Film Review
Exactly one year before he made his screen debut as agent 007 in
Dr No
(1962), the first of the James Bond movies, Sean Connery was already
winning over British cinema audiences in a very different kind of role
as the amiable stooge in this formulaic but highly entertaining
comedy. Adapted by the distinguished English novelist and
playwright R. F. Delderfield from his novel
Stop at a Winner, it feels like a
retread of many previous wartime comedies, including
Carry on Sergeant (1958), which
also derived from an earlier Delderfield work. The episodic plot
races along at such a pace that there's little time for character
development, just a rapid succession of recycled gags that are fired
pretty haphazardly in the hope that some of them will hit their mark.
It's a pretty desperate strategy for making an audience laugh but it
seems to work.
On the Fiddle
is fun and feisty, one of the most enjoyable British comedies of its
era.
The film owes its success to the unlikely lead double act formed by
Alfred Lynch and Sean Connery, both actors appearing in their first
substantial film role. Whilst Connery's career would take off
with a vengeance thanks to the Bond movies, Lynch's star appeal would
soon wane and from the late 60s he would be almost exclusively a
television actor. As the cheeky cockney wide-boy (a proto Arthur
Daley-cum-Del Boy), Lynch is inexplicably likeable and resembles a
human dynamo, single-handedly keeping up the film's unrelenting
screwball pace and never letting it stall for a moment. Connery
is almost the exact opposite, a goofy, laidback innocent whose main
purpose is to serve as Lynch's comedy foil, a role that he fulfils
admirably.
What makes the Connery-Lynch partnership so effective however is the
dramatic role-reversal that comes at the end of the film, with Connery
suddenly taking charge as Lynch is reduced to the status of a
snivelling coward. The actors have a genuine rapport throughout
and this adds not only to their characters' credibility, but also to
the sheer pleasure of watching them spar off one another. Yes,
the supporting cast offers a host of superb comic performers, from
Cecil Parker and Stanley Holloway to John Le Mesurier and Barbara
Windsor (some barely on screen for a few minutes), but it is Alfred
Lynch and Sean Connery who bag almost all of the laughs. Who
knows, if Bond hadn't come along these two might well have gone on to
form one of the most successful comedy double acts in British
cinema. As it was, they were reunited a few years later in an
altogether different kind of war film, Sidney Lumet's
The Hill (1965).
© James Travers 2014
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.
Film Synopsis
Incorrigible spiv Horace Pope is not one to let a small thing like
World War II get in the way of his money making exploits. Even
when he is forced against his will into enlisting in the RAF he loses
none of his entrepreneurial spirit. Assisted by his loyal friend
Pedlar Pascoe, Horace secures a tidy little income stream for himself
by milking one scam after another, always taking care not to get
himself sent to the battle front. Horace believes he has hit the
jackpot when he takes charge of a pub in Cornwall next to an American
army base. What should have been a sure-fire money spinner ends
up being Horace's ticket to the front line. Still, even in
war-torn France there are money making opportunities to be had...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.