Charlie Chaplin's 'Tramp'

Although Wikipedia is not the most reliable source of information, it contains a good description of Charlie Chaplin's 'Tramp' character. This is great for comparing to Norman Wisdom's 'Gump.'

"The physical attributes of the Tramp include a pair of baggy pants, a tight coat, a small bowler hat, a large pair of shoes, a cane and the famous small mustache. The Tramp walks strangely and uncomfortably because of the ill-fitting clothing; either he is wearing secondhand clothes, or they are originally his but he cannot afford new ones. The Tramp may have seen better days, but he maintains the attitude and demeanor of a high-class individual; as long as he acts like one he can believe that he is one, and is able to keep his hope that some day he actually will be again.
The Tramp was usually the victim of circumstance and coincidence, but sometimes the results worked in his favor. In Modern Times he picks up a red flag that falls off a truck and starts to wave it at the truck in an attempt to return it, and by doing so, unknowingly and inadvertently becomes the leader of group of protesting workers, and ends up in jail because of it. While in jail he accidentally eats “nose powder” (i.e. cocaine), which causes him to not return to his jail cell; but when he eventually does, he fights off some jail breakers attempting to escape, thus saving the life of the warden. Because of this, the warden offers to let him go, but the Tramp would rather stay in jail because it is better than the outside world."

DVD Commentaries

My next sources of research are Norman's DVD commentaries on my 3 focus films, Trouble in Store, Square Peg and On The Beat.

Norman was fairly old when he recorded these commentaries and it is clear that he struggles with his memory. Having said this, the commentaries do provide me with information such as why he chose to perform a particular way. I think these are reliable sources because the information is coming from Norman himself and also they are useful to me because they focus on each of the particular films I am looking at.

Norman Wisdom - His Story

This is the first part of a television documentary about Norman's career, it contains a lot of interviews with people who personally knew him. This documentary is very similar to others I have looked at although I feel this one talks about his life in greater detail.

Archive Footage

The archive footage I have posted a link to below are videos I found on the British Pathe website. I found these really interesting because they are from the 1950's which was the peak of Norman's career. They may not give me any information that I can use in my dissertation but they do help me to get a good idea of his fame and success at the time.

http://www.britishpathe.com/workspaces/BritishPathe/Norman-Wisdom-archive-newsreel-film-footage

Description from website:

"This collection of newsreel clips is about the late Norman Wisdom. We have archive film of Norman playing cricket in 1956. In the same year Norman Wisdom is featured in a newsreel of the 1956 Motor Show - ever the joker! 1955 and wonderful colour footage of Norman Wisdom preparing for a photo shoot with his 2 year old son Nicholas Wisdom. We als have a 1957 film clip of Norman Wisdom making an appeal on behalf of the Cinematograph Trades Benevolent Fund and an 'on the hoof' interview with Norman Wisdom about his recent (1956) and future travels abroad and our interviewer gets Wisdom to demonstrate his hysterical laughter - Norman does so, and people in the background start laughing too."

The Unforgettable Norman Wisdom

The Unforgettable Norman Wisdom is a documentary I watched recently about the life of Norman. It is a 30 minute documentary that talked in detail about Norman's childhood, the beginnings of his career and also his final years before he died. I found this documentary really interesting. One particular fact I learned from this documentary was that his 'Don't Laugh At Me' song, which become his theme tune, was in the charts for 15 weeks. I think this is a reliable source for me to use because it includes interviews with Norman's children who provide information about what he was really like as a person. Other interviewee's include Honor Blackman and Vera Lynn.

Documentary - Norman Wisdom Heroes of Comedy

'Norman Wisdom - Heroes of Comedy' is a documentary about his success as a British comedian. From watching this I have learned that Norman often used experiences from his childhood to influence him. He often portrayed characters that saw himself as equal to others, despite being lower class.

"He was the master of falling over. He was brilliant at it. He did it with such style, one minute he'd be standing, then he'd be on the floor!"              

Elaine Page

"He was the most popular film star in this country. I remember going to see a film of his, I got to the cinema and they were lined up, right round the block of the while cinema. There must have been about five or six hundred, maybe even more than that, people lined up to see his latest film."

Bruce Forsyth

"That was the wonderful thing about him, that he could be right at the bottom of the social pile and he simple didn't recognise this. [he'd say] I'm as good as you lot!"

Hugh Stewart

Clown Prince of Albania

I found an article on the BBC Website that was written in 2001. It discusses Norman's success in Albania. I printed out the article and cut out all the bits I thought were most relevant. (photocopy below). This collection of information provides me with everything I need to know about his time in Albania and why the nation saw him as their idol. (Full article at http://news.bbc.co.uk)