Follow a Star (1959) - film review

Norman Truscott is a humble dry cleaner’s assistant who dreams of becoming a famous singer like his idol, Vernon Carew.  One day, he gets an opportunity to demonstrate his vocal talents, ironically at one of Carew’s shows, breaking into song when some members of the audience ridicule the star’s dated musical numbers.  Carew knows that his career is on the decline and quickly realises that Norman may save him.  Under the pretence of giving him singing lessons, Carew invites his overzealous admirer to stay at his apartment so that he can secretly record his singing on tape.  Carew will then sell the tape to a record company, claiming that he, not Norman, is the singer.   The scam works surprisingly well until Norman’s music teacher, Miss Dobson, sees through the deception when Carew appears on television, miming to Norman’s song.  Miss Dobson now has two tricky problems: first to expose Carew as a fraud and then to give Norman the confidence he needs so that he can make a career as a singer.  Norman’s difficulty is that he can only sing in the presence of his wheelchair-bound girlfriend, Judy.  To cure Norman of his inhibitions, Miss Dobson sends him to a renowned psychoanalyst.  The results of this consultation are spectacular but short-lived...

Director Robert Asher’s long and fruitful collaboration with Norman Wisdom got off to a flying start with this ebullient comedy, which is widely considered to be one of the best and funniest of Wisdom’s films.  A scurrilous send-up of A Star is Born (1954), with a few plot ideas stolen from Singin’ in the Rain (1952), the film makes good use of its star’s musical talents as well as his almost unrivalled flair for slapstick.  Under Asher’s masterful direction, there is little of the tacky sentimentality that marred many of Wisdom’s earlier films, with the result that this stands up far better today than most of the comic’s other films.  Follow a Star also benefits from the fact that the comedy burden is shared more evenly between Wisdom and his supporting artistes.  The immense success of this film cemented Asher’s working relationship with Wisdom and led him to direct his next five films.

One of the strengths of Follow a Star is the calibre of the supporting cast.  As in Wisdom’s previous film, The Square Peg (1959), the most memorable scenes are those in which Norman is paired with another comedy giant, Hattie Jacques.  There is a genuine rapport between the two performers which makes for some great comic moments.  In their previous rencontre, Jacques had to endure having champagne poured down her cleavage by Norman.  Here, she gets her revenge by inflicting what looks like a medieval torture ritual on her co-star in an attempt to improve his diction.  Jerry Desmonde provides some exemplary straight man back-up as the unscrupulous singer who sets out to rob Norman of his fame, suffering countless indignities along the way, such as having his rear end compared with that of Fenella Fielding (a one horse race, obviously).  Other comedy stalwarts Richard Wattis and John Le Mesurier up the laughter quotient even further in one of the film’s weirder digressions and help to make this one of Norman Wisdom’s slickest, liveliest and most enjoyable films.

© Alex Sullivan 2010

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