A fine piece of acting from Norman Wisdom. In this film his character makes a complete fool of himself without resulting to slapstick. The plot which centres around a middle aged man being infatuated with a girl young enough to be his daughter, should evoke sympathy and understanding from any man of a certain age, it is a story of mid life crisis, the realisation that one is getting old and stuck in a rut, but the reluctance of accepting it. The premise of a young girl having an affair with an old(er) man, was not as absurd at the time this film was made as it may seem now, back in the 60's it was more sociably acceptable as it is now, just as nowadays it is common and accepted for older women to lust after much younger men. When I first saw this film, when it was released in cinemas back in 1969, I did not like it much, like most people I was expecting a typical Norman Wisdom knockabout farce, but since seeing it again recently, I can relate to the poignancy and futility of the a man trying desperately to regain a long lost youth.
Review of What's Good for the Goose
What's Good for the Goose
(1969)
a film that shows Norman Wisdon can act in a straight role
20 January 2010
Warning: Spoilers