Norman Wisdom - William Tell Overture

One Good Turn (1955).
Watch in HQ Stereo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0OoYztjsXk&feature=channel_page&fmt=18
Norman Wisdom (1915-2010) b. London, England.
Wisdom's mother left home when he was nine, and he and his brother were left in the charge of a father. Wisdom ran away from home when he was 11, but returned to become an errand boy with a grocery store on leaving school at 13. Later he was a coal-miner, a waiter, a pageboy and a cabin-boy, before joining the army and seeing service in India. Leaving in 1946, he made his debut as an entertainer at the advanced age of 31 - but his rise to the top was phenomenally fast after that. A West End star within two years, he made his TV debut the same year and was soon commanding enormous audiences. By this time, he had adopted the suit that would remain his trademark - tweed cap askew with peak turned up, too-tight jacket, barely-better trousers, crumpled collar and tie awry.

Encouraged by the viewing figures, Rank signed him up and set him loose in a department store in Trouble in Store in 1953. They hedged their bets by throwing in Wisdom's regular stooge, the supercilious Jerry Desmonde, the incomparable Margaret Rutherford as a shoplifter, and a pretty leading lady in Lana Morris. Rank clearly had a goldmine on its hands. Thereafter Wisdom was able to turn out comedies at the rate of one a year. Most are fairly painful now, but some show commendable originality, notably Man of the Moment and, later, On the Beat and A Stitch in Time. Wisdom clung to black and white film as long as he dared, and the eventual switch to colour in 1965 only proved how right he'd been. It robbed his comedy of some of its simplicity and, battling against poor scripts, Wisdom was out of films by the end of the decade.

Category:

Comedy

Tags:

• William Tell Overture
• One Good Turn
• Norman Wisdom
• Rank
• Music
• Humor

[abbafan50986]

5:54 - the Gocompare guy?

[pepsi666]

@7754349200

I got EVERY film Norman made, and a few he didnt

[aerudi]

Whoever lived the 60's knows what DEDICATION to art is.

[7754349200]

Hope this one is a full movie, all I find are clips

[skintrade]

great film, I would have loved to have seen these when they came out, at the cinema

[sclipone]

GENIAL ! Great ,great artist and men! RIP NORMAN !

[BillyIsATwat23]

@marxbrothers72 LOL you obviously haven't seen "What's Good For the Goose" then...

[rvanner]

RIP Norman, you will be missed!

[marxbrothers72]

A living legend, classic actor, one of the true legends of comedy Norman Wisdom-his films are forever and for all ages.

[wenglishsal]

Norman Wisdom is a very accomplished musician, he learned to play almost any instrument in the Army, from Clarinet to Drums and all the way in-between.. He can obviously conduct too... I LOVE NORMAN.. a total legend...:0)x