"The Early Bird" has a lot of slapstick. Slapstick is very funny. But it's humor is just as with any funny line of dialog or joke. Once told or seen, it's very funny. Twice seen may get a chuckle. But three times and the punch is gone. So, the opening scenario that one person found very funny, quickly became monotonous to me. The wake-up routine was novel and somewhat funny, But Norman Pitkin (played by Norman Wisdom) and Mr. Grimsdale (Edward Chapman) go through the identical mishaps (PJs caught on the banister knob, etc.) one after the other. After the third one I came to expect it so this pattern quickly lost its humor.
The plot for this film wasn't that good. The subplot of Mr. Grimsdale trying to romance his landlady is an unnecessary distraction. The milk delivery competition is a series of time-consuming scenes with little or no humor. The film seems to be a collection of vignettes tided together around the milk delivery business and competition. Norman goes in disguise, his milk wagon floods a woman's flat, he has shenanigans on the golf course, and his horse gets sick. It loses many laughs with this broken thread of a plot. After the third "Mr. Grimsdale!" that line of dialog was humorless. Yet it repeated a number of times more.
It's an OK film at best, mostly for Wisdom's versatility and antics and for funny and good roles by Bryan Pringle as Austin and John Le Mesurier as Colonel Foster. All of the reviewers who think this is a great film or one of Norman Wisdom's best are from the early years of the turn of the 21st century. I have seen several of his films, and agree with a couple later reviewers who think this definitely is not one of his best.
One reviewer noted that it's too bad for such praise with few contrary views because that may discourage first time viewers of a Wisdom film from watching any more. They would miss some real gems. Among them are "A Stitch in Time," "The Square Peg," "The Bulldog Breed," and "On the Beat."
The plot for this film wasn't that good. The subplot of Mr. Grimsdale trying to romance his landlady is an unnecessary distraction. The milk delivery competition is a series of time-consuming scenes with little or no humor. The film seems to be a collection of vignettes tided together around the milk delivery business and competition. Norman goes in disguise, his milk wagon floods a woman's flat, he has shenanigans on the golf course, and his horse gets sick. It loses many laughs with this broken thread of a plot. After the third "Mr. Grimsdale!" that line of dialog was humorless. Yet it repeated a number of times more.
It's an OK film at best, mostly for Wisdom's versatility and antics and for funny and good roles by Bryan Pringle as Austin and John Le Mesurier as Colonel Foster. All of the reviewers who think this is a great film or one of Norman Wisdom's best are from the early years of the turn of the 21st century. I have seen several of his films, and agree with a couple later reviewers who think this definitely is not one of his best.
One reviewer noted that it's too bad for such praise with few contrary views because that may discourage first time viewers of a Wisdom film from watching any more. They would miss some real gems. Among them are "A Stitch in Time," "The Square Peg," "The Bulldog Breed," and "On the Beat."