Sadly Over-hyped

just watch it!

Excellent, smart action film.

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

Copyright 1958 by J. Arthur Rank Film Productions, Limited. U.S. release through Lopert Pictures. No New York opening. U.K. release through Rank Film Distributors: 4 January 1959. Australian release through British Empire Films: July/November 1961. 7,996 feet. 89 minutes.COMMENT: A feast for Norman Wisdom fans - though Honor Blackman's admirers are liable to feel a bit cheated, as she has little to do, alas, and is even somewhat colorless (despite a lift from Jack's Cox's lighting photography which is noticeably less flat when she is around). The script is a bit more ingenious than the usual slight but slapstick Wisdom vehicle and allows our star to be a bit more adventurous and exciting than his usual callow self. Actually, Wisdom has two roles, one comedy, one straight, but he plays the comedy part straighter than his norm, and the straighter part with more than a touch of satire. It all jibes rather well. A script with more bite allows the support players more opportunities too. Edward Chapman, Campbell Singer and Hattie Jacques are particularly personable. Some unintentional humor, however, is provided by Brian Worth who is here forced to adopt a French accent.Wisdom's double role scenes are neatly timed (the special effects are okay too). Carstairs is not one of my favorite directors. His timing and pacing always seem too heavy-handed and over-emphatic. Although his direction does show more dash and flair here, the timing in general still has a blunt edge and is not as smooth and snappy as audiences have a right to expect. All the same, the film looks good, thanks to solid production values.Once we get away from the atrocious title tune, the film improves dramatically - or rather comically - with Wisdom and Chapman as a pair of cheekily omniscient, self-important bureaucrats attempting to impose their bloated authoritarianism on the army. The military brass get their revenge by drafting the two. Norman is smitten by a pretty parachutist, then he and Ed are inadvertently dropped into German-occupied France. And this is where the fun really starts

THE SQUARE PEG is a Norman Wisdom vehicle that sees him once more playing the part of Norman Pitkin, employee of gruff Yorkshireman Mr Grimsdale (Edward Chapman). The film is set during WW2 and sees the hapless pair become involved with a local army base, eventually finding themselves in occupied France of all places.This is the first Norman Wisdom film I've watched. I was inspired to watch it after getting into the CARRY ON films made during the same era. Like those, it has dated quite a lot since it first came out, with the comic hijinks feeling very genteel in the modern era of gross-out comedy. Although I found few laugh-out-loud moments, much of the film is gently amusing.Wisdom and Chapman share an excellent rapport and their scenes together are obvious highlights within the movie, although an elaborate, late-on sequence involving Pitkin, his doppelganger and a German opera singer (the delightful Hattie Jacques) marks the film's highlight. Until then there's plenty of mugging, slapstick and jokes at the expense of stiff-upper-lipped army superiors (including BERGERAC's Terence Alexander). Honor Blackman shows up as a memorably feisty female agent. I didn't find it quite as funny as I'd hoped, but I'm inspired to check out more of Wisdom's work.

this film is great, i loved it so much, laughs, good story, it follows the life of simple man Norman Pitkin working as a road mender when he and his boss shall we say Mr Grimsdale are tricked to join the army during WWII!!!During there time in the Army they are put in various training regimes (with hilarious results, standard for a Norman Wisdom film)Then Pitkin and Mr Grimsdale are sent on a mission, but get on the wrong truck and are sent to France where the German leader (also played by Norman would you believe!) has kidnapped many innocent people and have them locked away securely!After impersonation the German leader and freeing the prisoners, he breaks into the Germans House, by digging a hole under the wall, and covering with leaves to avoid any trouble, Norman gets captured (while his partners escape) and is put to gun point, lucking the German leader tells Norman to take two steps forward because his walls had just been whitewashed and just by luck, Norman falls through the hole he dug earlier and escapes.For his bravery, Norman was offered the highest award available, becoming the mayor!All in all i really enjoyed this film and recommend to it to anyone!

When Council employees make live hard for the soldiers on a local military base, the army drafts them to treat them badly. However Mr Grimsdale and Pitkin accidentally get on the wrong truck and are parachuted behind enemy lines. When Mr Grimsdale is captured by the Nazi's the resistance decide to use Pitkin's uncanny resemblance to Nazi General Schreiber to effect a rescue.In stead of Norman Wisdom's usual plot of `working class lad showing up the rich', we have `working class lad showing up the military and the Nazis'. Here the plot allows several funny set ups before eventually falling back on the old `lookalike' chestnut. However it's still quite funny – it's not Wisdom's best, but it has it's moments and happily there is very little of his usual `dreaming of unattainable girl' stuff that he usually does.The cast is better than usual. Wisdom still has his innocent `salt of the earth' thing going on and is funny and charming. Chapman fits well with him as Grimsdale, although the two have had better films together. A very young Honor Blackman (her voice hasn't changed a bit!) is good if fleeting and even Hattie Jacques turns up. The army officers are filled out with familiar faces and everyone tries hard.Overall this isn't Wisdom's best – but the working class Council worker triumphs over the Germans and upperclasses as a whole – who can't get some enjoyment out of that?!