There Was A Crooked Man out on DVD now

A Norman Wisdom film that has remained unseen for half a century is released on DVD today.

And Chortle has four copies of There Was A Crooked Man to give away.

The 1960 comedy was one of two films Wisdom made independently to extend his range away from his usual alter-ego of ‘The Gump’.

In it, the comic plays a naïve explosives expert who finds himself involved with a criminal gang after uncovering nefarious dealings by a prominent industrialist.

Co- starring Alfred Marks and Susannah York, There Was a Crooked Man was directed by Stuart Burge from a script by Reuben Ship, who had been blacklisted in the States for alleged communist ties.

It was withdrawn after its cinema release, allegedly after offending America for scenes in whcih Norman masquerades as an arrogant US general requisitioning British land for the US Air Force.

The film was shown only once on TV, in 1965 and it next resurfaced in 2008, when a private collector who acquired the only known copy agreed that it could be shown in Darwen, where it was filmed.

There Was A Crooked Man has now been released on DVD by distributors Network, following a high-definition restoration, as part of its British Film collection, priced £9.99.

But to win one of our copes, just answer the following question by midday on May 22, after which we will select winners at random from all the correct answers received. Good luck!

Published: 8 May 2017