tedg I've watched one of these now, so I won't have to watch the others, which I understand are much the same.I suppose there's a charm in these, but not enough for me. If you don't know Norman Wisdom, he's a small guy who plays something in the zone of Laurel Hardy and Charlie Chaplin with a hint of Jerry Lewis. The plot here is a small guy working for a small business who bests a big business (and its bosses). Some mild physical humor weighted toward falling down stairs.There is something interesting here though. The story takes us past quite a few men. Every one of them has a woman who gives little kisses and coos. All the bosses of course have cuties who act coy and chirp on cue. A working man has a more relaxed bird. All are pretty (after the fashion of the time). All have their breasts punched up and displayed as fully as possible.Except for one. The famous Mr Grimsdale, who is our comic hero's boss. At each crisis, Norman runs back to Mr. Grimsdale to repeatedly interrupt him in the embrace of his woman. The comic situation starts with her not being his wife — but none of these women are wives. What's comic here is her size. She must be 6 foot four. For many shots, she must be standing on a platform so that Norman's head is level with her breasts.I wonder why this is considered funny? Its clearly engineered. She's large but not bossy. She has no physical advantage. She's goods to be cuddled just like the other girlies we see. And its not a Margater Dumont deal. Her size alone is meant to be amusing.A visit to another world. I suppose it is no more puzzling than asking why we laugh when someone falls down stairs.Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.

Chris Gaskin The Early Bird is the one where Norman Wisdom plays a Milkman. I found this quite funny.Wisdom works for the Grimsdale Dairy, a small family run concern. He uses a horse and cart as his float. A large modern dairy then opens up and its milkmen start taking the same round as Grimsdale's and this threatens the future of the small business. Plenty of chaos before the two bosses come to an agreement at the end, reprieving Wisdom's horse in the process.The Early Bird certainly has its moments and I've never seen this sort of thing happen with the milkman who comes round where I live (yet!). One part I thought which was a little too daft is where the horse sleeps in Wisdom's bed.Joining Wisdom in the cast are Edward Chapman as Mr Grimsdale, Dad's Army star John Le Measurer and Frank Thornton (Are You Being Served?, Last Of the Summer Wine).Have a good laugh with The Early Bird.Rating: 3 stars out of 5.

tonygillan Think of all that had gone on before this film in comedy. Laurel & Hardy, The Goons, even Beyond The Fringe. Yet Norman Wisdom was still churning out this rubbish.In case you haven't seen it, what you have missed is Norman Wisdom falling over a lot, being thick, looking forlorn, trying to be lovable and saying 'Mr. Grimsdale' repeatedly.Possibly Wisdom's best film. Imagine what the rest of them are like.

bob the moo Norman Pitkin works in a small, very basic dairy for Mr Grimsdale. Their quiet, horse-drawn existence is threatened by the expansion of a huge modern dairy (Consolidated Dairies) with a fleet of milkmen, some of whom are muscling in on Grimsdale's patch by breaking their bottles.. Norman sets out to ensure his dairy's survival – hilarity and much chaos ensues.I love Norman Wisdom but this is nowhere near his best. Here the plot is actually quite good but it's only used well once or twice. Instead we have several set piece scenes which were clearly thought up before the actual plot because they are almost crowbarred into the film. For example – the whole golf scene is very thinly inserted and things like the lawnmower scene and the fire fighting scene bear little relation to the story itself.This wouldn't be a major problem if it was very funny, however, like the scenes themselves, the comedy feels a bit forced and not natural in the way Wisdom's best routines are. The whole golf scene is forced and the lawnmower scene will have you asking why he didn't just let go of the thing. There still is plenty to enjoy – my favourite being a cowboy pastiche – but overall it is really just Pitkin falling down as much as possible with the plot forgotten.Wisdom looks old and well fed – a strange comment perhaps, but it offsets his usual image as a working class hero. Being in full colour doesn't help but he isn't the character he was 10 years ago. Chapman is OK but his extra material and love interest make him less enjoyable as a comedy character. Desmonde is the upper class fool as always but here the comedy almost demeans his talents. The upside of the film is that there is no wasted time for Wisdom to chase a pretty young ankle – we have no love interest.Overall this is enjoyable for die-hard fans and children. The reliance on physical humour is to the detriment of the plot and regularly feels forced and unfunny. It is sill amusing and I had a few laughs but this is many miles from Wisdom at his peak.