There Was a Crooked Man (film)
| There Was a Crooked Man | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Stuart Burge |
| Screenplay by | Reuben Ship |
| Based on | The Golden Legend of Shults 1939 play by James Bridie[1] |
| Produced by | John Bryan Albert Fennell |
| Starring | Norman Wisdom Alfred Marks Andrew Cruickshank |
| Cinematography | Arthur Ibbetson |
| Edited by | Peter R. Hunt |
| Music by | Kenneth V. Jones |
Production company | Knightsbridge Films |
| Distributed by | United Artists Corporation |
Release date | 1960 |
Running time | 107 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
There Was a Crooked Man is a 1960 British comedy film directed by Stuart Burge and starring Norman Wisdom, Alfred Marks, Andrew Cruickshank, Reginald Beckwith and Susannah York.[2] It is based on the James Bridie play The Golden Legend of Schults. The film was one of two independent films in which Wisdom appeared in an effort to extend his range (along with The Girl on the Boat), as British audiences strongly identified him with his Gump character.[3]
The film's title is taken from that of the English nursery rhyme "There Was a Crooked Man".
Plot
A naïve explosives expert is tricked into working for a criminal gang.
Cast
- Norman Wisdom as Davy Cooper
- Alfred Marks as Adolf Carter
- Andrew Cruickshank as McKillup
- Reginald Beckwith as Station Master
- Susannah York as Ellen
- Jean Clarke as Freda
- Timothy Bateson as Flash Dan
- Paul Whitsun-Jones as Restaurant Gentleman
- Fred Griffiths as Taxi Driver
- Ann Hefferman as Hospital Sister
- Rosalind Knight as Nurse
- Reed De Rouen as Dutchman
- Brian Oulton as Ashton
- Glyn Houston as Smoking Machinist
- Percy Herbert as Prison Warden
- Edna Petrie as Woman at Assembly Hall
- Jack May as Police Sergeant
- Ronald Fraser as General Cummins
- Ed Devereaux as American Colonel
- Sam Kydd as Foreman
- Redmond Phillips as Padre
- George Murcell as Receptionist at 'The McKillup Arms'
Production
Hugh Stewart, who produced several of Wisdom's films for the Rank Organisation, stated that the film was financed by United Artists based on the success of The Square Peg (1959).[4]
Reception
Kinematograph Weekly called There Was a Crooked Man a "money maker" at the British box office in 1960.[5]
Release and home media
The film was commercially unavailable for many years. It was aired by ITV on Boxing Day 1965. Wisdom biographer Richard Dacre wrote that he, Wisdom and director Stuart Burge were present when the Barbican Centre Cinema in London presented the next known public screening at a "Wisdom Weekend" in 1998. In 2008, it was shown in Darwen, Lancashire, where location shots had been filmed in 1960.[6]
The film was released on DVD on 8 May 2017[7] and as a Blu-ray disc on 30 April 2018.[8]
References
- ^ Goble, Alan (8 September 2011). The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film. ISBN 9783110951943.
- ^ "There Was a Crooked Man (1960) | BFI". Explore.bfi.org.uk. Archived from the original on 12 July 2012. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
- ^ "BFI Screenonline: Wisdom, Norman (1915-2010) Biography". Screenonline.org.uk. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
- ^ "Hugh Stewart". British Entertainment History Project. 22 November 1968.
- ^ Billings, Josh (15 December 1960). "It's Britain 1, 2, 3 again in the 1960 box office stakes". Kine Weekly. p. 9.
- ^ Pye, Catherine (20 January 2008). "'Lost' Norman Wisdom film to be shown again". Lancashire Telegraph. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
- ^ "Network ON AIR > There Was a Crooked Man". networkonair.com. Archived from the original on 11 April 2017.
- ^ There Was a Crooked Man Blu-ray (United Kingdom), retrieved 2 July 2023
External links
- There Was a Crooked Man at IMDb
- There Was a Crooked Man at AllMovie
- There Was a Crooked Man at the TCM Movie Database
