Overview
Norman Pitkin and Mr Grimsdale are council workmen mending the road outside an Army base when they come into conflict with the military. Shortly afterwards, they get drafted and fall into the clutches of the Sergeant they have just bested. They are sent to France to repair roads in front of the Allied advance but get captured. Pitkin takes advantage of a useful similarity to impersonate General Schreiber and manages to return a hero
Crew
DirectorJohn Paddy Carstairs
WriterJack Davies, Henry Blyth, Norman Wisdom, Eddie Leslie
Cast
Norman Wisdom
Private Norman Pitkin / General Otto Schreiber
Honor Blackman
Junior Commander Lesley Cartland
Edward Chapman
Private Wilfred Grimsdale
Campbell Singer
Sergeant Loder
Hattie Jacques
Gretchen
Brian Worth
Henri Le Blanc
Terence Alexander
Captain Wharton
John Warwick
Colonel Layton
Arnold Bell
General Hunt
Victor Beaumont
Jogenkraut
André Maranne
Jean-Claude
Frank Williams
Captain Ford
Eddie Leslie
Medical Officer
Richard Marner
German Officer
John G. Heller
German Officer at Gatepost
Roger Avon
Workman (uncredited)
William Baskiville
German Officer (uncredited)
Jim Beasley
British Solider (uncredited)
Alan Beaton
Lieutenant Colonel Bill (uncredited)
Martin Boddey
Colonel (uncredited)
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Keywords
world war iiblack and whitearmy base
Details
TMDb Votes
33
Added May 14, 2026Updated Jun 4, 2026