There Was a Crooked Man (film)
There Was a Crooked Man is a 1960 British comedy film directed by Stuart Burge and starring Norman Wisdom, Alfred Marks, Andrew Cruickshank, Reginald Beckwith, and Susannah York.[2] It is based on the James Bridie play The Odd Legend of Schultz; and was one of two films Wisdom made independently to extend his range (the other being The Girl on the Boat), although according to the BFI Screenonline website, "the cinema public craved only the Gump".[3] The film was on general release in 1960 on the Rank circuit (supported by the documentary Jungle Hell) to less than spectacular business before being withdrawn, allegedly after American objections to Wisdom masquerading as an arrogant US general requisitioning British land for the US Air Force. The subject of US forces on British soil was deemed too sensitive even for comic treatment.
| There Was a Crooked Man | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Stuart Burge |
| Produced by | John Bryan Albert Fennell |
| Screenplay by | Reuben Ship |
| Based on | The Golden Legend of Shults 1939 play by James Bridie[1] |
| Starring | Norman Wisdom Alfred Marks Andrew Cruickshank |
| Music by | Kenneth V. Jones |
| Cinematography | Arthur Ibbetson |
| Edited by | Peter R. Hunt |
Production company | Knightsbridge Films |
| Distributed by | United Artists Corporation |
Release date | 1960 |
Running time | 107 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
Premise
A naive explosives expert is tricked into working for a criminal gang. The title is taken from the poem "There Was a Crooked Man".
Cast
- Norman Wisdom as Davy Cooper
- Alfred Marks as Adolf Carter
- Andrew Cruickshank as McKillup
- Reginald Beckwith as Station Master
- Susannah York as Ellen
- Jean Clarke as Freda
- Timothy Bateson as Flash Dan
- Paul Whitsun-Jones as Restaurant Gentleman
- Fred Griffiths as Taxi Driver
- Ann Hefferman as Hospital Sister
- Rosalind Knight as Nurse
- Reed De Rouen as Dutchman
- Brian Oulton as Ashton
- Glyn Houston as Smoking Machinist
- Percy Herbert as Prison Warden
- Edna Petrie as Woman at Assembly Hall
- Jack May as Police Sergeant
- Ronald Fraser as General Cummins
- Ed Devereaux as American Colonel
- Sam Kydd as Foreman
- Redmond Phillips as Padre
Release and home media
The film had been unavailable for many years. It had one television screening on ITV on Boxing Day in 1965. It was shown publicly for the first time in over 40 years in Darwen, Lancashire, where it was filmed, in 2008.[4]
The film was released on DVD on 8 May 2017.[5]
References
- Goble, Alan (8 September 2011). The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film. ISBN 9783110951943.
- "There Was a Crooked Man (1960) | BFI". Explore.bfi.org.uk. Archived from the original on 12 July 2012. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
- "BFI Screenonline: Wisdom, Norman (1915-2010) Biography". Screenonline.org.uk. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
- 'Lost' Norman Wisdom film to be shown again Lancashire Telegraph, 20 January 2008. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
- http://networkonair.com/shop/2610-there-was-a-crooked-man.html
External links
- There Was a Crooked Man at IMDb
- There Was a Crooked Man at AllMovie
- There Was a Crooked Man at the TCM Movie Database