Film Review
Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise were two halves of the most successful
comedy double act ever to appear on British television, but their
attempt to break into the movies was something of an embarrassment, if
not to say an outright disaster.
The Intelligence Men was the first
of four films that Morecambe and Wise starred in, and it is probably
the best although it pales into insignificance when compared with the
duo's television shows, which have become the stuff of TV legend.
Part of the problem is its pedestrian plot (it's basically a James Bond
spoof of the lamest kind, with a badly parodied Hitchcock climax tagged
on at the end), although director Robert Asher deserves a fair share of
the blame. Trite, unfunny comedies seemed to be a particular
forte of Asher, given that he directed several Norman Wisdom films,
with similar lacklustre results.
The main reason why the film fails - or, to be fairer, why it is not as
good as its stars' television shows - is that the Morecambe and Wise
style of comedy does not translate well to the big screen.
Impromptu ad libs, audience interaction and a constant impression
of barely contained anarchy are what made the duo so funny and so
successful. Getting them to deliver polished performances on film
in front of a film camera, which is then edited to give an even more
polished result, wipes out not only the hilarious spontaneity of Eric
and Ernie's interplay but also virtually all of the humour. What
the film records is a desiccated impression of a great comedy double
act - like the fossilised remains of a prehistoric animal, it's just a
lifeless remnant of something genuinely impressive.
The Intelligence Men is most
effective when it is closest to the duo's TV show - scenes that would
work as standalone sketches, such as Eric's hopeless attempt to serve a
girl a drink without his glasses. The scenes at the ballet are
also enjoyable, albeit a trifle overlong, because these remind us of
those big song and dance numbers in the TV show where something
invariably goes wrong. But for the most part it's a stuttering,
unimaginative and poorly paced comedy that struggles to keep going,
despite the best efforts of its two great comedy performers.
Eric's recurrent attempts to break through the fourth wall alone offer
a glimpse of what the film could have been if its makers had been more
daring and more inclined to give Eric and Ernie a free hand, instead of
imprisoning them in a celluloid straightjacket. The main value of
this film and the three that followed it is that they give you a much
greater appreciation of Morecambe and Wise's television shows, comedy at its best.
© James Travers 2015
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.
Film Synopsis
Eric, the owner of a London coffee bar, ends up being recruited by MI5
when his path accidentally cross that of an enemy agent. Paired
with MI5's lowest ranked agent (i.e. tea boy) Ernie Sage, Eric soon
finds himself pitted against the notorious agency Schlect, which has
apparently set its sights on sabotaging a visit by a Russian trade
delegation. Posing as a dead British agent, Eric holds the key to
Schlect's intentions: a snatch of music which he is incapable of
repeating. After some unfortunate mishaps, Eric and Ernie end up
at Covent Garden Opera House, unaware that an assassination is planned
to take place midway through a performance of Swan Lake...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.