Following 'The Early Bird' in 1966, Norman Wisdom split with producer Hugh Stewart ( who went on to bring Morecambe & Wise to the big screen ), and teamed with Robert Hartford-Davis and Peter Newbrook, later to make exploitation pictures such as 'Incense For The Damned' and 'Corruption'. Norman's first work for them was a cameo as a boxing priest in the Michael Bentine comedy 'The Sandwich Man'.
'Press For Time' was the second Norman Wisdom film ( the first being 'Girl On The Boat' ) to be adapted from a published source - in this case Angus McGill's 'Yea! Yea! Yea!'. I have never read it, so cannot comment.
Norman plays 'Norman Shields', a Westminster newspaper seller. In a nod to the Peter Sellers comedies, he also plays a number of members of the Shields family, including the current Prime Minister, a doddery old fool obviously based on Harold Macmillan. The Tories are in power ( unlike the real 1966, where Harold Wilson was residing at No.10 ). The P.M. pulls strings to get Norman a job as reporter on 'The Tinmouth Times', a local paper in a seaside town in the West Country. No sooner has he gotten off the train than he becomes embroiled in a war between ruling Labour Mayor Aldeman Corcoran ( Derek Francis ) and the editor of the 'Tinmouth Times', Tory M.P. Major Bartlett ( Derek Bond ).
Norman falls for glamorous reporter Eleanor ( Angela Browne ), but she ( unsurprisingly ) is disinterested, reserving her charms for the Major. In anticipation of the Tory sex scandals of the '90's, the Major is also having it away with his secretary Ruby ( Tracey Crisp ) and rigs a beauty contest so that she will win. Of course Norman is having none of this and changes the result, favouring Corcoran's mousy daughter Liz ( Frances White ).
The trouble with the film is that the political satire sits uneasily alongside Norman's familiar brand of slapstick. Norman's plea for harmony from the major parties is, as you would expect, contrived, but there is a very funny scene at a council meeting, and the first speaker is the legendary Stanley Unwin, the man who raised gibberish to an art form. The seaside town setting, the cynical manipulation of the democratic system by self-centred politicians, and the trampling-on of local concerns were themes explored in an earlier British movie - Tony Hancock's brilliant 'The Punch & Judy Man'.
Other classic Norman 'moments' include him flying backwards through the air when a bundle of newspapers comes his way, getting his bike caught on a light fitting, the destruction of a house on a newly-built estate, the afore-mentioned council meeting degenerating into a fight, and the collapsing of a stage full of local dignitaries. Best of all is Norman's commandeering of a double-decker bus in the pursuit of his stolen bicycle. The sped-up footage is accompanied by a jaunty Mike Vickers tune, features lovely old Gordon Rollings as the conductor, and must rank as one of the best scenes in any Wisdom picture.
Norman dispensed with his regular supporting players Edward Chapman and Jerry Desmonde, bringing in the likes of Allan Cuthbertson and Peter Jones, but alas, time really was up. His next appearance on the big screen would be an Oscar-nominated supporting role in 'The Night They Raided Minsky's' in 1968. He tried his hand at a sex comedy a year later in 'What's Good For The Goose', but it was no use. The movie-going public had had enough.
He then moved to television - 'Norman', 'Nobody Is Norman Wisdom' and 'A Little Bit Of Wisdom', all for A.T.V. Though the last of these ended in 1976, Norman has rarely been off the box since, thanks to the continued popularity of his films with successive generations.
'Press For Time' was the second Norman Wisdom film ( the first being 'Girl On The Boat' ) to be adapted from a published source - in this case Angus McGill's 'Yea! Yea! Yea!'. I have never read it, so cannot comment.
Norman plays 'Norman Shields', a Westminster newspaper seller. In a nod to the Peter Sellers comedies, he also plays a number of members of the Shields family, including the current Prime Minister, a doddery old fool obviously based on Harold Macmillan. The Tories are in power ( unlike the real 1966, where Harold Wilson was residing at No.10 ). The P.M. pulls strings to get Norman a job as reporter on 'The Tinmouth Times', a local paper in a seaside town in the West Country. No sooner has he gotten off the train than he becomes embroiled in a war between ruling Labour Mayor Aldeman Corcoran ( Derek Francis ) and the editor of the 'Tinmouth Times', Tory M.P. Major Bartlett ( Derek Bond ).
Norman falls for glamorous reporter Eleanor ( Angela Browne ), but she ( unsurprisingly ) is disinterested, reserving her charms for the Major. In anticipation of the Tory sex scandals of the '90's, the Major is also having it away with his secretary Ruby ( Tracey Crisp ) and rigs a beauty contest so that she will win. Of course Norman is having none of this and changes the result, favouring Corcoran's mousy daughter Liz ( Frances White ).
The trouble with the film is that the political satire sits uneasily alongside Norman's familiar brand of slapstick. Norman's plea for harmony from the major parties is, as you would expect, contrived, but there is a very funny scene at a council meeting, and the first speaker is the legendary Stanley Unwin, the man who raised gibberish to an art form. The seaside town setting, the cynical manipulation of the democratic system by self-centred politicians, and the trampling-on of local concerns were themes explored in an earlier British movie - Tony Hancock's brilliant 'The Punch & Judy Man'.
Other classic Norman 'moments' include him flying backwards through the air when a bundle of newspapers comes his way, getting his bike caught on a light fitting, the destruction of a house on a newly-built estate, the afore-mentioned council meeting degenerating into a fight, and the collapsing of a stage full of local dignitaries. Best of all is Norman's commandeering of a double-decker bus in the pursuit of his stolen bicycle. The sped-up footage is accompanied by a jaunty Mike Vickers tune, features lovely old Gordon Rollings as the conductor, and must rank as one of the best scenes in any Wisdom picture.
Norman dispensed with his regular supporting players Edward Chapman and Jerry Desmonde, bringing in the likes of Allan Cuthbertson and Peter Jones, but alas, time really was up. His next appearance on the big screen would be an Oscar-nominated supporting role in 'The Night They Raided Minsky's' in 1968. He tried his hand at a sex comedy a year later in 'What's Good For The Goose', but it was no use. The movie-going public had had enough.
He then moved to television - 'Norman', 'Nobody Is Norman Wisdom' and 'A Little Bit Of Wisdom', all for A.T.V. Though the last of these ended in 1976, Norman has rarely been off the box since, thanks to the continued popularity of his films with successive generations.