Filme de cinemateca: Norman Wisdom - Square Peg (1959, John Paddy Carstairs)

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The Square Peg

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The Square Peg
Directed by	John Paddy Carstairs
Produced by	Hugh Stewart
Written by	Jack Davies Henry Blyth Norman Wisdom Eddie Leslie
Starring	Norman Wisdom Honor Blackman Edward Chapman Campbell Singer
Music by	Philip Green
Cinematography	Jack E. Cox
Edited by	Roger Cherrill
Production company	The Rank Organisation
Distributed by	Rank Film Distributors
Release date	4 January 1959
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

The Square Peg is a 1959 British war comedy film starring Norman Wisdomand directed by John Paddy Carstairs.^[1] Norman Wisdom plays two different characters: a man who digs and repairs roads, and a Nazi general.

Plot

During the Second World War, Norman Pitkin, a roadmender with the St Godric's Borough Council, enjoys annoying the soldiers of the nearby British Army camp, even a general. Despite the efforts of his boss, Borough Engineer Mr Grimsdale, Colonel Layton (the camp commander) has both of them called up for service in the Pioneer Corps to exact retribution. They begin training at the same camp under the supervision of one of Pitkin's former victims, Sergeant Loder. The only bright spot for Pitkin is falling in love at first sight with the beautiful ATS officer Lesley Cartland, who is preparing to go behind enemy lines in Nazi-occupied France.

Pipkin and Grimsdale board the wrong lorry and end up parachuting into France, where they are put to work on road repairs. They inadvertently advance four miles into enemy territory, and Grimsdale is captured and taken to local headquarters in a chateau. Meanwhile, Pitkin (out of uniform) goes to the nearby town of Fleury to purchase sugar and eggs, but does not notice German soldiers standing to attention and saluting him. It transpires that he is looks exactly like the ruthless local commander, General Otto Schreiber. In a cafe, he recognises the waitress as Lesley Cartland. She is working with the local resistance group, but Pitkin inadvertently blows her cover and she is arrested, along with the cafe owner.

Pitkin and Henri Le Blanc, the local resistance leader, break into the chateau through a tunnel that Pitkin digs to try to rescue them, but Henri is himself captured. Pitkin, unaware of this, climbs into Schreiber's suite. When Gretchen, the general's girlfriend (an opera singer of Wagnerian proportions), arrives, Schreiber leaves strict orders not to be disturbed, no matter what. In the next room, Pitkin dresses in one of Schreiber's uniforms and awaits his chance. He watches through a keyhole as the couple dine, then unexpectedly sing a duet. When Schreiber leaves the room to attend to his throat, Pipkin is mistaken for him by Gretchen and has to attempt to sing Schubert lieder with her. Luckily, Schreiber has locked himself in the bathroom. Eventually he gets out, but after some further hijinks, including a rendition of the Marx Brothers' mirror routine from Duck Soup, Pipkin knocks Schreiber out (Gretchen having fainted after seeing two Schreibers). By pretending to be Schreiber, Pitkin manages to free the prisoners. They escape, but Pitkin is caught and sentenced to be shot at dawn. As the execution is about to be carried out, he inadvertently falls into the camouflaged tunnel he dug and escapes.

After the war ends, Grismdale is still Borough Engineer, but Pitkin is now the mayor.

Cast

• Norman Wisdom as Norman Pitkin/General Schreiber
• Honor Blackman as Lesley Cartland
• Edward Chapman as Mr. Grimsdale
• Campbell Singer as Sergeant Loder
• Hattie Jacques as Gretchen
• Brian Worth as Henri Le Blanc
• Terence Alexander as Captain Wharton
• John Warwick as Colonel Layton
• Arnold Bell as General Hunt
• André Maranne as Jean-Claude
• Victor Beaumont as Jogenkraut
• Frank Williams as Captain Ford
• Eddie Leslie as Medical Officer

Reception

The popularity of Norman Wisdom fans had been in decline through the 1950s but The Square Peg halted the trend.^[2] The film was the 7th most popular movie at the British box office in 1959.^[3]

References

1. Jump up^ "The Square Peg (1959)". British Film Institute.
2. Jump up^ British Cinema of the 1950s: The Decline of Deference by Sue Harper, Vincent Porter Oxford University Press, 2003 p 50
3. Jump up^ "Year Of Profitable British Films." Times [London, England] 1 Jan. 1960: 13. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 11 July 2012.

External links

• The Square Peg at the Internet Movie Database
• The Square Peg at BFI Screenonline