The Bulldog Breed (1960)

When he is crossed in love, grocers assistant Norman Puckle joins the Navy, where he is recruited to man the first British rocket.

Director:

Robert Asher

Writers:

Jack Davies (original screenplay), Henry Blyth (original screenplay),

Stars:

Norman Wisdom, Ian Hunter, David Lodge

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Norman Wisdom	...	Norman Puckle
Ian Hunter	...	Adm. Sir Bryanston Blyth
David Lodge	...	CPO Knowles
Robert Urquhart	...	Cmdr. Clayton
Edward Chapman	...	Mr. Philpots
Eddie Byrne	...	PO Filkins
Peter Jones	...	Diving instructor
John Le Mesurier	...	Prosecuting counsel
Terence Alexander	...	Defending counsel
Sydney Tafler	...	Speedboat owner
Brian Oulton	...	Bert Ainsworth (cinema manager)
Harold Goodwin	...	Streaky Hopkinson
Johnny Briggs	...	Johnny Nolan
Frank Williams	...	Mr Carruthers
Joe Robinson	...	Tall sailor

Storyline

When he is crossed in love, grocers assistant Norman Puckle joins the Navy, where he is recruited to man the first British rocket.

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Plot Keywords:

rocket | navy | diving | british admiralty | rabbit | 

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

24 April 1961 (Sweden)

Also Known As:

Die Rakete zur flotten Puppe

Filming Locations:

Beaconsfield Studios, Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Rank Organisation, The

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

A film poster shows the name "Normana Sapienza" - a feminized, Italianized version of the name of the star, Norman Wisdom.

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Goofs

When Puckle views the Earth from the spaceship (c. 128 minutes) he sees lines of latitude and longitude, and countries marked in various colours, just as an inflatable plastic globe atlas usually has.

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Crazy Credits

Bosun the bulldog

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Connections

Featured in Mike Baldwin & Me (2001)

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Soundtracks

"Shenandoah"
(uncredited)
Traditional
Heard as a theme

User Reviews

Dark tints around the edges of the usual Wisdom comedy fare.

The Bulldog Breed is a Norman Wisdom vehicle that's directed by Robert Asher & co-written by Wisdom with Henry Blyth & Jack Davies. Plot sees Wisdom as Norman Puckle, a hapless grocer's assistant who is hopelessly in love with Marlene (Penny Morell). When she spurns his offer of marriage he attempts to commit suicide, but he proves to be inept at that as well. Finally settling on jumping off of "Lover's Leap" as a sure fire way to die, he is saved at the last minute by a Naval Officer who seduces him with talk of life as a sailor, where the girls are plenty and life is totally great. Buying into it Norman enrols, but he quickly finds that it's a tough life, that he is hopeless as a sailor and that the commander wants to fly him off into outer space!.

The Bulldog Breed comes at a time when Wisdom was most prolific on the big screen, in a 17 year period from 1953 to 1969 Wisdom was the lead star in 15 movies. While during this time he was lending support to a number of ensemble and TV pictures too. It's inevitable that during a busy period such as this that the quality of entertainment will vary, this effort falls some where in the middle on the list of Wisdom's best movies. The formula remains the same as Wisdom plays plays a bumbling but lovable dope who creates carnage where ever he goes. The comedy set pieces are many, with a "man overboard" sequence of events the particular highlight. While it also serves as an interesting snap shot of the times. Where The Bulldog Breed differs from many of Wisdom's most fondly thought of film's is with its darker tones of suicide and sexual suggestion (the latter beautifully brought to life by the sultry Liz Fraser). It's an odd mix of a film, and one that has proved to divide Wisdom purists. Newcomers to his work are most likely better off choosing something else as a starting point to his movie output. 6/10

Footnote: The film marks early appearances of Michael Caine and Oliver Reed who share a scene together with Wisdom. While fans of British soap Coronation Street will find value in seeing actors Johnny Briggs and William Roache also appearing in the piece.