Press for Time (1966)

User Rating:

5.3/10   

Director:

Robert Asher

Writers:

Eddie Leslie (screenplay)
Angus McGill (book)

Release Date:

8 December 1966 (UK)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

Norman is quite happy selling newspapers outside Westminster station but his Grandfather (the Prime...

Plot Keywords:

Based On Book | Independent Film

Cast

Norman Wisdom	...	Norman Shields / Emily, his mother / Wilfred, his grandfather (the P.M.)
Derek Bond	...	Maj. R.E. Bartlett
Angela Browne	...	Eleanor Lampton
Tracey Crisp	...	Ruby Fairchild
Allan Cuthbertson	...	Mr. Ballard (Attorney General)
Noel Dyson	...	Mrs. Corcoran (the lady mayor)
Derek Francis	...	Ernest Corcoran (alderman)
Peter Jones	...	Robin Willobey (photographer)
David Lodge	...	Mr. Ross (editor, 'Tinmouth Times')
Stanley Unwin	...	Mr. Nottage (Town Clerk)
Frances White	...	Liz Corcoran
Michael Balfour	...	Sewerman
Tony Selby	...	Harry Marshall (reporter, 'County Chronicle')
Michael Bilton
Norman Pitt

Runtime:

98 min | UK:102 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:U | Iceland:L | Finland:S

Filming Locations:

Beaconsfield Studios, Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company:

Rank Organisation, The

Goofs:

Continuity: The route number on the bus chasing the bicycle changes several times during the chase

PRESS FOR TIME (Robert Asher, 1966) **1/2

This is the last film in Carlton's 12-Disc "The Norman Wisdom Collection" (and his last official starring vehicle), also made in color and featuring the star in no less than three roles - a young ne'er-do-well, his ex-suffragette mother and the spastic British Prime Minister (who'd rather not get involved with his lowly relatives). It's not bad and the star - who's beginning to show his age - is in good form, with the best scenes being his disruption of a Council meeting and the sustained set-piece in which he contrives to destroy the stage during the inauguration of a new housing block (followed shortly by the edifice itself). Bafflingly, the only film of Wisdom's not to have made it to DVD as yet is the well-regarded caper THERE WAS A CROOKED MAN (1960) as, in fact, even the atypical THE GIRL ON THE BOAT (1962) has been given a budget release!

In any case, PRESS FOR TIME is also notable for the presence of Stanley Unwin (as the Town Clerk), an eccentric British comic best-known today perhaps for providing the "gibberish" narration to The Small Faces' song suite on Side Two of their classic psychedelic album, "Ogden's Nut Gone Flake" (1968). The film's lively score, then, was the first for the cinema by ex-Manfred Mann band member, Mike Vickers, who would go on to score a number of rather dismal British fantasy flicks. Curiously enough, PRESS FOR TIME was produced by Robert Hartford-Davis and Peter Newbrook (serving also as cinematographer) who are best-known as directors for their own dabblings in the Horror genre like THE FIEND (1971) and THE ASPHYX (1973) respectively!