Norman Pitkin works at Scotland Yard as a car cleaner, but dreams of becoming a policeman as his late father was. The police reject his request to join the force, but later recruit him to work undercover in disguise. He has turned out to be the double twin of a suspected jewel thief, an Italian crime boss in London. In addition to his criminal activities, this man is a ladies' hairdresser.
Norman disguises himself as the suspect and gains entry to his salon. Once inside, after some inevitable mishaps, he manages to find the stolen goods, knock out the suspect, wrap him up in a curtain/wall rug, and bring him to justice.
As a reward, he is offered a permanent position in the police and marries his love, the ex-girlfriend of the man he brought to justice (whom he had rescued earlier in the film when she was attempting to commit suicide by jumping in the river).
On the Beat was shot at Pinewood Studios and on location around Windsor. The film's sets were designed by the art directorBert Davey. It marked a return to Rank for Wisdom following two films for United Artists, although the latter handled the film for distribution in North America. Producer Hugh Stewart said "I thought it was a very good film."[2]
Reception
Box Office
The film was one of the 12 most popular movies at the British box office in 1963.[3] 96
Critical
The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Chaplin has said that 'Comedy is life viewed from a distance, tragedy, life in close-up'. This is a comedy which mistakes distance for over-simplification: a world where policemen, cockneys, hairdressers and landladies behave as though born in a uniform, indoctrinated from infancy with a set of clichés and mannerisms. Like Chaplin, Norman Wisdom is small and helpless in a bullying world, but he solicits our pity where Chaplin would enlist our sympathy. His final success strips him of any attraction: a man who brings his superiors down to his own cloying level, and deserts his bride at the sound of a police whistle."[4]
Leslie Halliwell said: "Busy but flat comedy vehice, never very likeable."[5]
