Jerry Desmonde Movies

In this lively British satire, a plucky milkman who works for an independent family-run dairy fights to keep a large trust from overtaking his business. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Diminutive pratfall comic Norman Wisdom, Britain's latter-day version of Charlie Chaplin, brought his trademark physical slapstick to this comedy. Wisdom plays Norman Pitkin, a simple butcher's assistant who accompanies his boss, Mr. Grimsdale (Edward Chapman) to the hospital after Grimsdale accidentally swallows a watch. There, it is determined that the watch will have to be removed surgically, but the clumsy Norman causes such a ruckus that he is ejected from the facility and banned from returning by the administrator, Sir Hector (Jerry Desmonde). Before he leaves, however, Norman manages to bring a smile to the face of Lindy (Lucy Appleby), a sad little girl who has been orphaned by a plane crash. Norman promised Lindy he would return, and his efforts to get back through the hospital doors by any means available (including making himself sick, getting hit by a car, and appearing on a charity television broadcast he knows the girl is watching) meet with an equal lack of success. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

Stolen Hours is the overlong, overglamorized 1963 remake of the 1939 Bette Davis vehicle Dark Victory. Susan Hayward plays a rich, neurotic socialite who discovers that she only has a year to live. Acting resentfully at first--especially towards handsome doctor Michael Craig, who withheld this information from her "for her own good"--Hayward eventually adopts a philosophical attitude towards her fate. By the time she begins slipping into "that undiscovered uncountry," Hayward is practically a candidate for sainthood. A plot device not utilized in the original involves Hayward's virtual adoption of a young boy (Robert Bacon), who is neglected by his own mother. Novelist Jessamyn West and playwright Joseph Hayes did their best to "contemporize" the outdated elements of the original Dark Victory, even unto having Susan Hayward learn to dance the Twist! Stolen Hours was filmed in England, affording us lovely Technicolor glimpses of the Cornish coast. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The "Carry On" gang take on employment agencies in this labored edition to the long-running comedy series. Sidney James is Bert Handy, who starts an employment agency by the name of "Helping Hands, Ltd." Bert proceeds to hire a bunch of loonies to do a collection of screwball jobs employers want done. As is usually the case, the employees make hash out of every assignment given to them. In fact, the agency is so unsuccessful that their landlord (Stanley Unwin) tries to have the business removed from his premises by raising their rent. But the landlord makes a deal with Bert that if his company can fix up an old house, they can have a 99-year lease on the property. Chaos ensues. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

King Shadov (Charles Chaplin), the newly deposed monarch of a small European country, arrives in New York to face a life in exile. No sooner does he get here, however, than he discovers that his prime minister has stolen the entire royal treasury and departed for parts unknown. Stranded in New York in a luxury hotel without any money, the king tries to adjust to life in America and elicit interest in his plan for the peaceful use of nuclear power. He finds America in 1957 to be too noisy for his taste, however -- a run-in with some rock & roll dancers leads to some slapstick antics, and he doesn't take much to modern movies or the blaring entertainment that goes with them. He meets a pretty young lady (Dawn Addams) in a slightly risqué slapstick encounter in which he is trying to "rescue" her, and she maneuvers him into helping to plug a deodorant on television. The king proves so beguiling on the small screen that he is deluged by offers from advertising agencies, which he rejects at first. But the king soon finds that advertising may be the only thing he can do to earn enough money to keep him living like a king in exile, and he tries to work the system to his advantage, his earnings from television enabling him to remain in the country and push his peaceful nuclear plan. He soon finds the true dark side of life in the United States, however, when he crosses paths with an unhappy little boy (Michael Chaplin, the star/director's own son) whose parents are about to be jailed as part of the anti-Communist hysteria of the period. In the end, the king provides a shelter to the boy but compromises himself in the process, and while he does make the Congressional committee investigating him look foolish, he sees that he has done all of the good that he can do for now in the United States and leaves. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

In this British parody of an American western, an Englishman travels to Canada to run the ranch he recently inherited from his grandfather, a crusty old sheriff. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The rundown British community of Islington is visited by a heavenly angel (Diane Cilento), sent down on a do-good mission. Her principal assignment is to soften the heart of a soulless pawnbroker (Felix Aylmer), and to that end appears in human form to do what the title says she does. During her brief earthly sojourn, Cilento finds time to salvage several other lost sheep, among them such reassuring British character players as Alfie Bass and David Kossoff. The unimportant fantasy was the first film assignment for Diane Cilento, whose career would later briefly be eclipsed by that of her then-husband Sean Connery. It's not likely we would have remembered Cilento at all had she stuck to such disposable fare as The Angel Who Pawned Her Harp. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Alf Donkin (Jerry Desmonde) and his two nitwitted brothers (C. Dernier Warren and Mark Daly) adopt an orphaned baby girl. She grows up to be the delectable Pauline Stroud, whose beauty and vulnerability prompts the good-hearted Alf to be all the more protective of her. When Pauline falls in love with a crook (Peter Hammond), Alf and his siblings try to prevent their foster child from making the mistake of her life. Alf's Baby was based on It Won't Be a Stylish Marriage, a play by A.P. Dearsley. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Ebullient British music-hall comedian Norman Wisdom made his movie debut in Trouble in Store. The scene is a large department store, where the bumbling Norman (Wisdom) has somehow landed a clerical job. The rest of the film is a series of slapstick catastrophes, some hilarious, others less so. Along the way, Norman saves the store from falling into the clutches of gangsters -- and wins the heroine besides. Wisdom's perennial straight-man Jerry Desmonde has a meaty role, as do British film-faves Margaret Rutherford and Moira Lister. Evidently this film meant a great deal to Norman Wisdom, for in 1992 he titled his autobiography Trouble in Store. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Veteran British music hall favorite Sid Field made his second and last film appearance in Cardboard Cavalier. Set during the 17th-century British Civil War, the film stars Field as vegetable vendor Sidcup Butterfield. Our hero is dragooned into delivering important documents on behalf of the anti-Cromwell forces. Somehow he winds up in the court of King Charles II (Anthony Hulme) and finds himself wooing royal courtesan Nell Gwynne (Margaret Lockwood). Nothing is sacred in this historical burlesque, which even manages to work a little pie-throwing into the proceedings. One of the scripters is Noel Langley, who in 1939 contributed to the screenplay of The Wizard of Oz. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide