Trouble in Store (1953)

Norman is working in the stock room of a large London department store, but he has ambition (doesn't he always !!), he wants to be a window dresser making up the public displays. Whilst ... See full summary »

Director:

John Paddy Carstairs

Writers:

John Paddy Carstairs (screenplay), Maurice Cowan (screenplay)

Stars:

Norman Wisdom, Moira Lister, Megs Jenkins

Won 1 BAFTA Film Award.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Norman Wisdom	...	Norman
Moira Lister	...	Peggy Drew
Megs Jenkins	...	Miss Gibson
Jerry Desmonde	...	Augustus Freeman
Margaret Rutherford	...	Miss Bacon
Lana Morris	...	Sally Wilson
Eddie Leslie	...	Bill
Michael Brennan	...	Davis
Michael Ward	...	Wilbur
Joan Ingram	...	Miss Denby
Cyril Chamberlain	...	Alf
Ronan O'Casey	...	Eddie
Derek Bond	...	Gerald
Joan Sims	...	Edna
John Warren	...	Master of ceremonies

Storyline

Norman is working in the stock room of a large London department store, but he has ambition (doesn't he always !!), he wants to be a window dresser making up the public displays. Whilst trying to fulfill his ambition, he falls in love (doesn't he always !!), with one of the shopgirls. Together they discover a plot to rob the store and, somehow, manage to foil the robbers.

---

Plot Keywords:

window dresser | three word title | tied to a post | bound and gagged | store clerk | 

---

Genres:

Comedy

---

Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English German

Release Date:

12 January 1955 (USA)

Also Known As:

Le roi de la pagaille

Filming Locations:

Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Maurice Cowan Productions, Two Cities Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

85 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Jill Craigie, who wrote the first draft of the script, is reported to have asked for her name to be removed from the credits after learning of Norman Wisdom's involvement.

---

Goofs

Miss Bacon glues three stickers to a suitcase, and walks away with four on it.

---

Connections

Featured in Truly Miss Marple: The Curious Case of Margareth Rutherford (2012)

---

Soundtracks

Nuts in May
(uncredited)
Traditional
Arranged by Ray Terry

User Reviews

hokier than Wisdom's later stuff

Over the past few months, I've gotten into Norman Wisdom (I'd literally never heard of him before some people lent me a DVD containing some of his movies). Well, after I nearly laughed myself to death watching "Up in the World", "The Square Peg" and "A Stitch in Time", "Trouble in Store" actually seems weaker. Maybe it's that there are some scenes where he breaks into song, or that the whole movie is rather hokey, but it just can't equal the quality reached by its successors.

Still, I will say that the movie is good for a few laughs. Playing his usual clumsy character Norman, he works in a London department store and hopes to get promoted, but his idiocy keeps working against him...until he and a female co-worker discover a plot to rob the store. I guess that what I really like about Norman Wisdom's movies is how he pokes fun at the class system, as the underdog messing up the stuffy rich people's lives; certainly he does that here. But they really could have done without the songs.

Overall, I get the feeling that maybe Wisdom was still trying to figure out his version of comedy, so I can forgive him if this flick isn't as funny as his later ones. I would recommend watching his later movies first, so as not to get put off by this one.