Press for Time

Last updated

Press for Time
"Press for Time".jpg
Original British 1-sheet poster
Directed by Robert Asher
Written by Eddie Leslie
Norman Wisdom
Angus McGill (book)
Produced by Robert Hartford-Davis
Peter Newbrook
StarringNorman Wisdom
CinematographyJonathan Usher
Edited by Gerry Hambling
Music by Mike Vickers
Distributed by Rank Film Distributors
Release date
  • 8 December 1966 (1966-12-08)
Running time
102 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Press for Time is a 1966 British comedy film directed by Robert Asher and starring Norman Wisdom. [1] The screenplay was written by Eddie Leslie and Wisdom, based on the 1963 novel Yea Yea Yea, by Angus McGill. It was partly filmed in Teignmouth in Devon. It was the last film Wisdom made for the Rank Organisation.

Contents

Plot

Norman Shields is a newspaper seller in London, a job organised for him by his grandfather, the Prime Minister. After causing chaos. he is found a new job as reporter on a newspaper in the fictional seaside town of Tinmouth (partly filmed in the real seaside town of Teignmouth). The newspaper owner, an MP, has ambitions to become a junior minister and so goes along with the Prime Minister's 'request'.

During his time in Tinmouth, the well-meaning Norman gets himself into all sorts of trouble whilst reporting, such as starting an argument at a council meeting which develops into an all-out fight between members. He later becomes the reporter for the entertainment section of the newspaper, covering a beauty contest which his girlfriend Liz wins. They later return to London together, leaving a more politically settled Tinmouth behind.

Cast

Reception

Critical

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Relentlessly dispiriting Norman Wisdom comedy featuring the usual round of crude slapstick as the little man with the big heart pits himself against the rest of the world and wreaks havoc in his every endeavour with only a single dogged heroine to stand loyally by his side. Every situation is milked for all it has and more (Norman can hardly enter a public lavatory without emerging from the wrong side), and Wisdom duly takes his customary plunge into pathos by unwittingly delivering a plea for good-natured reason in front of his stunned tormentors. Wisdom's comedies are evidently designed to provide inoffensive fun and games for all and sundry; but even his admirers may find his impersonations (in sepia-tinted flashback) of a screaming suffragette and a stumbling octogenarian Prime Minister a trifle embarrassing." [2]

Box office

It was one of the twelve most popular films at the British box office in 1967. [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Teignmouth</span> Town in Devon, England

Teignmouth is a seaside town, fishing port and civil parish in the English county of Devon. It is on the north bank of the estuary mouth of the River Teign, about 12 miles (19 km) south of Exeter. The town had a population of 14,749 at the 2011 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Lane (actor, born 1905)</span> American actor (1905–2007)

Charles Lane was an American character actor and centenarian whose career spanned 76 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dub Taylor</span> American actor (1907–1994)

Walter Clarence "Dub" Taylor Jr., was an American character actor who from the 1940s into the 1990s worked extensively in films and on television, often in Westerns but also in comedies. He is the father of actor and painter Buck Taylor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank McGrath (actor)</span> American actor and stunt performer (1903–1967)

Benjamin Franklin "Frank" McGrath was an American television and film actor and stunt performer who played the comical, optimistic cook with the white beard, Charlie B. Wooster, on the western series Wagon Train for five seasons on NBC and then three seasons on ABC. McGrath appeared in all 272 episodes in the eight seasons of the series, which had ended its run only two years before his death. McGrath's Wooster character hence provided the meals and companionship for both fictional trail masters, Ward Bond as Seth Adams and John McIntire as Christopher "Chris" Hale.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ernest Clark</span> British actor (1912–1994)

Ernest Clark MC was a British actor of stage, television and film.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Derek Francis</span> English actor (1923–1984)

Derek Francis was an English comedy and character actor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emerson Treacy</span> American actor (1900-1967)

Emerson Treacy was an American film, Broadway, and radio actor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sally Geeson</span> British actress (born 1950)

Sarah Louise Clouston Geeson, known professionally as Sally Geeson, is an English actress with a career mostly on television in the 1970s. She is best known for playing Sid James's daughter, Sally, in Bless This House and for her roles in Carry On Abroad (1972) and Carry On Girls (1973). She also starred alongside Norman Wisdom in the film What's Good for the Goose (1969), and appeared with Vincent Price in two horror films, The Oblong Box (1969) and Cry of the Banshee (1970).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Lodge (actor)</span> British actor (1921–2003)

David William Frederick Lodge was an English character actor.

<i>Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde</i> 1953 American film directed by Charles Lamont

Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a 1953 American horror comedy film starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello, co-starring Boris Karloff, and directed by Charles Lamont.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jerry Desmonde</span> English actor (1908–1967)

Jerry Desmonde was an English actor and presenter. He is perhaps best known for his work as a comedic foil in duos with Norman Wisdom and Sid Field.

<i>On the Beat</i> (1962 film) 1962 British film by Robert Asher

On the Beat is a 1962 British comedy film directed by Robert Asher and starring Norman Wisdom, Jennifer Jayne and Raymond Huntley.

<i>The Early Bird</i> 1965 British film by Robert Asher

The Early Bird is a 1965 British comedy film directed by Robert Asher and starring Norman Wisdom, Edward Chapman, Bryan Pringle, Richard Vernon, John Le Mesurier and Jerry Desmonde. It was the first Norman Wisdom film to be shot in colour. The title is taken from the expression "the early bird catches the worm".

<i>The Bulldog Breed</i> 1960 British film by Robert Asher

The Bulldog Breed is a 1960 British comedy film directed by Robert Asher and starring Norman Wisdom.

<i>Just My Luck</i> (1957 film) 1957 British film by John Paddy Carstairs

Just My Luck is a 1957 British sports comedy film directed by John Paddy Carstairs and starring Norman Wisdom, Margaret Rutherford, Jill Dixon and Leslie Phillips.

<i>A Stitch in Time</i> (1963 film) 1963 British film by Robert Asher

A Stitch in Time is a 1963 comedy film directed by Robert Asher and starring Norman Wisom, Edward Chapman, Jeanette Sterke and Jerry Desmonde. It was produced by Hugh Stewart and Earl St. John. The film is set in a children's hospital and features an early role for Johnny Briggs.

<i>There Goes My Heart</i> (film) 1938 film by Norman Z. McLeod

There Goes My Heart is a 1938 American romantic comedy film starring Virginia Bruce and Fredric March, and directed by Norman Z. McLeod. Bruce plays a wealthy heiress who goes to work under an alias at a department store owned by her grandfather, and March the reporter who tracks her down. The film is based on a story by Ed Sullivan, better known for his long-running Ed Sullivan Show. The film was nominated for a Best Score Oscar for Marvin Hatley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frederick Leister</span> English actor (1885–1970)

Frederick Leister, was an English actor. He began his career in musical comedy and after serving in the First World War he played character roles in modern West End plays and in classic drama. He appeared in more than 60 films between 1922 and 1961.

Angus McGill was an English journalist who made his name writing a humorous weekly column in the London Evening Standard, which ran for 30 years documenting all that was eccentric about London life. In 1968, with the illustrator Dominic Poelsma, he also created a daily cartoon strip called Clive, later renamed Augusta. McGill won the British Press Award as Descriptive Writer of the Year 1968 and was appointed MBE in 1990.

John Warren (1916–1977) was the stage and pen name of a British screenwriter and support actor. Specialising in comedy writing, he worked with several figures at the forefront of British comedy, such as Tommy Cooper, Peter Sellers, Dick Emery and Mike and Bernie Winters.

References

  1. "Press for Time". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
  2. "Press for Time". The Monthly Film Bulletin . 34 (396): 12. 1 January 1967 via ProQuest.
  3. "Sean Connery tops the bill again". The Guardian Journal. 30 December 1967. p. 6.