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| last_aired = | preceded_by = | followed_by = | website = }} ''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. ==Summary== 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". Smith returns to more traditional roles by directing and starring in a series of Shakespeare productions for the stage and screen, including ''Hamlet'' (1949), with a screenplay "adapted in collaboration with Noël Coward". These works, as well as his appearance in a much-lauded commercial for Sudso washing detergent, help establish him as one of his generation's foremost actors. Smith marries Mazie Mitford and, in 1955, founds the Norbert Studios, which produce British Westerns such as ''They Called Him Stranger'' (1955) as well as a series of British comedies including ''Passport to Puddlewitch'' (starring the comedian Dick Dotty) and ''Whimsy Galore''. Smith also appears in the drama ''Mozart: Man of Music'' (1957), remaking it as ''Beethoven: Man of Music'' in 1958 and as ''Andrew Lloyd Webber: Man of Music'' in 1984. Smith is knighted for his contributions to the British stage and screen. As Sir Norbert, he appears in ''It's Grim Up North'' (1962), in which he plays the father of a poor working class household, unable to exert any authority over his family, and over his rebellious adult son in particular: "If I find out who's taken my belt, I'll take my bloody belt to them". In a change of pace, he also appears in the rock musical ''Keep Your Hair On, Daddio'' (1962), starring the popular singer Davey Throb. Sir Norbert plays Throb’s father, unable to appreciate the new beat music performed by Throb and his friends, but he finally grows to love the music scene, and joins in. Sir Norbert also features in ''Rover Returns Home'' (1964), a film notable for one of the first cinematic appearances of Michael Caine. On the prestigious interview series ''Head to Head'', however, it is implied that Sir Norbert's career is at its nadir and that he has a bad drink problem. This suggestion is borne out by his next film, ''Dogs of Death'' in which he and his fellow veteran cast members—Richard Smashed, Dick Booze, Oliver Guinness, and Peter O'Pissed—drink heavily on set. (In a two-way dialogue scene his glass has been re-filled each time the camera returns to him.) Sir Norbert's next film is another change of pace: ''Carry On Banging'', set in the Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp of the 1980s. He then appears as a British butler in ''Martha'' (1983), and produces a biopic of Nelson Mandela, with Sir Norbert putting on blackface makeup for the title role. At 80, interviewed by Bragg, Sir Norbert has no current projects, but remains a well-loved icon among British actors. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Norbert Smith: A Life」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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