Gurlyndrobb While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Dirtylogy It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

Teddie Blake The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Orla Zuniga It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

philkronenberg Not the worst of Wisdom but generally malicious and cruel and in need of some good jokes. The garish colour also highlights this 'comedian's' advancing age. The opening routine is innocent and funny but you ultimately end up hating Wisdom and feeling sympathy for Jery Desmonde, presumably the producer's had the opposite intention.

Spikeopath The Early Bird is directed by Robert Asher and stars Norman Wisdom, Edward Chapman, Jerry Desmonde & Paddie O'Neil. Grimsdale's Dairy, an old fashioned company who still deliver milk by horse and cart, are under threat of closure by the modern conglomerate that is Consolidated Dairies. But milkman Norman Pitkin (Wisdom) will not take it lying down; chaos ensues.Norman Wisdom was an acquired taste, he was very much in the vein of Jerry Lewis from across the pond. His comedy staple was pratfalling and playing a lovable but hapless guy who constantly causes mayhem where ever he goes. Much like Lewis, the debates have always raged about if the comedy on offer was borderline genius or just standard buffoonery. The answer to which is naturally up to the individual observer to decide. What isn't up for debate is that Wisdom's film's, mostly, are perfect family fare that are agreeably watchable at any time of year.The Early Bird is Wisdom's first feature film in colour, the title is derived from the saying "the early bird catches the worm". It sees Wisdom re-teamed with Chapman, Asher & Desmonde who all feature prominently in Wisdom's big screen output. As it is, The Early Bird is one of the most fondly remembered film's that Wisdom did. And rightly so because it contains some comedy gold moments to enjoy. Opening with a delightful 10 minute sequence that contains no dialogue, the film then pitches Wisdom into a number of truly great comedy scenes. A rampaging petrol lawnmower, a golf match interruption, Norman leading his horse up the stairs to bed; and the pièce de résistance that is the finale as a fire is believed to have broken out at the towering Consolidated Dairies building. All acted with comedic gusto by Wisdom and the cast thrust into the ensuing chaos. Lest we forget, also, the moral at the core of the writing too, this may be comedy unbound but it's also a sharp observation on the changing of the times and the sad disappearance of the little businesses. While the painted sets showcase a talent that's sometimes forgotten in this day and age of CGI enhancement.A delightful comedy from a delightful and much respected entertainer. The kind of which is now impossible to replace. 8/10

cgbartlett I would thoroughly disagree with any negative review for this film ! A Technicolour '60's masterpiece of the British film comedy genre. Just lighten up and suspend your cynicism (a must for most of Norman Wisdom's films), and enjoy the "Crackerjack" style slapstick. Jerry Desmonde is just perfect as the hard nosed multinational windbag boss, Bryan Pringle is the ultimate uber-villain Milkman, and the scenes with the drug-filled Apple are mind-alteringly wonderful. If only for the golfing scenes with the sublime John Le Mesurier, and obvious matte shots of the dairy, this an innocent treasure. C'mon you hard bitten folks, this is Perfect Sunday afternoon fayre to watch in your armchair as you let your Sunday dinner go down !

MARIO GAUCI Norman Wisdom's first film in color is, alas, one of his lesser vehicles; this time around, he's a milkman with Edward Chapman's modest firm (he is its only employer and even lives with his boss!) which is being run out of business by a big corporation that has, as its manager, the ubiquitous (and, by now, quite aged) Jerry Desmonde. Despite some good moments - an amusing but protracted opening gag involving Norman's elaborate waking methods, the star's Western-style showdown with a competitor, the utilization of his milk-bottles as weapons in a domestic squabble and Norman's demolition of Desmonde's garden - the film bogs down soon enough with a recurrent subplot about Chapman's tentative romance with his chubby middle-aged landlady (which is constantly interrupted by Norman bursting into their room) and the star's sentimental attachment to an old cart-horse (and whom the competition even contrive to poison in order to get them out of the way!). Besides, two extended set-pieces - one with Norman dressed as a priest disrupting Desmonde's golf game with John Le Mesurier, and his stint as a fireman (targeting Desmonde's entire office block) and featuring a young Peter Jeffrey as the fire chief - tend to fall flat on their faces rather than provide the intended hilarity!