Norbert Smith: A Life
| Norbert Smith: A Life | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Mockumentary |
| Written by |
|
| Directed by | Geoff Posner |
| Starring | Harry Enfield |
| Narrated by | Melvyn Bragg |
| Theme music composer | David Firman |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Geoffrey Perkins |
| Running time | 52 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Hat Trick Productions |
| Release | |
| Original network | Channel 4 |
| Original release |
|
Norbert Smith: A Life, also released as Sir Norbert Smith: A Life, is a 1989 mockumentary (spoof documentary) television film, charting the life and career of the fictitious British actor Sir Norbert Smith. It stars Harry Enfield in the title role. It was written by Harry Enfield and Geoffrey Perkins and directed by Geoff Posner.
The film is presented as if it were an edition of the ITV arts programme The South Bank Show, commemorating the 80th birthday of Sir Norbert Smith, a celebrated British actor. Melvyn Bragg, the real-life presenter of The South Bank Show, plays himself, visiting Sir Norbert at his home and encouraging him to reminisce about his past career. Bragg also talks with various people who worked with Sir Norbert over the years. The interviews, scattered through the film, gradually reveal that although Sir Norbert is acclaimed as one of Britain's "Knights of the Theatre", a star Shakespearean actor in the mould of Laurence Olivier or John Gielgud, none of his contemporaries has anything particularly good to say about him, and that the elderly Sir Norbert himself has confused and unreliable memories about his own past. The main focus of the film, however, is to look back upon Sir Norbert's career as an actor, using interspersed clips featuring him in a variety of film roles.
Born in South London in 1909, the young Norbert visits the Peckham Empire theatre and grows fond of the music hall. He launches into film playing a supporting role in Oh, Mr Bankrobber! (1936), starring the beloved British comedian Will Silly. He climbs his way to stardom in Rebel Without a Tie (1937), in which he plays a petty criminal who, after a clip round the ear from a policeman, suddenly sees the error of his ways and is reformed. With the outbreak of World War II, Smith goes to Hollywood to star in musicals such as Lullaby of London (1940), but returns to Britain in time to produce public information films for the war effort, including Venereal Disease: The Facts (1941), in which he speaks direct to camera, in deadly earnest, about the dangers of sexually transmitted disease. However, due to the film censorship and prudishness prevalent at the time, he is unable to convey any useful information at all; any reference to the disease is hidden behind euphemisms such as "unmentionables".
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