Overrated

The acting in this movie is really good.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

On the Fiddle is a passable film with Alfred Lynch in a rare leading role as Horace Pope a spiv type scam artist who ends up being sent to the army by a judge.Once he has joined up he teams up with dim witted but amiable squaddie Pedlar Pascoe (Sean Connery) who tags along with his money making schemes and provides the brawn to his brains.The duo accidentally become war heroes, then end up running a pub serving US based soldiers.Connery would go on to become James Bond a year later so here is a role where he is kind of cast against type. Lynch better known as a shifty type character actor rather enjoys being in the limelight as the star but he really is charmless and unsympathetic here, more a third rate and not nice Sergeant Bilko.

ON THE FIDDLE is a WW2-era comedy starring the long-forgotten Alfred Lynch as a spiv who finds himself enrolled in the army and sent to France to fight, against his best intentions. The problem is that Lynch is a bit of coward and a man who's more interested in making money through his black market dealings than actual fighting.This quaint and genteel comedy has dated, particularly in comparison to the early black-and-white CARRY ON films which were coming out at the same time and which feel almost highbrow in comparison. The main problem for me is Lynch's character: he plays an arrogant and cocky so-and-so who's impossible to like and I ended up waiting for him to get his just desserts, but sadly that never happened. Some might call him irrepressible, I just call him irritating.Still, fans of the era will find much to enjoy in the presence of a number of notable British names in the supporting cast. Not least of these is Sean Connery, second-billed and playing Lynch's army buddy. In the USA, the film was retitled OPERATION SNAFU and the poster figured Connery's name predominantly to cash in on his new-found fame as Bond (DR NO was his next film after this) but I'd argue that his performance in this, as the slow-witted but lovable rogue, is actually better than his Bond. Others may disagree.Meanwhile, there's a full parade of familiar faces who usually pop up in one-scene roles. Watch out for Stanley Holloway, John Le Mesurier, Eric Barker, Victor Maddern, Patsy Rowlands, Bill Owen, Wilfrid Hyde-White and last but not least Barbara Windsor in one of her earliest screen roles. These actors - who feel like old friends to any fan of British cinema - certainly keep you watching and take your mind off the weak jokes and otherwise episodic feel of the storyline.

A charming little piece, harking back to life during the 2nd World War, with the same rose-tinted spectacles worn by Captain Mainwaring in The BBC comedy series 'Dad's Army'. But this isn't a period piece; it's a comedy. And an interesting one of note because it features Sean Connery in one of his earliest lead roles, before the 007 role catapulted him to stardom.What raises this above the usual comedic fare is the excellent bond (pardon the pun) between the two mismatched characters. Connery is the conscience, and manages to keep his companion in moral check. But he also yearns for front line action, anathema to his colleague's sense of survival. Thus the cheating character is one we can sympathize with and actually believe he's looking after Connery's best welfare.Of course in the end they do finally see action, and after most of the film playing second dumb fiddle, Connery takes the lead and convinces his buddy to make the correct moral choice, helping save the lives of allied soldiers.The only one real flaw is the sudden ending which is humorous only really in its abruptness, but overall I found this film to be an entertaining surprise. Great underplayed role from Wilfrid Hyde-White, and spot some British favourites in early roles.

This is a perfectly charming little service comedy, with the added bonus of co-starring Sean Connery just before he attained fame in the role of James Bond. Even better, Connery plays totally against type, as a low-key version of Gomer Pyle -- an ingenuous, somewhat stupid-but-likeable serviceman. Alfred Lynch is the real star, though, playing a weasel-y British version of Sgt. Bilko, running numerous scams with his dim-witted buddy Connery. It's funny. Imagine American service sitcoms such as "McHale's Navy" and "Sgt. Bilko" crossed with the gently loopy charms of Ealing Comedies, and you'll get an idea of the tone of this film.