There Was a Crooked Man (film) - Revision history

Kurt at 18:45, 1 April 2023

2023-04-01T18:45:55Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 13:45, 1 April 2023
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	{{Infobox film		{{Infobox film
	\| image = There Was a Crooked Man ~~FilmPoster~~.~~jpeg~~		\| image = There Was a Crooked Man.jpg
	\| caption =		\| caption =
	\| director = [[Stuart Burge]]		\| director = [[Stuart Burge]]

Kurt: /* Release and home media */

2023-04-01T18:41:00Z

Release and home media

← Older revision		Revision as of 13:41, 1 April 2023
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	==Release and home media ==		==Release and home media ==
	The film was commercially unavailable for many years. It had one television screening on [[ITV (TV channel)\|ITV]], on Boxing Day 1965. Author and Wisdom biographer Richard Dacre wrote in the booklet notes that accompanied the DVD release that he, Wisdom, and Director Stuart Burge were present when the [[Barbican Centre]] Cinema, London, presented its next known public screening at a 'Wisdom Weekend', in 1998. Ten years later, 2008, it was shown in [[Darwen]], [[Lancashire]], where location shots had been filmed in 1960.<ref>{{cite news \|url=http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/1979371.lost_norman_wisdom_film_to_be_shown_again/ \|title='Lost' Norman Wisdom film to be shown again \|newspaper=Lancashire Telegraph \|date=20 January 2008 \|first=Catherine \|last=Pye \|access-date=27 September 2014}}</ref> (However, the 'First Day at Work' scenes were filmed at the "Early's of Witney" blanket factory, in [[Witney]], Oxfordshire.~~{{citation needed\|date=June 2021}})~~		The film was commercially unavailable for many years. It had one television screening on [[ITV (TV channel)\|ITV]], on Boxing Day 1965. Author and Wisdom biographer Richard Dacre wrote in the booklet notes that accompanied the DVD release that he, Wisdom, and Director Stuart Burge were present when the [[Barbican Centre]] Cinema, London, presented its next known public screening at a 'Wisdom Weekend', in 1998. Ten years later, 2008, it was shown in [[Darwen]], [[Lancashire]], where location shots had been filmed in 1960.<ref>{{cite news \|url=http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/1979371.lost_norman_wisdom_film_to_be_shown_again/ \|title='Lost' Norman Wisdom film to be shown again \|newspaper=Lancashire Telegraph \|date=20 January 2008 \|first=Catherine \|last=Pye \|access-date=27 September 2014}}</ref> (However, the 'First Day at Work' scenes were filmed at the "Early's of Witney" blanket factory, in [[Witney]], Oxfordshire.

	The film was released on DVD on 8 May 2017.<ref>{{cite web \|url=http://networkonair.com/shop/2610-there-was-a-crooked-man.html \|title=Network ON AIR > There Was a Crooked Man \|website=networkonair.com \|url-status=dead \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170411135758/http://networkonair.com/shop/2610-there-was-a-crooked-man.html \|archive-date=2017-04-11}}</ref>		The film was released on DVD on 8 May 2017.<ref>{{cite web \|url=http://networkonair.com/shop/2610-there-was-a-crooked-man.html \|title=Network ON AIR > There Was a Crooked Man \|website=networkonair.com \|url-status=dead \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170411135758/http://networkonair.com/shop/2610-there-was-a-crooked-man.html \|archive-date=2017-04-11}}</ref>

Kurt at 13:07, 31 March 2023

2023-03-31T13:07:24Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 08:07, 31 March 2023
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	~~{{Short description\|1960 British comedy film}}~~
	~~{{other uses\|There Was a Crooked Man (disambiguation)}}~~
	~~{{Use dmy dates\|date=May 2016}}~~
	~~{{Use British English\|date=May 2016}}~~
	{{Infobox film		{{Infobox film
	~~\| name = There Was a Crooked Man~~
	~~\| image_size =~~
	\| image = There Was a Crooked Man FilmPoster.jpeg		\| image = There Was a Crooked Man FilmPoster.jpeg
	\| caption =		\| caption =
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	* {{amg movie\|113192}}		* {{amg movie\|113192}}
	* {{tcmdb title\|id=557534}}		* {{tcmdb title\|id=557534}}

	~~{{Stuart Burge}}~~

	[[Category:1960 films]]		[[Category:1960 films]]
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	[[Category:1960s English-language films]]		[[Category:1960s English-language films]]
	[[Category:1960s British films]]		[[Category:1960s British films]]
			[[Category:British comedy films]]

	~~{{1960s-UK-~~comedy~~-film-stub}}~~

Kurt: 1 revision imported

2023-03-31T13:01:03Z

1 revision imported

← Older revision	Revision as of 08:01, 31 March 2023
(No difference)

en>Britfilm: /* Box Office */ add info

2023-03-29T04:31:23Z

Box Office: add info

New page

{{Short description|1960 British comedy film}}
{{other uses|There Was a Crooked Man (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2016}}
{{Infobox film
| name = There Was a Crooked Man
| image_size =
| image = There Was a Crooked Man FilmPoster.jpeg
| caption =
| director = [[Stuart Burge]]
| producer = [[John Bryan (art director)|John Bryan]]<br />[[Albert Fennell]]
| based_on = {{based on|''The Golden Legend of Shults''<br />1939 play|[[James Bridie]]}}<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Yyqc0Qa6b60C&q=james+bridie+play+There+Was+a+Crooked+Man&pg=PA979|title = The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film|isbn = 9783110951943|last1 = Goble|first1 = Alan|date = 8 September 2011}}</ref>
| screenplay = [[Reuben Ship]]
| narrator =
| starring = [[Norman Wisdom]]<br />[[Alfred Marks]]<br />[[Andrew Cruickshank]]
| music = [[Kenneth V. Jones]]
| cinematography = [[Arthur Ibbetson]]
| editing = [[Peter R. Hunt]]
| studio = Knightsbridge Films
| distributor = [[United Artists Corporation]]
| released = 1960
| runtime = 107 minutes
| country = United Kingdom
| language = English
| budget =
}}

'''''There Was a Crooked Man''''' is a 1960 British [[comedy film]] directed by [[Stuart Burge]] and starring [[Norman Wisdom]], [[Alfred Marks]], [[Andrew Cruickshank]], [[Reginald Beckwith]], and [[Susannah York]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2b6b811127 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120712174707/http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2b6b811127 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2012-07-12 |title=There Was a Crooked Man (1960) | BFI |publisher=Explore.bfi.org.uk |date= |accessdate=2014-06-10}}</ref> It is based on the [[James Bridie]] play ''The Golden Legend of Schults'', and was one of two films Wisdom made independently to extend his range, (the other being ''[[The Girl on the Boat (film)|The Girl on the Boat]]''); although according to the [[BFI Screenonline]] website, "the cinema public craved only the Gump".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/450916/ |title=BFI Screenonline: Wisdom, Norman (1915-2010) Biography |publisher=Screenonline.org.uk |date= |accessdate=2014-06-10}}</ref> The film was on general release in 1960 on the Rank circuit (supported by the documentary ''Jungle Hell'') to less than spectacular business before being withdrawn, allegedly after American objections to Wisdom masquerading as an arrogant US general requisitioning British land for the US Air Force. The subject of US forces on British soil was deemed too sensitive even for comic treatment.

==Premise==
A naive [[explosives]] expert is tricked into working for a [[Organized crime|criminal gang]]. The title is taken from the poem "[[There Was a Crooked Man]]".

==Cast==
* [[Norman Wisdom]] as Davy Cooper
* [[Alfred Marks]] as Adolf Carter
* [[Andrew Cruickshank]] as McKillup
* [[Reginald Beckwith]] as Station Master
* [[Susannah York]] as Ellen
* Jean Clarke as Freda
* [[Timothy Bateson]] as Flash Dan
* [[Paul Whitsun-Jones]] as Restaurant Gentleman
* [[Fred Griffiths (actor)|Fred Griffiths]] as Taxi Driver
* Ann Hefferman as Hospital Sister
* [[Rosalind Knight]] as Nurse
* [[Reed De Rouen]] as Dutchman
* [[Brian Oulton]] as Ashton
* [[Glyn Houston]] as Smoking Machinist
* [[Percy Herbert (actor)|Percy Herbert]] as Prison Warden
* Edna Petrie as Woman at Assembly Hall
* [[Jack May]] as Police Sergeant
* [[Ronald Fraser (actor)|Ronald Fraser]] as General Cummins
* [[Ed Devereaux]] as American Colonel
* [[Sam Kydd]] as Foreman
* [[Redmond Phillips]] as Padre
* [[George Murcell]] as Receptionist at 'The McKillup Arms'

==Production==
Hugh Stewart, who made several of Wisdom's films for Rank, said the film was financed by UA off the back of the success of ''[[The Square Peg]]''.<ref name="hugh">{{cite web|url=https://historyproject.org.uk/interview/hugh-stewart|website=British Entertainment History Project|title=Hugh Stewart|date=22 Nov 1968}}</ref>
==Box Office==
''Kine Weekly'' called it a "money maker" at the British box office in 1960.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/details/sim_kine-weekly_1960-12-15_523_2776/page/n7/mode/1up|last=Billings|first=Josh|magazine=Kine Weekly|date=15 December 1960|page=9|title=It's Britain 1, 2, 3 again in the 1960 box office stakes}}</ref>

==Release and home media ==
The film was commercially unavailable for many years. It had one television screening on [[ITV (TV channel)|ITV]], on Boxing Day 1965. Author and Wisdom biographer Richard Dacre wrote in the booklet notes that accompanied the DVD release that he, Wisdom, and Director Stuart Burge were present when the [[Barbican Centre]] Cinema, London, presented its next known public screening at a 'Wisdom Weekend', in 1998. Ten years later, 2008, it was shown in [[Darwen]], [[Lancashire]], where location shots had been filmed in 1960.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/1979371.lost_norman_wisdom_film_to_be_shown_again/ |title='Lost' Norman Wisdom film to be shown again |newspaper=Lancashire Telegraph |date=20 January 2008 |first=Catherine |last=Pye |access-date=27 September 2014}}</ref> (However, the 'First Day at Work' scenes were filmed at the "Early's of Witney" blanket factory, in [[Witney]], Oxfordshire.{{citation needed|date=June 2021}})

The film was released on DVD on 8 May 2017.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://networkonair.com/shop/2610-there-was-a-crooked-man.html |title=Network ON AIR > There Was a Crooked Man |website=networkonair.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170411135758/http://networkonair.com/shop/2610-there-was-a-crooked-man.html |archive-date=2017-04-11}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb title|0054379}}
* {{amg movie|113192}}
* {{tcmdb title|id=557534}}

{{Stuart Burge}}

[[Category:1960 films]]
[[Category:1960s crime comedy films]]
[[Category:British crime comedy films]]
[[Category:British films based on plays]]
[[Category:Films shot at Pinewood Studios]]
[[Category:Films directed by Stuart Burge]]
[[Category:1960 comedy films]]
[[Category:1960s English-language films]]
[[Category:1960s British films]]

{{1960s-UK-comedy-film-stub}}