The Sandwich Man (1966)

A man with a sandwich-board (advert) wanders around London meeting many strange characters.

Director:

Robert Hartford-Davis

Writers:

Michael Bentine (original story and screenplay), Robert Hartford-Davis (original story and screenplay)

Stars:

Michael Bentine, Dora Bryan, Harry H. Corbett

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Michael Bentine	...	The Sandwich Man
Dora Bryan	...	Mrs De Vere
Harry H. Corbett	...	Stage Door Keeper
Bernard Cribbins	...	Photographer
Diana Dors	...	First Billingsgate Lady
Ian Hendry	...	Policeman Motor Cycle
Stanley Holloway	...	Park Gardener
Wilfrid Hyde-White	...	Lord Uffingham (as Wilfred Hyde White)
Michael Medwin	...	Sewer Man
Ron Moody	...	Rowing Coach
Anna Quayle	...	Second Billingsgate Lady
Terry-Thomas	...	Scout Master (as Terry Thomas)
Norman Wisdom	...	Boxing Vicar
Donald Wolfit	...	Car Salesman
David Buck	...	Steven

Storyline

A man with a sandwich-board (advert) wanders around London meeting many strange characters.

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Plot Keywords:

sandwich board | three word title | racing pigeon | vicar | pigeon | 

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 July 1966 (UK)

Also Known As:

That Swinging City

Filming Locations:

Tower Bridge, London, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

The Rank Organisation, Titan International Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor) (uncredited)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

David Buck, Suzy Kendall and Tracey Crisp all receive "introducing" credits.

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Goofs

When Michael Bentine arranges to meet Suzy Kendall at the River Boat, they are in St James's Park, close to Buckingham Palace, and they agree to meet in 30 minutes, yet when they meet they are near Putney Bridge, a distance of over 4 miles and neither uses any transport to get there.

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Crazy Credits

The end credits are played out over a wrestling bout, involving a bikini-clad girl, which has no connection with the rest of the film.

User Reviews

Who is the intended audience?

I enjoyed this film very much - in a simple-minded sort of way. It's a very strange mixture of different types of comedy, in fact you could guess that the "script", such as it is, was written to fit whichever film and TV actors Micheal Bentine could persuade to do turns for him.

There are some longeurs, especially a sequence about a heavy-handed motorcycle cop, but never mind because a few minutes later another famous face pops up to amuse us. My favourite characters were the Sikh jazz musicians ("De Sihkers" - groan !) and Norman Wisdom's Irish priest, who tries to instruct a group of boys about gymnastics. Half the fun is in realising that in today's politically correct world, characters like these would never reach the screen - more's the pity. Incidentally, I can imagine Spike Milligan coming up with both the above stereotypes, so maybe the falling out between him and Bentine was more to do with personalities than material.

This film seems to have been made entirely on location around London (and I spotted Tolworth Tower in the escapologist sequence, which is near where I grew up), and you can tell it was made in a great hurry with very little money.

But who was the intended audience? Surely in 1966, at a time when adult cinema-goers were getting used to more sophisticated and subversive films, this one couldn't have held much appeal. In fact its resemblance to the Children's Film Foundation shorts (also funded by the Rank organisation) makes me think that this was intended to be shown at "Saturday morning picture shows" for kids. There is nothing here that a child couldn't understand (though I'm not so sure about the comment,"He's buying me a black jacket, not a red one ! He's kinky, not a communist!"). And what on earth are those wrestlers at the very end all about ???

This film is now available on DVD, curiously in 4:3 picture ratio - is this the only print available ? and it's 90 minutes of innocent fun. If you're still not sure what sort of comedy it is, think:

The Beatles' film "Help". The TV silent classic "The Plank". "Some mothers do 'ave 'em"

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