Norman Pitkin wants to be a policeman like his father was, but he fails the height test (amongst others). One day he gets out his father's old uniform and "walks the beat". This leads to a level of chaos that only Pitkin could cause
Acting
Wisdom's physical comedy is genuinely Olympian—every pratfall is architecture.
Direction
Asher lets scenes breathe so the chaos builds, not explodes.
Director
Robert Asher
Norman Wisdom
Norman Pitkin / Giulio Napolitani
Jennifer Jayne
Rosanna Guardia
Raymond Huntley
Sir Ronald Ackroyd
David Lodge
Inspector Cecil Hobson
Esma Cannon
Mrs. Timms
Eric Barker
Police Doctor
Eleanor Summerfield
Sergeant Lucilla Wilkins
Ronnie Stevens
Oberon
Terence Alexander
Chief Superintendent Bert Belcher
Maurice Kaufmann
Vince
George Pastell
Manzini
Jack Watson
Police Sergeant
Campbell Singer
Bollington
Lionel Murton
Man on Underground Train
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Wisdom was so committed to physical gags that he performed his own stunts, often injuring himself for authenticity. Legend behaviour.
This was peak 'Norman Wisdom as national treasure' era—he was literally the UK's biggest box office draw in the early 60s, which feels like collective hallucination now.
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