''Press for Time'' is a 1966 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 ...

starring

Norman Wisdom Sir Norman Joseph Wisdom, (4 February 1915 – 4 October 2010) was an English actor, comedian, musician and singer best known for a series of comedy films produced between 1953 and 1966 featuring a hapless onscreen character often called Norman ...

. The screenplay was written by Eddie Leslie and Norman Wisdom, based on the 1963 novel ''Yea Yea Yea'', by Angus McGill. It was partly filmed in

Teignmouth Teignmouth ( ) is a seaside town, fishing port and civil parish in the English county of Devon. It is situated on the north bank of the estuary mouth of the River Teign, about 12 miles south of Exeter. The town had a population of 14,749 at th ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

. It was the last film Wisdom made for the

Rank Organisation The Rank Organisation was a British entertainment conglomerate founded by industrialist J. Arthur Rank in April 1937. It quickly became the largest and most vertically integrated film company in the United Kingdom, owning production, distrib ...

Plot

Norman Shields (Norman Wisdom) is a

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as p ...

seller in London, a job organised for him by his grandfather, the Prime Minister (also played by Wisdom). After causing chaos. he is found a new job as reporter on a newspaper in the fictional seaside town of Tinmouth (partly filmed in the real seaside town of

). The newspaper owner, an MP, has ambitions to become a junior minister and so goes along with the Prime Minister's 'request'. During his time in Tinmouth, the well-meaning Norman gets himself into all sorts of trouble whilst reporting, such as starting an argument at a council meeting which develops into an all-out fight between members. He later becomes the reporter for the entertainment section of the newspaper, covering a beauty contest which his girlfriend Liz wins. They later return to London together, leaving a more politically settled Tinmouth behind.

Cast

as Norman Shields/ Emily, his mother/ Wilfred, his grandfather (the P.M.) *

Derek Bond Derek William Douglas Bond MC (26 January 1920 – 15 October 2006) was a British actor. He was President of the trade union Equity from 1984 to 1986. Life and career Bond was born on 26 January 1920 in Glasgow, Scotland. He attended Haberd ...

as Major R.E. Bartlett *

Derek Francis Derek Francis (7 November 1923 – 27 March 1984) was an English comedy and character actor. Biography Francis was a regular in the Carry On film players, appearing in six of the films in the 1960s and 1970s. He appeared in '' The Tomb of Lig ...

as Alderman Corcoran *

Angela Browne Angela Browne (14 June 1938 – 20 June 2001) was a British actress. She had a recurring role in the early 1960s crime series '' Ghost Squad''. She also appeared in episodes of shows such as ''Danger Man'', ''No Hiding Place'', '' The Saint'', ...

as Eleanor Lampton *Tracey Crisp as Ruby Fairchild *

Allan Cuthbertson Allan Darling Cuthbertson (7 April 1920 – 8 February 1988) was an Australian-born British actor. He was best known for playing stern-faced military officers in British films of the 1950s and 1960s. Early life Cuthbertson was born in Perth, ...

as Mr. Ballard (Attorney General) *

Noel Dyson Elsie Noël Dyson (23 December 1916 – 29 June 1995) was an English character actress Dyson played a number of roles in theatre, television and films (including in telemovies) but is best remembered as a versatile character actress in TV seri ...

as Mrs. Corcoran * Peter Jones as Robin Willoughby (photographer) * David Lodge as Mr. Ross (editor of the ''Tinmouth Times'') * Stanley Unwin as Mr. Nottage (Town Clerk) * Frances White as Liz Corcoran * Michael Balfour as Sewerman *

Tony Selby Anthony Samuel Selby (26 February 1938 – 5 September 2021) was an English actor. He was best known for his roles as Clive Mitchell in ''EastEnders'', Corporal Percy Marsh in '' Get Some In!'', and Sabalom Glitz in ''Doctor Who''. Life and c ...

as Harry Marshall (reporter for the ''County Chronicle'') * Michael Bilton *Norman Pitt *Hazel Coppen as Granny Fork *

Totti Truman Taylor Totti Truman Taylor, born Dorothy Leah Truman (7 September 1915 – 5 March 1981), was a British actress. Her mother’s 2nd husband’s surname was Taylor, and this is where her stage name came from. In 1953, she played Aunt Sally in the BBC tele ...

as Mrs. Doe Connor *Toni Gilpin as P.M.'s secretary *

Gordon Rollings Gordon Charles Rollings (17 April 1926 – 7 June 1985) was an English actor who mainly appeared on television, but also appeared on-stage and in feature films. He was born in Batley, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England in 1926 and start ...

as Bus Conductor *

Imogen Hassall Imogen Hassall (25 August 1942 – 16 November 1980) was an English actress who appeared in 33 films during the 1960s and 1970s. Early life Named after Shakespeare's ''Cymbeline'' heroine, she was born in Woking, Surrey, to a financially comf ...

as Suffragette (uncredited) * Helen Mirren as Penelope Squires (uncredited)

External links

* 1966 films 1966 comedy films British comedy films Films directed by Robert Asher Films set in Devon Films set in London 1960s English-language films 1960s British films {{1960s-UK-comedy-film-stub