in poor health) during shooting; he must have been game though; he variously gets sprayed with foam, falls out of a building, drenched with a fire hose, dragged by a runaway lawnmower and hangs from a tree, all whilst doing his trademark 'outraged patrician type' act. Good stuff. Supporting roles from John Le Mesurier, Richard Vernon, Frank Thornton, Peter Jeffrey, and Brian Pringle (as Machiavellian milkman Austin) are well done. Honourable mention goes to Nellie the horse too.

Some of the scenes in this film are quite memorable; the horse tranquilliser's effects on Pitkin and Grimsdale are a nod to the upcoming era of psychedelia.

Yes this is mostly hackneyed, old fashioned, and so forth, but that was really the point; open up a Norman Wisdom film and inside you will find mostly harmless fun, occasionally with a little pathos thrown in. This is a pretty fair example of a Norman Wisdom film; simply being in colour means it is more likely to get watched by some modern audiences.

I would thoroughly disagree with any negative review for this film ! A Technicolour '60's masterpiece of the British film comedy genre. Just lighten up and suspend your cynicism (a must for most of Norman Wisdom's films), and enjoy the "Crackerjack" style slapstick. Jerry Desmonde is just perfect as the hard nosed multinational windbag boss, Bryan Pringle is the ultimate uber-villain Milkman, and the scenes with the drug-filled Apple are mind-alteringly wonderful. If only for the golfing scenes with the sublime John Le Mesurier, and obvious matte shots of the dairy, this an innocent treasure. C'mon you hard bitten folks, this is Perfect Sunday afternoon fayre to watch in your armchair as you let your Sunday dinner go down !