London, 1940. Aspiring jazz musician and future comedy legend Terence "Spike" Milligan reluctantly obeys his call-up and joins the Royal Artillery regiment at Bexhill, where he begins training to take part in the War.

But along the way Spike and his friends get involved in many amusing - and some not-so amusing - scrapes. Based on the first volume of Milligan's war memoirs.

Zany World War II comedy based on the cynical wartime memoirs of acerbic comedian Spike Milligan. Norman Cohen’s undemanding screen adaptation is comprised of amusing anecdotes but lacks the anarchic humour or pathos that could have been extracted from the films premise. Milligan steals many a scene playing his own father, whilst Jim Dale is patently too old to portray the youthful conscript Spike.

Young jazz trumpeter Spike (Jim Dale) is enjoying a carefree existence when news arrives that Germany has invaded Poland and war is a distinct possibility – and thus it follows that Spike is enlisted when war breaks out.

The story chronicles the adventures of Spike and his motley pals during his time as a naive conscript, as their rigorous basic training with the Royal Artillery at Bexhill gradually degenerates into a chaotic free-for-all. Spikes adventures include gunnery practise with an ancient artillery piece, witnessing his first dead German, a farcical inter-company boxing match and slapstick military manoeuvres.

Jim Dale played the part of Spike and Spike was his own father!

A review from Channel 4 film

Comic adaptation of Spike Milligan's wartime autobiography starring Jim Dale, and featuring Milligan himself as his own father

Arguably the most creative of The Goons, and certainly the most subversive, Spike Milligan wrote seven volumes of wartime autobiography, of which 'Adolf Hitler - My Part In His Downfall', published in 1971, was the first. For director and co-writer Norman Cohen (who put Alf Garnet on the big screen with 1969's Till Death Us Do Part ) this adaptation followed work on a feature-length version of 'Dad's Army', and preceded a series of Confessions films - a fairly accurate indication of the film's pitch and tone.

Featuring a handful of well-loved British TV actors (Arthur Lowe, Windsor Davies, Bill Maynard and Geoffrey Hughes - later of 'Coronation Street' and 'The Royle Family'), it avoids the bitter satire of the similarly-themed How I Won The War in favour of a knockabout tribute to the British army's cheerful incompetence and have-a-go amateurism.

Set at the start of World War II, it follows aspiring jazz trumpeter Terence 'Spike' Milligan (Dale) as he's conscripted to the Royal Artillery and taken through basic training. Struggling with meagre supplies and the concept of discipline, he learns to fire a cannon with no shells, takes part in a chaotic boxing tournament and ends up captured by a rival regiment during a training exercise.

Unsurprisingly perhaps, given Milligan's own background as a writer, there's little in the way of plot and the film operates as a series of sketches. The best and funniest of these - soldiers shouting "bang!" at the point their cannon would go off, had they any ammunition; Spike's encounters with Sgt Ellis (Maynard) have the same anarchic, absurdist spirit as Monty Python. Milligan himself has a fairly small role as Spike's dotty Dad. Dale, however, does a convincing impression, and Milligan's presence is everywhere in the script, particularly in the form of his free-flowing, slippery wordplay.

There's no denying that there's a slightness to the film, and the two most pointed moments - the first time Spike sees a dead body, and a long, closing sequence in which the soldiers head off to war - sit slightly awkwardly next to the Carry On-style comedy. But accomplished performances by an experienced comic cast ensure it rattles along, and since Milligan's own movie acting roles were limited, it's worth savouring his appearance and writing here.

Verdict

A knockabout comedy that benefits from enjoyable performances by a brace of familiar British faces. Less barbed than Milligan's reputation might suggest, but driven by his chaotic comic energy.

Cast:


Jim Dale .... Spike Milligan
Arthur Lowe .... Major Drysdale
Bill Maynard .... Sergeant Ellis
Tony Selby .... Bill
Geoffrey Hughes .... Larry
Spike Milligan .... Leo Milligan (Spike's Father)
Pat Coombs .... Mrs. Milligan
Windsor Davies .... Sergeant MacKay
Stephen Yardley .... Lieutenant Martin
Bob Todd .... Referee
Anthony Booth .... Tommy Brettell
Jim Norton .... Pongo
John Forgeham .... Wally
Donald Hewlett .... Prison Officer
Robert Longden .... Heavenly

The above images of Jim Dale are from his website here