Entertaining but disjointed star farce in which Norman joins the Navy after being jilted by the girl of his dreams; in fact, the plot takes in all of the following and more: a scuffle outside a cinema (one of the bullies who beat up Wisdom is none other than Oliver Reed!), several hilarious attempts at suicide (by far the best scenes in the film), the star doing conjuring tricks, some rather silly shipboard shenanigans (as when Norman throws the entire crew overboard), an amusing court-martial sequence (featuring John Le Mesurier as the Prosecutor), a lengthy mountain-climbing episode and even a climax which sends the star into outer space! The film's trick effects utilize some crudely effective animation, and a reliable supporting cast highlights Ian Hunter (as the ship's Admiral), David Lodge (usually the brunt of Wisdom's antics), Edward Chapman (as the inventor of the rocket) and Liz Fraser (from the delightful Peter Sellers vehicles I'M ALL RIGHT, JACK! [1959] and TWO WAY STRETCH [1960]).
Review of The Bulldog Breed
