Some of the reviews here are from people who, having been told this is Norman's best film, might not watch any others. I'd not exactly say I don't like this, but I'd place it near the bottom of the list. Perhaps only Press for Time is worse. There's a certain style of comedy and pathos that's missing here, and strangely the colour does not help. The opening scenes are reminiscent of Morecambe and Wise, in their Breakfast sketch. Overall, there's a lack of sharpness to the comedy, so oddly the Norman Wisdom films from ten years earlier don't look so old fashioned as the ones made in the 1960's.Trouble in Store, Stitch in Time, Bulldog Breed, at least give those a try if The Early Bird was not your cup of tea, because those three are more representative of Norman Wisdom's comedy - not just silly slapstick, but true heart.

...which i really enjoyed!The film starts off on a brand new day at The Grimsdale Dairy, where Norman and Mr. Grimsdale are getting up, falling down stairs and ripping wallpaper!! not to mention getting the odd dressing gown caught in the odd door!Anyway Norman sets off in his horse and cart (yes, it's 1965 and Norman still uses a horse and cart!) and when it comes for Norman to set the milk down on the doorstep, he realises someone has beat him too it!!! and new and bigger dairy! (which i forget the name off)One of the milkmen from the new dairy breaks The Grimsdale Dairy bottle and lies saying it was cats kicking them, which results in a war between the two dairy's!After a long hard battle (even a comical game off golf!), Mr Grimsdale decides to give in and sell the Grimsdale dairy to the larger company, believing he'll get 50/50 of the shares, which he doesn't!!!Later on Norman fakes a fire by releasing some sort of smoke machine which makes everyone believe that there is a fire!After the head of the fire department realises what is wrong, the head of the diary hopes that Norman gets 10 years for his trouble but Norman quickly replies that it's not as bad as what they did to Grimsdale dairy, they finally resolve the problem but Norman thinks they are back when the amazing bottle kicking cats make an appearance!So overall i really enjoyed this film, plenty off laughable moments and sad emotional bits squeezed in to create a great, clean, family film!

Norman Pitkin works in a small, very basic dairy for Mr Grimsdale. Their quiet, horse-drawn existence is threatened by the expansion of a huge modern dairy (Consolidated Dairies) with a fleet of milkmen, some of whom are muscling in on Grimsdale's patch by breaking their bottles.. Norman sets out to ensure his dairy's survival – hilarity and much chaos ensues.I love Norman Wisdom but this is nowhere near his best. Here the plot is actually quite good but it's only used well once or twice. Instead we have several set piece scenes which were clearly thought up before the actual plot because they are almost crowbarred into the film. For example – the whole golf scene is very thinly inserted and things like the lawnmower scene and the fire fighting scene bear little relation to the story itself.This wouldn't be a major problem if it was very funny, however, like the scenes themselves, the comedy feels a bit forced and not natural in the way Wisdom's best routines are. The whole golf scene is forced and the lawnmower scene will have you asking why he didn't just let go of the thing. There still is plenty to enjoy – my favourite being a cowboy pastiche – but overall it is really just Pitkin falling down as much as possible with the plot forgotten.Wisdom looks old and well fed – a strange comment perhaps, but it offsets his usual image as a working class hero. Being in full colour doesn't help but he isn't the character he was 10 years ago. Chapman is OK but his extra material and love interest make him less enjoyable as a comedy character. Desmonde is the upper class fool as always but here the comedy almost demeans his talents. The upside of the film is that there is no wasted time for Wisdom to chase a pretty young ankle – we have no love interest.Overall this is enjoyable for die-hard fans and children. The reliance on physical humour is to the detriment of the plot and regularly feels forced and unfunny. It is sill amusing and I had a few laughs but this is many miles from Wisdom at his peak.

'The Early Bird' just has to be THE Norman Wisdom film. From the marvellous opening sequence, to the finale, there is not a single dull moment. Of all of his films, this has to be his most popular.Norman plays a milkman for a local town dairy, his boss is the laid-back Mr. Grimsdale, superbly played by Edward Chapman. However, a large corporate dairy starts to muscle in on their patch, and Norman is soon pitted against a sneaky and unscrupulous Austin (Bryan Pringle). The laughs are soon flowing thick and fast as war develops.In many ways this film symbolises the changing times of the '60s when the pace of life speeded up, aptly summarised by the quote 'You can't impede the wheels of progress' from the film. As always, Norman manages to save the day, and dispense his particular brand of common sense. In this film, though, his victory is more by default than judgement.The film contains many classic moments, the sick horse, the apples, the 'shootout', the golf, the fire, and many more.Finally, I have often wondered if Benny Hill got his inspiration for 'Ernie' from this film?Definitely **** out of *****