The Bulldog Breed (1960)

I always think it was a little unfair to compare Norman Wisdom to others when so often he was entirely his own man, putting his own unique comedy spin and timing to good use creating a fun atmosphere for a British population still recovering from the effects of WWII. Here, he's the hapless "Puckle" whose girlfriend - well a gal he rather likes but who doesn't remotely reciprocate - rejects his offer of chocolates and leaves him contemplating suicide. Luckily, he is deterred from such drastic action by a passing sailor who reckons that if things really are that bad, he ought to join the Royal Navy. For all the wrong reasons, he attracts the attention of the Admiral (Ian Hunter) and now various escapades see him lurch from the frying place to the fire, via a chilly mountaintop, before being put to work on a top secret rocket project that we just know is doomed to failure! Hunter takes on the role usually portrayed by the likes of James Robertson Justice, and he does it well providing a foil for star who is having fun with this fairly low budget affair. The production mixes what looks like stock footage with some studio photography (where you can often see the full effects of the polystyrene and the scenery with clear joins in it) but that doesn't really matter. Assisted by a plethora of familiar faces from British cinema, this is really all about a man who knew how to make a generation laugh and using a combination of light slapstick, military stuffiness and the occasional daft one-liner, he manages to do just that - reminding us that is was, after all, the ordinary folk who fought and won the war!