A Stitch in Time (1963)

I have a fairly pathological hatred of dentists, and I can’t help but wonder whether screenings of this film on BBC2 in the early 1970s might have been the cause! Indeed, for a few scenes here Norman Wisdom manages to create a sense of peril that easily outdoes anything the horror genre can illicit! Add to that the fact that he works in a butcher’s shop and, well, anyway… “Pitkin” is employed by the long-suffering “Mr. Grimsdale” (Edward Chapman) and it’s an accident in that shop that sees them both in the hospital of the fastidious “Sir Hector” (Jerry Desmonde) and the altogether nicer nurse “Haskell” (Jeanette Sterke). Needless to say, everything he touches turns to chaos and he finds himself repeatedly chased from the premises, even barred, but he wants to return to help out the traumatised “Lindy” (Lucy Appleby) whose parents were killed in a plane crash and who hasn’t uttered a word since! Of course the story is all predictable but as ever, Norman Wisdom made the slapstick comedy at which he excelled look effortless and natural. He easily puts the lutz into clutz as he skates around on the floor of the hospital ward, he clings for grim death to the roof of a speeding ambulance and he even has a go in a marching band playing in a key hitherto undiscovered - and all along he has the redoubtable Chapman to provide just enough of a foil to keep the pace racing along entertainingly for ninety minutes. It’s also quite a charming little showcase of life in London in the early sixties with the fashions, the cars and some glass half full attitudes and I did quite enjoy it.

Pitkin Pandemonium at St. Godrics. A Stitch in Time is directed by Robert Asher and collectively written by Jack Davies, Norman Wisdom, Henry Blyth and Eddie Leslie. It stars Norman Wisdom, Edward Chapman, Jeanette Sterke and Jerry Desmonde. Music is by Philip Green and cinematography by Jack Asher. Although not prime Wisdom, A Stitch in Time holds the secrets as to what made the diminutive star so popular. Obviously his style of slapstick and malarkey for laughs isn't for everyone, but Wisdom's career blossomed because the feel good factor in his movies was always so high. While there was nearly always a sweet thread in his movies, where the harsh critics would cite schmaltz or sappiness, others rightly point to the honest escapism factor, a chance to forget the world and its troubles for a brief moment in time. A Stitch in Time sees Wisdom as Norman Pitkin, the young assistant to Mr. Grimsdale (Chapman) at the town butchers. When Grimsdale is hospitalised, Pitkin is determined to help wherever possible, which unfortunately means chaos will follow. This set-up allows Wisdom to indulge in a number of high spirited sequences involving motorised beds, teeth extractions, stretcher bearing, ambulance surfing, marching band chaos and even dressing up in drag. The "tender" sub-plot involves an orphan girl who after losing her parents in a plane crash, refuses to talk or smile, but Norman is on that case with the message being the innocence of unprejudiced kindness. That's that, really, all wrapped up in just under an hour and half of film. Harmless and innocent fun for those who want to escape their blues. 7.5/10