Cyril Frankel (director)
www.networkonair.com (studio)
Cert PG (certificate)
97 min (length)
22 April 2013 (released)
13 May 2013
Never have so few fiddled so many in this riotous war comedy from 1961, which sees a then relatively unknown Sean Connery amongst the lead, before achieving global fame as 007.
Artful dodger Horace Pope (Alfred Lynch) – always scheming the next plan to earn some pennies – gets arrested while flogging dodgy clobber outside a queue of lads waiting to be enlisted. Trying to weasel his was out of a prison sentence, Horace claims he was only passing time selling gear while waiting to get enlisted himself. Bad move, as the judge spares him from imprisonment by having him join the RAF instead!
Nothing can dampen his spirits, however, not even the war! Horace quickly befriends good-hearted but half-witted gypsy Pedlar Pascoe (Connery), and the two start fiddling left, right and centre in no time.
Whether it’s liberating the army of cash for an apparent RAF charity, or whether it’s redistributing army meat to local butcher Stanley Holloway, our crafty Horace never misses a trick in the book! Moving from one posting to another, so do their scams. Whether it’s having their hands in every pot (literally) by pretending to raise the canteen’s miserable standards (only to end up in a Tapioca fight), or whether it’s overhauling a ramshackle pub (naturally for their own profits), Horace and Pedlar see possibilities at every corner.
It’s only when they are finally sent to the front and are confronted with enemy lines that the comedy briefly turns to drama. It goes without saying that even here, the two cheeky rogues come up trumps!
Intercut with archive footage, and also offering a realistic depiction of war torn Britain (complete with rationing and a yanks invasion), this little known gem boasts appearances and cameos by much loved stars like Barbara Windsor, John Le Mesurier, Alan King, and many more. But really, the movie belongs to Alfred Lynch, who simply excels as a conman in high spirits.
On the Fiddle is featured in a brand-new transfer from original film elements in its as-exhibited theatrical aspect ratio.
