The Legendary Norman Wisdom (Umbrella Entertainment/PAL Region Free/Zero/0/DVD
Import Set)
Picture:
C+ (C on World)
Sound: C+ Extras: C+
Films/Concert: C+
PLEASE NOTE: This DVD set can only be operated
on machines capable of playing back DVDs that can handle Region Zero/0/Free PAL
format software and can be ordered from our friends at Umbrella Entertainment
at the website address provided at the end of the review.
Like
Benny Hill, Norman Wisdom became a famous comedian through feature films, then
later TV, but Wisdom was around longer and had a film career (much like
Cantinflas) where he starred in s series of competent, professional,
family-friendly comedies that were moderate hits and might not be as remembered
today as those of other comedians. The Legendary Norman Wisdom DVD set
from Umbrella brings together three of his films and a later stand-up concert
performance called Live On Stage
(2004/57 minutes) that is not bad on 4 DVDs.
The three
feature films include:
Trouble In Store (1953) has our hero (in his first
major starring feature film) stuck working at a department store when he has to
deal with a pesky shoplifter (Margaret Rutherford funny as ever) and wants to
be a window dresser. He falls for the
beautiful Peggy (the comically gifted Moira Lister, who once played the same
villain on The Avengers over two
seasons, which was very rare for that show) and shopping may never be the same
again. A situation comedy, everyone is
keyed up for comedy and Derek Bond (Callan)
also stars.
Up In The World (1956) has Wisdom as a window
cleaner at a big, expensive estate, but proper behavior is about to go out the
window as the son of the family keeps playing jokes, until he is
kidnapped! Norman intends to find him and be a
hero. Lionel Jeffreys also stars.
John
Paddy Carstairs (The Saint In London,
The Saint with Roger Moore, The Sentimental Agent) directed the
above two films, while Robert Asher (The
Avengers, The Prisoner, The Baron, The Saint with Roger Moore) directed…
On The Beat (1962) has Norman as a goof who wants to be like his
father, a policeman, but he becomes a gangster instead in between washing
police cars. This easily has the best
cast of the three including Eric Barker, Ronnie Stevens, Terence Alexander,
Maurice Kaufmann, Lionel Murton, Eleanor Summerfield, Robert Rietty, Alfred
Burke, David Lodge, Campbell Singer, Jack Watson and Monte Landis among
others. Look for the funny (an
uncredited) Valerie Van Ost (Count
Dracula & His Vampire Brides, Space:
1999, The Avengers) as a woman
at the hairdressers.
The 1.33
X 1 image on all three films (letterboxed 1.85 on World) were shot in black and white 35mm film and look pretty good for
their age with good Video Black and decent detail and for the record, the
Director of Photography chores on each film were done by Ernest Stewart, Jack
E. Cox and Geoffrey Faithfull respectively, while the Live On Stage tape has some good color, but can be soft and has flaws
including staircasing, aliasing, some video noise, video banding, some tape
scratching, tape damage and even PAL cross color. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono on all also show
their age, but play well here, though World
has the most noise. Extras include
feature length audio commentary tracks with Wisdom and Robert Ross on Store and Beat, text on the films and original theatrical trailers on all
three films.
As noted
above, you can order this PAL DVD import set exclusively from Umbrella at:
http://www.umbrellaent.com.au/
-
Nicholas Sheffo
