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robert-e-andrews
Reviews
Postman's Knock (1962)
Indefensible...but I like it
It's nice to see that this ultra-obscure old British film (I've never seen it on British TV) still has appreciative fans but - wow! - it's quite an oddity. I hoped there was a chance that this would be in the same league as the best Wisdom/Phillips/Carmichael/Drake-type comedies, but it's a (delightful) disaster, for these reasons; 1) The script wasn't good/funny enough. 2) I'm sure they did their best (possibly on a particularly small budget) but the direction/technical side of things is clearly not of the typical old high standard. This isn't helped by the less-than-perfect print used on the DVD. 3) Many familiar faces are given very little to work with. 4) I had a worry that the ins and outs of delivering the post would feature heavily in this film, and boy, do they! and 5) Spike was the king of zany comedy, and I was looking forward to seeing him apply his talents to a relatively "straight" old-time comedy, but it doesn't seem he was able to transform (or vastly improve) the film. It's fortunate that the lovely Barbara Shelley features in this (her only comedy?), in the midst of her fantastic horror/thriller movie career. The incredible slightness of her developing romance is quite amusing in itself! The film may be kind of indefensible to anyone who didn't get into this sort of thing at an early age (unfortunately, old British films seem to have all but disappeared from the TV listings...), but it ticks the essential boxes - daft but amusing and good-natured and full of watchable faces. I like it and it will stay in my collection for life - unlike SO much great cinema...