- On the Fiddle
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On the Fiddle Directed by Cyril Frankel Produced by Benjamin Fisz Written by R.F. Delderfield (novel)
Harold BuchmanStarring Alfred Lynch
Sean Connery
Cecil Parker
Stanley HollowayMusic by Malcolm Arnold Cinematography Edward Scaife Editing by Peter Hunt Distributed by Anglo-Amalgamated Film Distributors Release date(s) 10 October 1961 Running time 86 minutes
Country United Kingdom Language English - "Operation Snafu" redirects here. For the 1970 film starring Jason Robards and Peter Falk, see Rosolino Paternò soldato.
On the Fiddle is a 1961 British comedy film directed by Cyril Frankel and starring Sean Connery, Alfred Lynch, Cecil Parker, Stanley Holloway, Eric Barker, Mike Sarne, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Kathleen Harrison, Victor Maddern and John Le Mesurier.
The scenes of fighting is set in a woods in what is known as "The Sandpit", it is in Horsell Common near Woking Surrey, UK and is the area written about in H.G. Wells "War of the worlds"
It was not released in America until 1965 where it was retitled "Operation Snafu" for cinema release and "Operation Warhead" and to play off Sean Connery's popularity at the time. Comedian Alan King filmed his sequences in one day and was mystified when friends told him he was starring in a movie with Sean Connery.
Contents
Critical reception
Reviewing the film following its 1965 release in the United States the New York Times described it as "familiar and trifling, but it's perky". It observed that "The wonder is that a picture with a story already done, gag by gag, a hundred times is so easy to take. It is, though — flip, friendly, brisk and a wee bit cynical in its take-it-or-leave-it jauntiness". It noted that the release in the United States was "an obvious cash-in" on Connery's subsequent popularity as James Bond.[1]
Cast
- Alfred Lynch - Horace Pope
- Sean Connery - Pedlar Pascoe
- Cecil Parker - Group Captain Bascombe
- Stanley Holloway - Cooksley
- Alan King - Sergeant Buzzer
- Eric Barker - Doctor
- Wilfrid Hyde-White - Trowbridge
- Kathleen Harrison - Mrs Cooksley
- Eleanor Summerfield - Flora McNaughton
- Terence Longdon - Air Gunner
- Victor Maddern - First Airman
- Harry Locke - Huxtable
- John Le Mesurier - Hixton
- Viola Keats - Sister
- Peter Sinclair - Mr Pope
- Edna Morris - Lil
- Thomas Heathcote - Corporal
- Brian Weske - Sergeant
- Jack Lambert - Police Constable
- Cyril Smith - Ticket Collector
- Simon Lack - Flight Leuitenant Baldwin
- Graham Stark - Sergeant Ellis
- Jean Aubrey - WAAF Corporal
- Jack Smethurst - Dai Tovey
- Patsy Rowlands - Evie
- Bill Owen - Corporal Gittens
- Harold Goodwin - Corporal Reeves
- Barbara Windsor - Mavis
References
External links
Categories:- British films
- English-language films
- 1961 films
- 1960s comedy films
- Films based on novels
- Films directed by Cyril Frankel
- World War II films
- 1960s British film stubs
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