''Postman's Knock'' is a 1962 British

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed by Robert Lynn starring

Spike Milligan Terence Alan "Spike" Milligan (16 April 1918 – 27 February 2002) was an Irish actor, comedian, writer, musician, poet, and playwright. The son of an English mother and Irish father, he was born in British Raj, British Colonial India, where h ...

, Barbara Shelley, John Wood and Warren Mitchell. The screenplay concerns a country

postman A mail carrier, mailman, mailwoman, postal carrier, postman, postwoman, or letter carrier (in American English), sometimes colloquially known as a postie (in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom), is an employee of a post ...

who is transferred to London, where he manages to foil a major robbery. According to MGM the film made a loss of $31,000..

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 A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

. 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

- Harold Petts * Barbara Shelley - Jean * John Wood - P.C. Woods * Archie Duncan - Inspector * Warren Mitchell - Rupert * Lance Percival - Joe * Arthur Mullard - Sam * John Bennett - Pete *

Ronald Adam General Sir Ronald Forbes Adam, 2nd Baronet, (30 October 1885 – 26 December 1982) was a senior British Army officer. He had an important influence on the conduct of the British Army during the Second World War as a result of his long tenure ...

- Mr. Fordyce *

Miles Malleson William Miles Malleson (25 May 1888 – 15 March 1969) was an English actor and dramatist, particularly remembered for his appearances in British comedy films of the 1930s to 1960s. Towards the end of his career he also appeared in cameo roles i ...

- Psychiatrist * Wilfrid Lawson - Postman *

Mario Fabrizi Mario Edgio Pantaleone Fabrizi (1924 – 5 April 1963) was an English comedian and actor of Italian descent, noted for his luxuriant moustache. He was active in Britain in the 1950s and early 1960s. Life Fabrizi was born to Italian parents in ...

- Villager * Bob Todd - District Superintendent

Critical reception

''Britmovie'' noted "several promising satirical opportunities are sadly lost beneath a welter of frenetic slapstick"; while David McGillivray described the film in the ''

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' (currently styled as ''RadioTimes'') is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in May 1923 by J ...

'' 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 ''Cry Freedom'' is a 1987 epic apartheid drama film directed and produced by Richard Attenborough, set in late-1970s apartheid-era South Africa. The screenplay was written by John Briley based on a pair of books by journalist Donald Woods. The ...

''). Consequently the brilliant

Goon Goon may refer to: Slang * Humans: ** People noted for brutality, or otherwise as targets of contempt: *** A guard in a prisoner of war camp (British World War II usage) *** An enforcer (ice hockey) *** A hired thug, in a goon squad ** Alter ...

flounders in the conventional, happy-go-lucky tale of a village postman who is transferred to London."

References

External links

* * * {{tcmdb title, id=86993 1962 films 1962 comedy films 1960s English-language films Films directed by Robert Lynn British comedy films Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Films scored by Ron Goodwin British black-and-white films Films set in London Films with screenplays by John Briley Films about postal systems Films shot at MGM-British Studios 1960s British films