"On the Beat" (1962) has one really hilarious scene in which Norman Wisdom, Raymond Huntley and a chauffeur play footsies with a hose. There may have been other highlights, but the sequences in which Norman tries on his dad's uniform, referees a football game and applies on stilts for his medical examination have been deleted from the current TV print. This installment certainly benefits from the contributions of a more deft director than was usually employed for this series. There are quite a few chuckles and for once only a few of the gags wholly misfire, although Wisdom's deliberate, over-heavy playing still manages to smother some of them. The climax is also a bit disappointing and the comic possibilities inherent in two lookalike Wisdoms darting around in secret passages are by no means fully explored. Jennifer Jayne makes an attractively spirited heroine. Production values are ordinary, to say the least.
Review of On the Beat
