THE SANDWICH MAN [1996 / 2022] [Blu-ray] [UK Release]
The Sandwich Man sees It All – The Funny Side – The Sunny Side of the Swinging London!
Original Goon Michael Bentine co-writes and gives a memorable performance as an amiable “Sandwich Man” in this gentle, whimsical comedy that features a Who's Who? of British talent, including Norman Wisdom, Diana Dors, Harry H. Corbett, Dora Bryan, Bernard Cribbins and Terry-Thomas. ‘THE SANDWICH MAN’ is featured here as a brand-new High Definition remaster from original film elements in its original theatrical aspect ratio.
Horace Quilby treads a perpetual odyssey through the London streets on behalf of Finklebaum and O'Casey – dealers in “misfit clothing.” Resplendent in top hat, tails and sandwich board, his is a unique angle from which to observe life. Today, however, he is preoccupied – Esmerelda, his racing pigeon, is taking part in the race of her life!
FILM FACT: ‘THE SANDWICH MAN’ film was the second in a short lived series of co-productions between the NFFC and The Rank Organisation. Diana Dors had recently moved back to London after several years in the USA. The film was poorly received at the time of its release, critically and commercially, but has since achieved some attention especially for its backdrop of London in the Swinging Sixties.
Cast: Michael Bentine, Dora Bryan, Harry H. Corbett, Bernard Cribbins, Diana Dors, Ian Hendry, Stanley Holloway, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Michael Medwin, Ron Moody, Anna Quayle, Terry-Thomas, Norman Wisdom, Donald Wolfit, David Buck, Suzy Kendall, Tracey Crisp, Alfie Bass, Earl Cameron, Leon Thau, Hugh Futcher, Peter Jones, Robert Lang, John Le Mesurier, David Lodge, Warren Mitchell, Aubrey Morris, Ewen Solon, Sydney Tafler, Frank Finlay, Ronnie Stevens, Tony Tanner, Fred Emney, Peter Arne, Max Bacon, Terry Brooks, Gerald Campion, Michael Chaplin, Roger Delgado, Joe Gibbons, Syd Harrison, Max Harrison, John Junkin, Burt Kwouk, Jeremy Lloyd, Bartlett Mullins, Patrick Newell, Maureen Pryor, Michael Trubshawe, Neil Wilson, Jack Arrow (uncredited), Peter Avella (uncredited), John Bailey (uncredited), Michael Balfour (uncredited), Roy Beck (uncredited), Ernest Blyth (uncredited), James Bolam (uncredited), Clive Colin Bowler (uncredited), Peter Brace (uncredited), Brian Cant (uncredited), Pauline Chamberlain (uncredited), Jimmy Charters (uncredited), Alan Chuntz (uncredited), Norman Fisher (uncredited), Georgina Hale (uncredited), Victor Harrington (uncredited), Dee Hart (uncredited), Anna Karen (uncredited), Juba Kennerley (uncredited), Valerie Leon (uncredited), Leonard Llewellyn (uncredited), Dickey Luck (uncredited), Fred Machon (uncredited), Andreas Malandrinos (uncredited), Alf Mangan (uncredited), Skip Martin (uncredited), Mary Maxfield (uncredited), Jay McGrath (uncredited), Steve Morley (uncredited), Terence Mountain (uncredited), Jim O'Brady (uncredited), Harry Phipps (uncredited), Dido Plumb (uncredited), Nosher Powell (uncredited), Sandra Power (uncredited), Michael Rothwell (uncredited), Peggy Scott Sanders (uncredited), Philip Stewart (uncredited), Marianne Stone (uncredited), Fred Stroud (uncredited), Charles Wade (uncredited) and Ian Wilson (uncredited)
Director: Robert Hartford-Davis
Producer: Peter Newbrook
Screenplay: Michael Bentine (original story and screenplay) and Robert Hartford-Davis (original story and screenplay)
Composer: Mike Vickers
Make-up: Bunty Phillips
Hairdresser: Bobbie Smith
Cinematography: Peter Newbrook, B.S.C. (Director of Photography)
Image Resolution: 1080p (Eastmancolor)
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
Audio: English: 2.0 LPCM Stereo Audio
Subtitles: English
Running Time: 95 minutes
Region: Region B/2
Number of discs: 1
Studio: The Rank Organisation / Titan International Pictures Limited / Network
Andrew’s Blu-ray Review: ‘THE SANDWICH MAN’ [1996] film itself is rather on the thin side and here we find Horace Quilby [Michael Bentine] is waiting for news of his pigeon Esmerelda, who is racing back from Bordeaux in France as Horace Quilby does his rounds. During the course of his day, he comes across a whole parade of different characters, and acts mostly as an observer while all manner of escapades and hijinks unfold before him. Those characters, however, just so happen to be portrayed by a veritable wealth of British comic and acting talent.
Horace Quilby job, which is bread and butter – parades around London’s streets dressed in a full morning suit, including top hat, and bearing a sandwich board carrying an advert for a West End purveyor of bespoke gents’ apparel.
There is little in the way of a plot to speak of, other than the efforts of Horace Quilby to reconcile a warring couple. The point of ‘THE SANDWICH MAN’ is to use the titular lead to take us from location to location, acting as the glue which binds the whole piece together. Horace Quilby is our guide here, and Horace Quilby is the linking material which ties together a whole series of what would be otherwise disconnected skits, vignettes and set pieces. The best way to experience ‘THE SANDWICH MAN’ is just to sit back and let it all wash over you.
The London we see here is a blend of grit and grime, sitting alongside creeping modernity, as the Big Smoke gets ready to start swinging. Coming in the aftermath of then-current Prime Minister Harold Wilson’s “white heat of technology” speech, and shortly before the contraceptive pill was legalised, here we have a capital on the cusp of a social revolution, and signs of the multicultural integrated future start to appear here, with the teeming metropolis being a melting pot and microcosm of the country.
In much the same way that ‘THE SANDWICH MAN’ manages to capture a snapshot of a bygone London, it also happens to show us what has now become something of a rarity, due to sandwich boards having increasingly become a thing of the past. In 2008, Westminster City Council took measures to clamp down on and remove sandwich boards, along with a range of other forms of mobile advertising, from the streets of the West End, claiming that they were blighting the area, and felt it had become a nuisance.
There are a few “prevailing attitudes” moments throughout which do tend to jar somewhat, especially with a number of white actors – including Michael Bentine “browning up” in order to play a Sikh. While this was common practice at the time, and it seems clear that the intention was not to offend, this still sits somewhat uncomfortably when viewed through modern eyes. Awkward racial stereotypes notwithstanding, if not ground-breaking, it is still a reasonably enjoyable funny ironic film in places.
One of the most egregious examples of this would probably have to be Michael Bentine. Having graced the nation’s TV screens during the mid-to-late 1970’s with the children’s show “Michael Bentine’s Potty Time,” and also being one of the original line-up in The Goons on BBC radio, Michael Bentine should arguably be more highly lauded. Since his passing in 1996, however, his name and works seem rather to have slipped away from the public’s consciousness, which does seem to be rather an injustice.
Looking at the Blu-ray cover alone, without even viewing the actual British film, you can see the names of such luminaries as Harry H. Corbett, Bernard Cribbins, Norman Wisdom, Terry-Thomas, Ron Moody, and Diana Dors, to name but a few. There just so happen to be many more examples not listed on there, such as Warren Mitchell, John Le Mesurier, Burt Kwouk, and Roger Delgado who would later go on to play the first incarnation of The Master as seen in the BBC Television series “Doctor Who.”
‘THE SANDWICH MAN’ [1996] film is a relatively modest standing, despite its all-star cast list, and with Network’s Blu-ray release of the film, has managed to assemble an impressive slate of bonus material here. There are standalone interviews with talent from both sides of the camera, including a lengthy featurette focusing on the late actor Michael Medwin, whose part in the movie lasts only slightly longer than it takes to read this paragraph, yet he gets a well-deserved career retrospective, and this is as good a place as any.
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Blu-ray Image Quality – The Rank Organisation, Titan International Pictures Limited and Network presents us the film ‘THE SANDWICH MAN’ that has been newly scanned in High Definition from a 35mm interpositive in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.66:1. Although the restoration involved both automated and manual removal of the film dirt and damage, some minor faults remain including colour fluctuations, dirt and scratches and among other issues. Please Note: Playback Region B/2: This will not play on most Blu-ray players sold in North America, Central America, South America, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. Learn more about Blu-ray region specifications.
Blu-ray Audio Quality – The Rank Organisation, Titan International Pictures Limited and Network brings us the film ‘THE SANDWICH MAN’ film with just one standard 2.0 LPCM Stereo Audio experience and for film released in 1996 the sound is even better than when the film was first released in the cinema. The dialogue is very crisp and clear and you hear every word spoken by the actors. With the sound effects of the streets of London, you hear very clearly all the traffic noise rumbling around the Capital city as well as other sounds related to the environment. So all in all, the upgraded sound experience is very good.
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Blu-ray Special Features and Extras:
Special Feature: Audio Commentary with Peter Newbrook [Audio only] [2022] [1080p] [1.66:1] [95:20] With this featurette, we get to hear an audio commentary with Producer/Cinematographer Peter Newbrook. As the film is about to start Peter Newbrook introduces himself and is here to talk about all aspects of the film ‘THE SANDWICH MAN.’ Here Peter Newbrook starts to talk about the actor Michael Bentine and at the time of filming was in a very popular British TV series entitled “It’s A Square World” and produced by the BBC and ran from 1960 until 1964, each episode being of 30 minutes duration. The series gained Michael Bentine a BAFTA award in 1962 for Light Entertainment, while a compilation show, screened by the BBC in 1963, won that year's Press Prize at the Rose d'Or Festival in Montreux. The shows were devised and written by Michael Bentine and John Law and some sketches were released on a Long Playing album. Peter Newbrook says that the introduction to Michael Bentie was by Peter Sellers who was a friend of all the people was in the BBC Radio Series “The Goon Show,” and because of that Michael Bentine came to Peter Newbrook’s office to talk about making the film ‘THE SANDWICH MAN’ and of course the concept of the film of a man walking around London with a Sandwich board and coming into contact with a lot of characters all over London. Peter Newbrook says that at the time the script seem to be coming along quite well and everyone in the office were laughing their heads off with all the gags in the script that were eventually going to be seen in the film, and now and again they would try out some of the gags on Peter Newbrook, and because of that it took some time to get the script just right, especially of course with all the loads of British actors that appear in the film to fit their own personal sketches in the film. On top of all that, they had to really convince The Rank Organisation to put the money and to also inform the organisation who were all of the famous British actors that were going to be featured in the film and as you would say, “The film stars an All-Star cast of British actors,” but unfortunately The Rank Organisation were very sceptical about the concept of the feature film to put the money up front, and of course the casting of everyone was practically every known British actor that would appear in this picture, even though in some cases, they would only appear in very short sketches in the film. Peter Newbrook says that when they wanted to start shooting the film Michael Bentine was not a very well man because he had a broken knee cap and was also suffering from a very bad flu and it took a long time to start shooting the film and they were very worried because shooting had started in the late Autumn and the best of the summer was over and some of the locations in London was fraught with bad weather and especially in the East End of London with very heavy fog rising from the River Thames and because it was a very early morning caused set back problems before they could shoot any scenes for the film, and it was around 10:00am or sometime 11:00am when shooting could get started. Some of the London locations were very easy to work in, but some of the locations were very difficult, especially in the West End of London location and especially with the police and sometimes the police would not give them permission to shoot any scenes in a specific location and the police were worried that they may cause a constriction and also a disturbances with all the camera and the equipment and with all the actors that were being filmed in a particular scene in the film. At chapter 3 we get to see Suzy Kendall waiting at the bus stop and we are informed she was going out at the time with musician and comedian Dudley Moore and Peter Newbrook thought Suzy Kendall was a very good little actress in the film, even though she was not in many scenes in the film. Even though they had an all-star cast, but unfortunately they had some technical problems behind the camera. At one point in the film we see a massive traffic jam and totally grid locked and Peter Newbrook says they staged it for the film. Peter Newbrook also says all locations in London were specifically chosen and of course before filming started sent people out to recommend what locations they should film in London and we are also informed that Michael Bentine went along with them because he was of course involved with the screenplay, and on top of all that, they had to choose the locations very carefully so it did not cause any problems with the police and of course especially with the health and safety situation and also not to cause too many traffic problems. On top of all that, Peter Newbrook informs us that all the British actors they had contacted to ask them if they wanted to appear in the film, they excepted whole heartedly 100% to want to appear in the film and of course excepted their offer, and also says he has no idea how Michael Bentine came up with the concept of doing a film about a man walking around London with a Sandwich board, and how they would use the talent of Michael Bentine. What Peter Newbrook was completely amazed the amount of people were involved with the production side of the film, as it was only a handful of people, whereas today Peter Newbrook says that people involved in the production side of making a film you now have to have a massive amount of people involved, whereas with this film again there were only a small amount of people involved with the production side of the film and they worked in a small office in Bayswater in London and everything was done via a radio telephone in a vehicle travelling around London. Peter Newbrook thinks this film was the last of its kind to have such an amazing amount of British talented actors assembled for one major film and it will probably never happen again. Peter Newbrook then says that the fact that we were allowed to film in so many locations in London and it was a great credit to all concerned and he doesn’t think this type of project could be done today, because of modern difficulties, especially in London, and they probably would not probably be able to get the specific location permits. Peter Newbrook said when the film was first released, it didn’t live up to our expectations, financially, and I don’t know why because many people gave the film a lot of praise and especially with all the wonderful British actors in the film and was very hard to understand why it did not do better at the box office, but the film did performed very well around the World, despite it was not a financial success. I was very surprised to hear Peter Newbrook said near the end of filming that Michael Bentine got slightly annoying and very interfering and was always asking very annoying questions why certain things were being done with the filming and eventually they had to eventually slowly give him some distance away from the filming when he was not in a scene in the film and so he did not interfere with the filming schedule. On top of all that, the actual comedy gags you get to see in the film was worked out just before they filmed a scene. At chapter 12 we get to see the scene where the car drives into the River Thames and in the passenger seats was Michael Bentine and Suzy Kendall who did not know this was going to happen and of course in one of the other special features in this review I explained about the actual car came from Germany and did not sell many of these car. Peter Newbrook also mentions that for the UK market the film was called ‘THE SANDWICH MAN,’ but the film was released overseas it was entitled ‘That Swinging City’ because outside the UK they would not know what a Sandwich man was and the film had a separate set of publicity for the film. At chapter 13 we get to the end of the film and of course the end credits, and Peter Newbrook says that the wrestling scene was a joke set up and mainly to show everyone’s name who was involved with the film with the end credits, and he says when you see the names of the British actors it was really extra ordinary to get them to appear in one film project and if the film was made today, having all of those British actors would cost making the film be a totally horrendously expensive film and feels we were very lucky to assemble so many talented British actors, but as you can imagine that making this film today, that the sheer logistics of making the film in London would have a great deal of problems and extreme difficulties, but despite what sort of problems we did have with the film, he says the film was a thoroughly enjoyable film to make and we had a lot of fun making the film and everyone really enjoyed themselves and that there is not much I can add to this picture that I have already said throughout the production. To the people who were behind the camera went onto very successful careers and to add to their credit, we would not have been able to make the film in the way it did turn out, was very sorry when the filming came to an end. At that point the Peter Newbrook audio commentary comes to an end and I found it a totally and wonderful enjoyable experience and Peter Newbrook was so informative about the film ‘THE SANDWICH MAN.’
Special Feature: UK Trailer [1996] [480i] [1.37:1] [3:11] With this featurette, we get to view the Unite Kingdom Original Theatrical Trailer for the film ‘THE SANDWICH MAN.’
Special Feature: US Trailer [1996] [1080i] [1.66:1] [2:34] With this featurette, we get to view the USA Original Theatrical Trailer for the film ‘THE SANDWICH MAN.’
Special Feature: Manfred to Sandwich [2020] [1080p] [1.78:1 / 1.66:1] [8:28] With this featurette, we get to meet composer Mike Vickers and talks about his collaboration on the film ‘THE SANDWICH MAN,’ and the producers heard his instrumental hit single and they thought he would be ideal to compose the music for the film ‘THE SANDWICH MAN’ and at the same time we get to view some clips from the film to emphasise his composed film score. To get a feel for the film, Mike Vickers went to view some actual filming in a certain part of London, and said he found the filming a long winded affair, and also amazed how many famous British actors appeared in the film. At the end of the film with the end credits we get to view burly butch wrestlers beating hell out of each other, which I thought was quite weird for an end to the film, and Mike Vickers said that the wrestling scene was an afterthought by either the director or producer, which of course Mike Vickers then had to come up with some extra composed score and at that point the interview ends. Sadly, I found this a very boring interview and Mick Vickers talked in a very soft monotonous voice.
Special Feature: Account’s Account [2020] [1080p] [1.78:1 / 1.66:1] [13:10] With this featurette, we get to meet Production Accountant Maureen Newman, who of course was involved with the film ‘THE SANDWICH MAN,’ but before Maureen Newman was involved with that film, was instead involved with her first film as the Production Accountant on a 1962 British thriller film ‘Tomorrow at Ten’ that was directed by Lance Comfort and starring John Gregson, Robert Shaw and Kenneth Cope. From then on Maureen Newman progressed into being involved with other films and was a bit of a “one man band” quoted Maureen Newman and felt she had great training, and by 1965 felt she had much more experience, especially with a lot of films with a three week filming schedule and also B pictures. At this point Maureen Newman starts talking about being involved with the film ‘THE SANDWICH MAN,’ and also being involved with all the location filming in London and all the problems that went with it and talks about the multitude of British comedy actors in the film and felt they were all really good actors, especially really top quality actors, and Maureen Newman felt the film was mammoth task the way they filmed it. Once again we get to view clips from the film ‘THE SANDWICH MAN.’ Maureen Newman says that it was all filmed on location in London which would be impossible to film today, but at the time of filming Maureen Newman says they had a brilliant good crew, and in spite of one or two problems, especially with the amount of British actors to control and Maureen Newman felt the actor Michael Bentine was an actual dream to work with and of course the actor was completely involved with the whole film. Maureen Newman also says that certain people had to go into the River Thames and had to be pumped for swallowing the polluted water. Maureen Newman says she went to see the rushes with her sister and actor Norma Wisdom was there in the screening room smoking a massive cigar. Maureen Newman talks about the British actors she has been involved with before in other films and they were Diana Dors, Alfie Bass, Norman Wisdom and Ian Hendry, and with the film ‘THE SANDWICH MAN,’ it was all filmed off the cuff and especially on the streets of London, and Maureen Newman thought the actor Terry-Thomas was ab absolute joy to work with and was like he was as seen in the film. Maureen Newman informs that it was the last time she worked with director Robert Hartford-Davis and had a really delightful time working with him, and also had a great time working with the crew and felt it was like working with a family, and sadly says that today there are not many of them still around. Art that point the interview with Maureen Newman ends, and it was a real joy to watch the interview with her and was a far superior compared to the previous featurette.
Special Feature: Greasepaint for Gogi [2020] [1080p] [1.78:1 / 1.66:1] [9:43] With this featurette, we get to meet actor Hugh Futcher who played the character “Gogi” in the film ‘THE SANDWICH MAN,’ who played one of the Sikh characters who played an instrument and were trying to get to a club to perform a gig and with him was another British actor who played the other Sikh character and were supposed to have originally come from Pakistan but of course they were both English actors and had to wear brown make-up to look like they originally came from Pakistan and of course today that would not be allowed to appear in a film, as today we would feel they were being racist playing those characters and had to learn from actor Michael Bentine how to talk in a Pakistan accent, and these two particular actors found it a great trial trying to keep up the Pakistan accent. But of course we get to view several clips of the film ‘THE SANDWICH MAN,’ with those two actors playing the Sikh Pakistan musicians. We get to hear that Hugh Futcher appeared in the film ‘Repulsion’ that was directed by Roman Polanski and felt the 1965 film was very bizarre but also had a slight comedy vein running through the film. Hugh Futcher also informs us that the actor Terry-Thomas in the film ‘THE SANDWICH MAN,’ had either his agent or manager with him on location in London and one of them had a stop watch to time Terry-Thomas being filmed in a particular scene, because he had to rush off urgently to London Airport to fly off to another country for another location for another film he was appearing in. Hugh Futcher says that Michael Bentine had changed his route around London and ended up in Putney by the River Thames and Hugh Futcher happened to actually live in that area of London and there was a sequence in the film where a car came from a hired company to appear in the film and suddenly with the actor/driver and the other two actors in the vehicle could not believe it, because without warning the two other passengers were shocked to ind that the actor/driver was heading straight into the River Thames, because the actual vehicle was a Amphicar Model 770 and was an amphibious automobile which was launched at the 1961 New York Auto Show. It was made in West Germany and marketed from 1961 to 1968, with production ceasing in 1965 and was a very popular vehicle and so unique so making the end of the film totally unique. Anyway Hugh Futcher felt that it was quite a unique moment at the end of the film. Hugh Futcher also mentions that they actually rented a street in London which was Petticoat Lane and it was amazing with all what was happening in that street was totally amazing, especially the general public living in that area of London and seeing all these British stars turning up for their particular scene in the film, especially in some cases they only made very brief appearances in their particular scene being filmed. Hugh Futcher did not work with Michael Bentine a lot in the film, but found Michael Bentine a very charming person, and when Hugh Futcher actually spoke to Michael Bentine tried to give him ideas for comedy, and felt Michael Bentime should not of played the Sandwich Man, but felt the British actor Ron Moody would have been much better as the Sandwich Man character, but felt Michael Bentine would have been much suited being behind the camera to shoot the film ‘THE SANDWICH MAN,’ and Hugh Futcher felt a close bond of a good friend to Michael Bentine, and was extremely sad when he heard the passing of Michael Bentine who he felt was a very talented man. At that point this video interview with Hugh Futcher ends and was again it was a very interesting featurette.
Special Feature: The Sandwich Board [2020] [1080p] [1.78:1 / 1.66:1] [18:14] With this featurette, we meet the art director and production designer come draughtsman Alan Cassie who of course was involved with the film ‘THE SANDWICH MAN’ and of course seeing the Sandwich Board that Michael Bentine wore walking around the streets of London, and it was Alan Cassie’s first feature film and had spent five years at Granada Television in the King’s Road in the Chelsea area of London and left that company when they moved to Manchester and decided to become freelance, and people involved with the film ‘THE SANDWICH MAN’ and approached Alan Cassie via a telegram that was sent to his home, because he did not own a telephone at the time, which I felt was very strange, but with the telegram it asked him to telephone the Shepperton Studios in Shepperton, Surrey, England, the next day and he did. It was John Comfort the Production Manager and assistant director who he had to meet at the studio and for some unknown reason had to meet him in the car park at the studio in the afternoon. When Alan Cassie finally met John Comfort, there and then offered Alan Cassie a job to be involved with the film ‘THE SANDWICH MAN’ at the salary of £47 pounds and 10 Shillings a week and of course Alan Cassie accepted the offer and started working the following Monday, and was based in Westbourne Grove in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea which was where the production office was based and then set about working on the job he was offered in doing all the different signs used in the film and of course the actual Sandwich Board used by Michael Bentine in the film, but Alan Cassie was also involved with the special effects props and was also involved in working with a small team of construction workers and it was an extremely busy shooting schedule and they had to keep moving to lots of different locations in London every day, and of course also emphasises the locations he was involved in, and we get to see clips from the film ‘THE SANDWICH MAN’ and one of the scenes in the film was Dulwich Park which is a 30.85-hectare public park in Dulwich in the London Borough of Southwark, South London, England where we get to see the runaway lawn mower and we find out from Alan Cassie that inside the runaway lawn mower was a man inside driving it, because in those days the remote control had not been invented in 1966. Alan Cassie also informs us that he with the team was involved with the domino deck chair sequence and took some time in setting it all up, but was very pleased with the result seen in the film. But with the Sandwich Board, Alan Cassie says that they made several in case of any problems that anyone of them got damaged, and also worked with Alan Harris who was the Art Director and had worked on a lot of very good British Television series like “The Avengers” and “Danger Man.” Also in 1966 you did not work at the weekend, but says today you have to work at the weekend as the traffic in London is much lighter traffic wise, but in 1966 the streets of London was very quiet even weekdays. Alan Cassie said that director Robert Hartford-Davis was very fast and if he really was happy with the scene they had just shot would say “Print in colour.” Alan Cassie said he was sent off to do some pavement artwork for one particular scene in the film, but the particular pavement artwork was drawn on grey fibre board panel so it would blend in with the pavement, and the scene was filmed at the back of The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. But Alan Cassie once again mentions the film was entirely filmed on location in different parts of London, and the only time Alan Cassie was at Shepperton Studios was for the interview for the job. But the most thing Alan Cassie says about working on the film ‘THE SANDWICH MAN’ that it was a great deal of fun, because there was a good background to the film, a great deal of work on the River Thames, a lot of stunt work on the River Thames and the only negative aspect of that, was the River Thames was very badly polluted. But what Alan Cassie said about the film that was great was all the incredible British talented actors that appeared in the film. Alan Cassie also said that the filmed wrapped up near to Christmas 1966 and of course they were very lucky with the weather because they started filming in October 1966 and constantly through to near the end of 1966. When the film was released, Alan Cassie’s next film was ‘Fahrenheit 451’ and was filmed at Pinewood Studios. At that point the video interview with Alan Cassie ends and once again it was quite an interesting video interview.
Special Feature: Michael Medwin [2022] [1080i] [1.78:1] [58:11] With this featurette, we get to view and archival interview with actor Michael Medwin and the interview is in memory of the actor Michael Medwin 1923 – 2020. The narrator informs us that Michael Medwin was born in London, educated at Canford School, Dorset, and the Institute Fischer, Montreux, Switzerland and he first appeared on stage in 1940. Eventually we get to meet Michael Medwin and he talks about his early life in being brought up with two maiden ladies because he was adopted at three months and had a very jolly childhood, even though his original mother was not married when Michael Medwin was born and at that period of time you called a child brought up by a mother out of wedlock as a “Love Child,” and his father was Dutch and his mother was Irish. Michael Medwin talks about the successful TV series called “The Army Game” of the late 1950’s and early 1960’s. Michael Medwin then moved to Bournemouth of the South coast and was an avid visitor to the local cinema called the Regent to watch all the films with his favourite Hollywood film stars and especially loved all of the Andy Hardy film series that of course starred Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland and unbelievable Michael Medwin appeared in a film with Mickey Rooney entitled ‘24 Hours To Kill.’ Eventually Michael Medwin enrolled in The Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts is in London and is a performing arts conservatoire based in Woking, England and here he wanted to pursue his career in acting, and is a year-long full-time course that serves as a preparation and foundation training for students aged 18 and above who are interested in pursuing an actor-training career or other vocational courses in the performance-related field and because of Michael Medwin’s training he was able to perform on the stage very confident. In his early days of acting on the first night’s performance no one could remember their lines and played it like they knew what they were doing and he mentions the digs he stayed in were terrible and had no heating. But as time went on Michael Medwin started to get small parts in different films. But his first big success was a small part in a very poor film, and the critics hated the film, but raved over the character Michael Medwin played and the critics were also angry that Michael Medwin’s name was not mentioned in the end credits, so eventually the critics were told that it was Michael Medwin and the next day Michael Medwin had a newspaper and was blown away with the critics praised his performance in the bad film. One film Michael Medwin enjoyed being in was ‘The Queen of Spades’ which was a 1949 British fantasy-horror film based on the 1834 short story of the same name by Alexander Pushkin and starred Anton Walbrook, the wonderful Dame Edith Evans and Yvonne Mitchell, and Dame Edith Evans and Yvonne Mitchell were better known at the time as stage actors; this film was their cinematic debut. On top of all that Michael Medwin thought the actress Dame Edith Evans was really nice but a bit eccentric and enjoyed being in the film with the actress. But of course Michael Medwin branched out into theatre acting and his first starring role was in the George Bernard Shaw’s play “Man and Superman” in 1951 and received rave reviews. After that Michael Medwin appeared in two classic British comedy films and they were ‘Doctor at Large’ and ‘Doctor at Sea’ and in that film it starred the wonderful French actress Brigitte Bardot. Then later on appeared in the very successful British TV series “The Army Game” and was a British television sitcom that aired on ITV from 19th June, 1957 to 20th June, 1961 and it was the very first ITV sitcom and was made by Granada, and created by Sid Colin. It follows the exploits of Hut 29, a dysfunctional group of soldiers and their National Service conscription into the British Army during the post war years. The original cast consisted of William Hartnell, Michael Medwin, Geoffrey Sumner, Alfie Bass, Charles Hawtrey, Bernard Bresslaw and Norman Rossington. The cast would change over the years with actors such as Bill Fraser, Ted Lune, Frank Williams, Harry Fowler and Dick Emery appearing in subsequent series. On top of all that, Michael Medwin sung the theme tune from “The Army Game” into the UK Singles Chart in 1958, where it peaked at number 5. Michael Medwin then went onto to appear in the Albert Finney 1967 film ‘Charlie Bubbles’ that was directed by Albert Finney and Michael Medwin did get great reviews for his part in the film where the critics said about Michael Medwin’s performance as “gives a brilliant study of a good fellow gone wrong” and what he thought also was wonderful is that Liza Minnelli also appeared in the film and found the lady really charming. As from the early 1970’s Michael Medwin’s film roles began to dry up, but he did manage to play Scrooge's nephew Fred in the film version of ‘Scrooge,’ a musical based on Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. Also appeared in ‘Never Say Never Again,’ ‘The Jigsaw Man’ and more recently in the film ‘The Duchess.’ Michael Medwin also appeared in Lindsay Anderson's ‘If....’ [1968], which won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. He also worked again with Lindsay Anderson on ‘O Lucky Man!’ [1973], continuing the story of the Mick Travis character from their earlier film. Then Michael Medwin was awarded the O.B.E. (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2005 Queens Birthday Honour's List for Services to Drama the single greatest thing that ever happened to him. The next amazing thing happened to Michael Medwin appeared in the film Charlie Chaplin directed and was entitled ‘A Countess From Hong Kong’ and also appearing in the film was Marlon Brando and Sophie Loren and everyone hated appearing in the film and most of the time they were all bored out of their tiny mind because Charlie Chaplin was a really terrible director, and all in all it was a total nightmare and a total disaster, but the saving grace was Michael Medwin working with the wonderful actress Margaret Rutherford who he found was totally charming and delightful and was a joy to work with and it was Margaret Rutherford’s last ever film. When Michael Medwin was ever out and about, everyone would come up to him and say, “Oh you was in the Carry On film ‘Carry On Nurse’ and this has haunted him ever since, and really the only film he will be remembered for. At that point the Michael Medwin video ends and it was sort of interesting, but I felt it went onto too long. It was edited and narrated by Derek Pykett.
Special Feature: Soho Bites Podcast [Audio only] [2022] [1080p] [1.78:1] [58:11] With this featurette, we get to hear this particular 4th March, 2022 Podcast and is a show about movies set in Soho, the beating heart of bohemian, cosmopolitan London and is presented by Dominic Delargy and interviews people who loves Soho in London, and also talks to people who loves movies and informs us that this might be the last ever Podcast of Soho Bites for the time being. But at the same time we get gallery images relating to all aspect of British films, but also lots of images relating to the film ‘THE SANDWICH MAN.’ Dominic Delargy also asks people to comment about the film ‘THE SANDWICH MAN’ and some said they really enjoyed the film and also talk about certain scenes in the film they enjoyed. But to me was the most boring thing I have ever heard and I am so pleased and glad I do not actually listen to the actual idiotic online Dominic Delargy Podcast.
Special Feature: Theatrical Trailers: With this featurette, we get to view two Original Theatrical Trailers and it informs us that it is FOR YOUR FUTURE ENTERTAINMENT ALL NEXT WEEK and this is what you get to view:
‘Just like a Woman’ [1992] [480i] [1.66:1] and ‘Gonks Go Beat’ [1964] [1080p] [1.66:1] [6:09]
BONUS: Limited edition 24 page booklet written by Melanie Williams who is a film historian specialising in the study of British cinema with a particular emphasis on issues of gender at the University of East Anglia. It has lots of rare photographic images, Lots of fascinating articles, and also lots of rare 1996 articles.
Finally, ‘THE SANDWICH MAN’ [1996] film is a relatively modest standing, despite its all-star cast list. I enjoyed this film very much – but in a simple-minded sort of way. It's a very strange mixture of different types of comedy; in fact you could guess that the “script” such as it is, was written to fit whichever film and TV actor Micheal Bentine could persuade to do turns for him in the film. This film was shot entirely on location around the streets of London, and you can tell it was made in a great hurry with very little money. This is quite a strange and eccentric film and parts of it will look very strange to modern audiences. In particular the racial stereotyping which nowadays would be regarded by many as “politically incorrect” to say the least and some of what I viewed I was very uncomfortable viewing. I think that this is a gem of English cinema and contains lots of old English character actors, most of who are, sadly no longer with us. Most of the performances are of the “cameo” type, lasting only a few minutes. It is set in the Swinging Sixties and shows London at the time. It's extremely episodic in nature, a string of slightly connected sketches centred around a sandwich man who wanders the streets of London and encounters various bizarre characters and situations along the way. I particularly enjoyed films of that period, perhaps in part for the nostalgia of seeing the world that I was born into. This film captures the period very well, and of course it was filmed entirely on streets of London I know so well. I would highly recommend this film to anyone interested in seeing a nicely shot, high quality representation of 1960’s London, but as a comedy, it's very average and it's not particularly entertaining. But one bonus in purchasing this Blu-ray disc is all of the amazing special features that makes purchasing ‘THE SANDWICH MAN’ a worthwhile purchase.
Andrew C. Miller – Your Ultimate No.1 Film Aficionado
Le Cinema Paradiso
United Kingdom
