Postman's Knock (film): Difference between revisions

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{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2016}}
{{Infobox film
{{Infobox film
| name          = Postman's Knock
| name          = Postman's Knock
| image          = "Postman's_Knock"_(1962).jpg
| image          = Postman's Knock (1962).jpg
| image_size    =  
| image_size    =  
| caption        = British quad poster
| caption        = Australian poster
| director      = [[Robert Lynn (director)|Robert Lynn]]
| director      = [[w:Robert Lynn (director)|Robert Lynn]]
| producer      = [[Ronald Kinnoch]]
| producer      = [[w:Ronald Kinnoch|Ronald Kinnoch]]
| writer        = <div style="margin-bottom: 0.3em"> [[John Briley]]<br />[[Jack Trevor Story]]</div>Additional dialogue by [[Spike Milligan]] and [[Ronald Kinnoch]] (as "George Barclay")
| writer        = <div style="margin-bottom: 0.3em"> [[w:John Briley|John Briley]]<br />[[w:Jack Trevor Story|Jack Trevor Story]]</div>Additional dialogue by [[Spike Milligan]] and [[w:Ronald Kinnoch|Ronald Kinnoch]] (as "George Barclay")
| based_on      = a story by Jack Trevor Story
| based_on      = a story by Jack Trevor Story
| narrator      =  
| narrator      =  
| starring      = [[Spike Milligan]]<br> [[Barbara Shelley]]<br>[[John Wood (English actor)|John Wood]]
| starring      = [[Spike Milligan]]<br> [[Barbara Shelley]]<br>[[John Wood (English actor)|John Wood]]
| music          = [[Ron Goodwin]]
| music          = [[w:Ron Goodwin]]
| cinematography = Gerald Moss
| cinematography = Gerald Moss
| editing        = [[Geoffrey Foot (film editor)|Geoffrey Foot]]
| editing        = [[w:Geoffrey Foot (film editor)|Geoffrey Foot]]
| studio        = Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer British Studios
| studio        = Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer British Studios
| distributor    = <span style="white-space: nowrap"> [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]] {{Smaller|(UK)}} </span>
| distributor    = <span style="white-space: nowrap"> [[w:Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer|Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]] {{Smaller|(UK)}} </span>
| released      = {{film date|df=y|1962|2|22|UK}}
| released      = {{film date|df=y|1962|2|22|UK}}
| runtime        = 88 min
| runtime        = 88 min
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| gross          =  
| gross          =  
}}
}}
'''''Postman's Knock''''' is a 1962 British [[comedy film]] directed by [[Robert Lynn (director)|Robert Lynn]] starring [[Spike Milligan]], [[Barbara Shelley]], [[John Wood (English actor)|John Wood]] and [[Warren Mitchell]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/46862|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090115093820/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/46862|url-status=dead|archive-date=2009-01-15|title=Postman's Knock (1961) - BFI|work=BFI}}</ref> The screenplay concerns a country [[postman]] who is transferred to London, where he manages to foil a major robbery.
'''''Postman's Knock''''' is a 1962 British [[w:comedy film|comedy film]] directed by [[w:Robert Lynn (director)|Robert Lynn]] starring [[Spike Milligan]], [[Barbara Shelley]], [[John Wood (English actor)|John Wood]] and [[Warren Mitchell]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/46862|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090115093820/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/46862|url-status=dead|archive-date=2009-01-15|title=Postman's Knock (1961) - BFI|work=BFI}}</ref> The screenplay concerns a country [[postman]] who is transferred to London, where he manages to foil a major robbery.


According to MGM the film made a loss of $31,000.<ref name="Mannix">{{Citation | title = The Eddie Mannix Ledger | publisher = Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study | place = Los Angeles}}.</ref>
According to MGM the film made a loss of $31,000.<ref name="Mannix">{{Citation | title = The Eddie Mannix Ledger | publisher = Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study | place = Los Angeles}}.</ref>

Latest revision as of 08:52, 3 February 2023

Postman's Knock
Postman's Knock (1962).jpg
Australian poster
Directed byRobert Lynn
Written byAdditional dialogue by Spike Milligan and Ronald Kinnoch (as "George Barclay")
Based ona story by Jack Trevor Story
Produced byRonald Kinnoch
StarringSpike Milligan
Barbara Shelley
John Wood
CinematographyGerald Moss
Edited byGeoffrey Foot
Music byw:Ron Goodwin
Production
company
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer British Studios
Distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (UK)
Release date
  • 22 February 1962 (1962-02-22) (UK)
Running time
88 min
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Postman's Knock is a 1962 British comedy film directed by Robert Lynn starring Spike Milligan, Barbara Shelley, John Wood and Warren Mitchell.[1] The screenplay concerns a country postman who is transferred to London, where he manages to foil a major robbery.

According to MGM the film made a loss of $31,000.[2]

Plot

Harold Petts is a conscientious village postman who receives a promotion that takes him to London to be trained at London's busiest post office. However, after his first day in the big city, he is soon in trouble.

In the main sorting office, he succeeds in beating the new mail sorting machine at pigeonholing letters for delivery (the machine blows up in the process). As a result, he is placed safely out of the way in the parcels department, but sorts parcels at such speed that he puts everyone else in the department out of work.

This leads him to a meeting with the staff psychiatrist, and then to Jean, an ambitious art student, and the pair find themselves the main suspects in a mail theft ring, with the police and post office officials hot on their heels.

Cast

Critical reception

Britmovie noted "several promising satirical opportunities are sadly lost beneath a welter of frenetic slapstick";[3] while David McGillivray described the film in the Radio Times as "one of two comedies (the other is Invasion Quartet) created for Spike Milligan by John Briley and Jack Trevor Story, talented writers not noted for their eccentric humour (Briley went on to script Gandhi and Cry Freedom). Consequently the brilliant Goon flounders in the conventional, happy-go-lucky tale of a village postman who is transferred to London."[4]

References

  1. ^ "Postman's Knock (1961) - BFI". BFI. Archived from the original on 2009-01-15.
  2. ^ The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.
  3. ^ "Postmans Knock 1961 - Britmovie - Home of British Films". britmovie.co.uk. Archived from the original on 15 December 2014. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
  4. ^ David McGillivray. "Postman's Knock". RadioTimes.

External links