What's Good for the Goose (1969) User Reviews

Unusual time capsule of its era

[Leofwine_draca · 5/10 · 9 May 2016]

WHAT'S GOOD FOR THE GOOSE is an unwieldy little comedy effort, shot in Southport of all places, and starring Norman Wisdom in a very different role to those earlier in his career. Although this is a comedy, there's no slapstick from the rubbery star here; instead, he plays a rather sad individual, a guy who's having a mid-life crisis and subsequently falls in love with the teenage Sally Geeson.

There were a lot of May to December films coming out around these years but WHAT'S GOOD FOR THE GOOSE is one of the oddest. It's not really what you could call an entertaining movie, as it just sort of floats along aimlessly for a very long time. What it does provide is an eye-popping time capsule of late '60s fashions and attitudes, with the 'free love' movement in particular explored in depth.

Wisdom remains a likable character throughout and Geeson isn't bad either in an early role. The film was put out by Tigon, a company who typically specialised in cutting-edge horror fare, and written and directed by none other than Menahem Golan years before he founded Cannon.

A good mild sex comedy with a dash of sixties fashion.

[makmeltz · 6/10 · 20 February 2008]

This is a good movie , but it its a little let down with the cliché hippies that don't look convincing.Also the club where the hippies dance don't look realistic enough,better lighting and more grass smoking may have helped. The hippies in it remind me of the ones in carry on camping .The story itself though is great, the plot is about a man who as become very robotic within the system of life. Working in a office, family , dinner , sleep , work , family etc.He gets sent away on a works conference by the seaside , and he starts to see live again with the help of two girls he meets on the way.The film shows how sex looked very innocent and uncomplicated in that era ,but also how naive they can look now.If you are a fan of Norman i would recommend it.

WHAT'S GOOD FOR THE GOOSE (Menahem Golan, 1969) **

[Bunuel1976 · 4/10 · 3 January 2008]

Norman Wisdom's final starring vehicle was a departure from his previous outings – bringing his accident-prone milquetoast up-to-date, this being a product of the Swinging Sixties! The end result is an uneasy and occasionally embarrassing comedy which mixes the star's typical slapstick (and sentimentality) with mild sexuality and even milder satire; the plot has to do with an executive on a trip for a banking conference falling for teenager Sally Geeson (who doesn't mind getting involved with him but doesn't take their relationship all that seriously either); Sarah Atkinson appears as Geeson's friend who warns Norman of her fickle character.

The film is nowhere near as bad as Leonard Maltin's BOMB rating would have it and, if anything, is interesting for its treatment of mid-life crisis (being in many ways similar to Hoffman [1970] and 10 [1979] – both of which, incidentally, I've only just watched); towards the end, Norman even tries to bring his wife round to his new way of thinking! The Pretty Things appear as themselves performing a number of good tunes in a nightclub and Norm himself sings the catchy title track!

A timid man's eyes are opened to the swinging sixties

[viewfilm · 19 November 2001]

If you can get over the shock of seeing Norman Wisdom playing someone other than Pitkin without the ill fitting suit and cap, then it's not as bad as you'd expect. The speeded up title sequence was a nice idea but unfortunately it goes on far too long and outstays it's welcome. Confusingly there's a credit attributing the singing of the theme to Norman himself, but that version is at the end of the film.

Simply, Norman plays a somewhat timid banker who has a fairly hum drum life, married with children. He ends up having to go to the executive conference held at a seaside resort. On the way he picks up two teenage girl hitchhikers who end up opening his eyes to the fun filled world of the late 1960's. There's visual appeal in the shape of Sally Geeson (sister of Judy) who once said the most embarrassing thing she ever did was the nude scene on the beach in this film.

For the genre, a lightweight swinging sixties comedy it's enjoyable. Features "The Pretty Things" in a psychedelic club scene. Groovy Man!

Last Tango In Southport

[mikec32001 · 3/10 · 18 March 2008]

As I write this, Norman Wisdom is a very confused old man who spends most of his waking hours cackling and yelping old catch-phrases at his increasingly suicidal nurse.

Indeed, by the time you read this he will probably have joined the hereafter and the obituaries will record a near 80 year career of hysterical mirth-making from the lovable funster with the crooked chequered cap. What most of these obituaries won't recall is how Norman Wisdom had already committed a form of suicide back in the late 1960s with this staggeringly poor, yet strangely compelling endpaper to his movie career.

The signs are ominous from the off – "Tony Tenser Presents" go the titles. You scratch your head – "Where have I seen that name before..?" Well, on the titles of a lot of the cheapest, crappiest British films of the 1970s so just take your pick.

Then it says – "A Menahem Golan Production". Oh dear.

From what I could make out what follows is a combination of Confessions from a Holiday Camp and Last Tango in Paris. Sponsored by the Southport Tourist Board.

Norman Wisdom is very versatile at being Norman Wisdom (or a variation of such) here. Even in trash like this, he's never off form and somehow keeps you watching through parted fingers as he paws and dribbles all over a (clearly insane) Sally Geeson. Tony Tenser and Menahem Golan were, between them, responsible for some true cinematic horrors but the bedroom scene in filmic atrocity reborn. Sally plays the role of a lobotomised sex toy very well, by the way.

I wonder if any of the crazy young cats who populate this movie's party scenes maybe thought to themselves in a quiet moment "Umm…old Norman+sex+hippies. Get me outta this mess!!" I guess it was a payday for them.

A do feel sorry for The Pretty Things though. They probably thought "Yeah! This'll do for us what Blow Up did for the Yardbirds"

And so old Norman's leading man career ended. Freezing his little balls off in Southport.

I went there once. It was a depressing place.

From hero to zero

[davidcorne245 · 1/10 · 5 October 2006]

It's a shame that someone so idolised by many kids as well as parents should demean himself in appearing in this exploitative, bandwagon-jumping tripe. I often wonder if Mr Wisdom in his later years looked back at his excuse for a film with any pride. At least Sally Geeson had the decency to retire to doing something worthwhile after appearing in this low budget rubbish. A cameo by some long forgotten pop called the Pretty Things cannot rescue the film from it's awfulness. If you want 60's nostalgia invest in 'Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush' instead, starring Barry Evans and Sally's sister Judy instead.

Steer WELL clear...

[Garry-10 · 1/10 · 21 September 2001]

I felt I had to add a comment after seeing the breathless gushing of the other comment. I was taken to see this film as a child by my unknowing parents, expecting a normal Norman Wisdom jolly romp comedy. Instead, what you get is this insipid British sex comedy of the worst kind where Norman (Norman!) plays a swinger aiming to get off with as many 'birds' as possible. Absolutely typical of the genre - poorly filmed and acted, no semblance of a script beyond the worst kind of double-entendre, and very vague hints of 'naughtiness'. And all seemingly on that special grainy film stock that is reserved for 1960's-1970's British low budget films. About the only memorable thing is the annoyingly catchy theme tune, which still pops up in my brain after 30-odd years.

Finally, in the last scene you also get to see Norman naked - running across the sand and looking frozen. I think so anyway- at that point my mother hauled me out of the cinema. I saw it again, many years later, and guess what, it was still dire.

If you're any fan or take any interest in the little man and his career, you'll apply the '10-foot-bargepole' rule to this. Believe me, you do not need to see Norman Wisdom's backside.

Misunderstood ... and wonderful

[kankaw · 7/10 · 19 May 2005]

It's unfortunate this film has taken as much criticism as it has. I understand why it has -- anyone expecting a 50s Wisdom farce will not find what they're seeking. It is by no means the funniest film he made.

But its charm isn't in the funny bits. Understood as a poignant, even sad, tale of a middle-aged banker desperate to be young again, it comes off surprisingly well. Nikki (Sally Geeson) is as dangerous as she is delicious, and the audience (at least the men in the audience) are likely to fall for her right along with Norm.

Judge this film on its own terms and understand it's an atypical Wisdom film. Look for the sadness, not the laughs, and you'll find there's more there than you thought.

The old grey goose he ain't what he used to be.

[mark.waltz · 5/10 · 4 May 2022]

Just hitting that life changing time as middle-aged, assistant bank manager Norman Wisdom gets his groove back as he finds himself attracted to a much younger woman who is barely out of girlhood, the pretty butt wild Sally Geeson. Bored with the predictability of his marriage to the attractive Sally Bazely, Wisdom loses his wisdom and begins to act over a decade younger than his age, putting on groovy clothing and running and jumping to the point you're afraid he's going to hurt his back. Geeson turns out to be appropriate for a quick fling, going on to a younger man as quickly as he changes his new hippy clothes, so it's back to the wife but hopefully a new life.

This colorful 60's sex comedy is a lot of fun as a timepiece, and the John's that wisdom ends up on certainly are fun. But he finds that just because you briefly recapture your youth doesn't mean that's going to last or bring on other issues. Not too familiar with Wisdom's work other than an American stage appearance I saw captured on video for television, I found him to be just fine, far more identifiable than other 60's musical comedy stars like Anthony Newley and Tommy Steele, if a bit rubber faced and silent movie comic like. This film has a lot of fun moments, but it's too stuck and it's time frame, a bit too groovy to be anything more than just a minor distraction. Still the photography is colorful and the clothes are outrageous, and it was fun to watch if not a great movie. Tom Ewell got a better deal with the similarly-themed "The Seven Year Itch" a decade before.

This movie works better 36 years later

[microx96002 · 7/10 · 22 March 2005]

I remember when I first saw this movie, back in 1969, I didn't like it because I was "old school" Norman Wisdom. I still am, I prefer his silly lovable fool character in his older movies. However having seen this all over again, first time in 35 years, it was pretty entertaining, not overly funny but enough to pass 100 minutes or so. Norman plays it almost straight, there are a few touches of his silliness, but not overly slapstick. Sally Geeson, I was in love with her then, and she still has spark. Pity she retired from acting after Carry On Girls (1972), to become a school teacher, lucky kids! It does manage to give a great feel for the sixties, very psychedelic, and great music by the Pretty Things, Norman even sings the title song himself. Sally looks great in the "skinny dipping" scene, but I could've done with seeing one of my fav comedians (Wisdom)naked! Anyway, worth a few laughs, especially Norman's battle of wits with Desk Clerk, David Lodge.

Has one or two good scenes, but otherwise totally boring!

[JohnHowardReid · 4/10 · 22 September 2017]

I am not a fan of movies that are actually not movies at all, but TV films in disguise. I realize that seemingly endless close-ups of actors are much in favor with the actors themselves, but I find that all this over-indulgence in close-ups is actually extremely boring, particularly when the focus is on actors, rather than actresses.

"What's Good for the Goose" (also known as "Girl Trouble") is easily the worst offender I have ever been unlucky enough to come across. It seemed to me that Just about every single shot of Norman Wisdom was a close-up. Maybe this is a slight exaggeration, but I think everyone would agree with me that at least ninety per cent of Wisdom's screen time features him mugging away in a close-up.

All actors love close-ups! There's no doubt about that. But it's not fair to the other players, nor is it fair to that section of the audience that are not particularly interested in that particular actor, or indeed in actors anyway. If close-ups are on a director's menu, at least half the audience would much rather he hand them out to the girls. Men don't interest us at all.

I've discussed this issue with directors themselves from time to time. "Yes, I actually shoot a lot of close-ups," at least ten or twelve admitted, "but that doesn't mean that I'm actually going to use them in the final cut. Sometimes I tell the photographer not to bother to even put film in the camera. The whole idea of successful film-making is to get actors onside. So I give them their close-ups to make them co-operative, but that doesn't signal that I'm thirsting to use these close-ups in the final cut! Far from it!"

Getting back to "Girl Trouble" (as this film is also titled), I found it dead boring, although I will admit that it would probably look better on TV. But charging patrons money to see it in a theater is, in my opinion, taking money under false pretenses!

Released versions cut compared to T.V. version?

[p-halley · 8/10 · 27 August 2007]

Hopefully I can get the attention of another fan of the film, although looking at all the negative reviews of it I somehow doubt it possible. Anyway, here goes. Is it me or is the bedroom scene with Sally G cut when compared to the version Channel 5 shown, late at night, sadly over 20 years ago????? As a teenager I remember being shocked by her going topless in bed with old Norman but that segment isn't on the DVD or any of the vids. If someone can clarify this I'd be most grateful!(surprised nobody else has noticed this). I do like the film and I am a big fan of Norman (Seen him Live twice), but I think the reason it works for me is that I don't expect him to be Pitkin.I really do see him as a different character here, unlike most of his other more popular films. Reading between the lines, most of the 'reviewers'(Who slate the film) seem to want him to be like his stereo-typical clumsy little fool.Wasn't he allowed to break out of that millstone for just one film?????????? Where the film probably winds people up is when Norman slips in little bits of Pitkin into the Mr Bartlett character; this is confusing some disappointed fans who expect the rest of the usual package and get a Peter Stringfellow mix.

a film that shows Norman Wisdon can act in a straight role

[parcdelagrange · 7/10 · 20 January 2010]

A fine piece of acting from Norman Wisdom. In this film his character makes a complete fool of himself without resulting to slapstick. The plot which centres around a middle aged man being infatuated with a girl young enough to be his daughter, should evoke sympathy and understanding from any man of a certain age, it is a story of mid life crisis, the realisation that one is getting old and stuck in a rut, but the reluctance of accepting it. The premise of a young girl having an affair with an old(er) man, was not as absurd at the time this film was made as it may seem now, back in the 60's it was more sociably acceptable as it is now, just as nowadays it is common and accepted for older women to lust after much younger men. When I first saw this film, when it was released in cinemas back in 1969, I did not like it much, like most people I was expecting a typical Norman Wisdom knockabout farce, but since seeing it again recently, I can relate to the poignancy and futility of the a man trying desperately to regain a long lost youth.

This brings back lots of memories!

[keenanchris · 28 February 2000]

I remember this film being made as a little boy, so it always holds a place in my affection. I remember being surprised they took two days to film a scene that only lasted seconds in the final edit. i met Norman Wisdom and Sally Geeson on set and I still remember offering him a sweet and then signing his autograph.

All the family attended the premiere and I enjoyed it including the memorable theme tune. I don't suppose it will hold any interest to anybody anymore apart from the odd Norman Wisdom devotee in Albani (where I believe he was big!) and I can't say I've seen it in thirty years. From what I've read it wasn't regarded as a particularly good film by the critics. But, I would like to see it one more time if only to bring back the memories of that little boy I was in 1969.

Still Good fun from a byegone age.

[leavymusic-2 · 7/10 · 4 February 2019]

A snippet of history from the 1970's Yes, Norman Wisdoms comedy's had run its run by this time, but like Jerry Lewis who had the same issues by the 1970's as comedy was changing fast the older boys of the 50's and 60's couldn't quite keep up. Never the less Wisdom was a idol for millions and I am sure for his top fans this was still a enjoyable vechile, he plays a much straighter role but with snippets of his former Pitkin self. If your a Wisdom fan, watch it, if your just looking to criticise a classic old comedians lasts effect to make a comeback, switch off and find something else to mop up your time.

Funny sex comedy

[DavidYZ · 7/10 · 2 July 2017]

This is a sex comedy about a middle-aged married man who is driving from London to attend a banking conference that's being held in Southport. On the way, he picks up two young girl hitchhikers. He has a fling with one of them. He then invites his wife to Southport where they repeat the fun he had with the young girl.

Norman Throws Away The Cloth Cap

[ShadeGrenade · 8/10 · 29 December 2007]

As the '60's began to swing, a sea change took place in British comedy. Family-oriented fare gave way to a much ruder, cruder style. The 'Carry On' films were well placed to take advantage of this, but poor old Norman Wisdom found himself out in the cold. Determined not to be left behind, he co-wrote and co-produced this low-budget sex farce for Tigon Pictures.

In it, he plays 'Timothy Bartlett', a meek, middle-aged businessman, happily married to Margaret, and a devoted father. En route to a banker's conference at the seaside, he gives a lift to a pair of free-spirited young women, one of whom is 'Nikki', played by future 'Bless This House' star Sally Geeson. The girls annoy him at first, eating his sandwiches and urging him to overtake lorry drivers, but he winds up becoming infatuated by Nikki, and tracks her down to a discotheque.

Sneaking her into his room, they wind up in bed, and over the course of the next few days he learns to love life again. Soon he is wearing trendy clothes and they are riding the Big Dipper at funfair's, dancing, and even skinny-dipping! Timothy installs Nikki in a flat he has bought. But the fun ends when he finds her in bed with a younger man. Devastated, he accuses her of behaving like a whore. The relationship is over.

Rather than go home, he sends for his wife, and behaves with her the same way he did with Nikki.

'Goose' plays like a 60's version of 'Shirley Valentine' with the sex of the main character reversed. Norman does not do drugs here thank goodness ( besides, he already had a trip in 'The Early Bird' when he ate doped apples ), but seeing him frollicking with a young woman must have been a tremendous shock to his fans. Some traces of 'Pitkin' remain, however. When Timothy enters the disco, two men swinging from a rope Tarzan-style crash into him sideways. Locked out of his room, he climbs up the side of the hotel.

The dialogue could have been a bit sharper. For a sex farce, there's surprisingly little innuendo. Its amazingly sweet-natured too. The film's main strengths are Norman's and Sally's performances, plus supporting roles from Derek Francis, Terance Alexander and Paul Whitsun-Jones. And a great soundtrack from Reg Tilsley!

'Goose' bridged the gap between the old school of British comedy ( in which accident-prone losers like Norman became winners ), and the 'oo er missus' stuff of the '70's, such as the 'Confessions' series.

Well worth a look.

Favourable!

[ericbarclay · 10/10 · 1 November 2001]

I can fully understand why some people dislike this film when taken at face value, but from a personal point of view, I love it! As a huge fan of 60's culture, I think that it's a lovely "period piece", well in keeping with the times. The nightclub scenes are suitably groovy with the fabulous Pretty Things, whose appearance, while maybe not as dramatic as that by The Yardbirds in "Blow Up", is nonetheless highly entertaining. And of course, Sally Geeson is absolutely gorgeous (as ever!) Sarah Atkinson is rather tasty too!

I imagine that the two main categories of people that despise this film are "Old School" Norman Wisdom fans who expected him to be staggering around calling "Mr. Grimsdale!" and those who take exception to the non-moral stance concerning extra-marital affairs contained within the subtext of this film (let us not forget, this was the era of "Free Love"!) All the same, this flick does have a cult following, mainly consisting of Sally Geeson and Pretty Things fans. I qualify on both counts, so I suppose I am a little biased!

10

[pmarkey · 10/10 · 26 October 2007]

VERY underrated film - a mature Norman Wisdom at his acting best - a very young but mature Sally Gleeson showing us what a talented actress she is - add together a well done script and direction (At times, esp the beginning, reminding me of the soon to be shown talent of Nicolas Roeg.

This is perhaps Wisdoms peak performance - and the best of British cinema at the time. Deserves to be watched more than once. Shame Gleeson didn't do more cinema work like this.

The music - and the 'love' signature plays well in the film. As well as songs (and visuals) of the band 'the pretty things' of a great largely forgotten band are remembered here.

Norman shows what a talent he is.

Lightweight, easy going, Cheap, but great viewing!

[mark monroe · 9 March 2003]

Ok not the best film made by Norman Wisdom, but it's one of those movies that you watch late Sunday evening before returning to work!

Just a plain and simple film that sums up the entire 60's era, the clothes, the music, and the dialog!! Norman plays the hum drum banker (yes I spelt that correctly!) who plays away from home while on a business trip with noneother than Sally Geeson, a young trendy! The comedy is weak, the script poor, but this film is harmless fun, nostalgic, and a low budget British film with good locations. At least give it a chance, available as video, hunt it on ebay!

A great period piece

[hugh_i_walker · 8/10 · 27 October 2010]

This film is a great period piece but with a midlife crisis theme still relevant today. Released in 1969, in the period when the new 'permissive society' became relevant and news worthy, an assistant bank manager makes a fool of him self at a banker's conference in Southport as he falls in love with a teenage girl hitch hiker. It has aged much better then the traditional Norman Wisdom gimp movie, although it still has many of the Norman hallmarks - he takes credit for the script and is associate producer. There are parts which can make me cringe but only because, as a bloke in his fifties, I see painful reflections of my own behaviour. Sally Geeson is, as ever, a delightful presence. She quit acting much too soon! Not a truly great picture but sympathetic and, with a great supporting cast of British stalwarts and some good laughs, vastly better than many reviewers would have you believe.

Mr Grimsdale is absent...

[morpheusatloppers · 8/10 · 17 September 2008]

I first saw this film in a cinema at the time of its original release - then again on TV about ten years later - then AGAIN some time in the PC eighties (once more on TV: but this time, seriously BOWDLERISED) so I am able to appreciate it from three different viewpoints.

And each time, I have to confess to rather LIKING it. It's a bitter-sweet comedy, MILES from Norm's usual style - and yet that is half its appeal.

Of course, fans of his "gimp" movies were outraged. Of course, PC types waiting for him to get his comeuppance for his character's indiscretions were mortified when he just went back to his wife with renewed vigour. And of course, having been made by Mssrs Tenser and Golan, it was CHEAP.

But think about it for a minute... It avoids ALL of the clichés that most scriptwriters would have fallen for. It finally moves the Little Man AWAY from the character he'd been playing for sixteen years. And it does actually explore some of the issues of "free love".

There are really very FEW films that take such a non-judgemental look at a CONFUSING time. In Britain, the period from mid-'69 to mid-'71 was RIFE with sex comedies and horror flicks that took advantage of the UK censors' overnight relaxation on nudity - "Au Pair Girls", "Games That Lovers Play" and "The Vampire Lovers" to name but three - in fact, for those two years it seemed OBLIGATORY to include a nude scene in EVERY movie made for adults. But this film is so much MORE.

As a 56-year-old, I still believe that Norman's "On The Beat" (see elsewhere in these chronicles) is possibly the greatest British comedy film ever made and this doesn't come CLOSE. But do not dismiss it - it was never intended to. It revealed a different side of Sir Norm...and incidentally, most sides of the lovely Sally Geeson!

I wonder how it went down in Albania...

Great film trying to find a song from it

[veggie_liz · 10/10 · 27 May 2009]

Loved the film I was working as an usherette in the cinema at the time the film was released and had to sit through it loads of times and I never got tired of it. Have seen it since on TV and even recorded it. Its a real nostalgia trip back to the sixty's. Did we really wear those clothes! Just one thing in the scene where Timothy (Norman Wisdom) comes back to the flat and all the crowd are there, with some painting a mural on the wall,There is a song playing in the background with the words "build me a world that no walls can divide". Does any one know the title of this song? and where to get it?. In the film the lad singing it is playing a guitar and later goes to bed with Nicki. Can anyone help.

Norman Wisdom meets the hippies

[Ali_John_Catterall · 11 November 2011]

Sod yer Jodorowsky's or David Lynch's – is this not the strangest movie ever made? Actually, the Jerry Lewis comedy Slapstick of Another Kind probably takes that honour – but this comes close.

From purveyor of violent kitsch Menahem Golan, this sees mild-mannered banker Timothy Bartlett (Wisdom, in his final film) getting turned on by the flower power generation, including a scrumptious Sally Geeson, down at the 'Screaming Apple' Discotheque and having it off with them to a grooveadelic soundtrack by The Pretty Things.

Unlike the reactionary Carry Ons there's not a euphemism in sight: here it's all, "Do you want to have sex?", though at the same time this utterly encapsulates the British reality of sex in a Rita and Sue kinda way: however day-glo the trousers, or far-out the argot, the end result still spells a good-old bunk-up with giggling and Y-fronts in a Southport hotel room.

Fascinating in all sorts of ways; and ultimately, surprisingly smart and touching, too.

Good For The Goose? Bad for the Norman Wisdom fan

[darren-lawrence · 29 November 2004]

Well it had to happen eventually. Norman Wisdom in a 'swinging sixties' film. Shot entirely on location in Southport, the only thing lower than the budget was Norman Wisdom's career at this point. It's hard to find any part of the film that could be classed as funny. Is it supposed to be a comedy at all? Gone are the Pitkin days, as Norman plays a middle manager at a bank who has to attend a conference in his (late) bosses absence. Two hippie girl hitchhikers on the way make Norman realize what a middle-aged square he has become, so he 'updates' his image. Norman in a kaftan? Please no. Thankfully he didn't swap his Ford Zephyr for a Mini Moke. Some nice film of The Pretty Things playing to a groovy audience in the underground discotheque, but apart from that, it makes me cringe. Do you fug? I didn't.