Ernest Pintoff won an Academy Award for an amusing animated short, THE CRITIC (1963). Later, he directed a few truly forgettable comedies (such as DYNAMITE CHICKEN and LUNCH WAGON) and an interesting police thriller, BLADE (1973). He also directed a slew of TV episodes. In this, his first feature film, Pintoff created an offbeat comedy that has a cartoon-like quality and is based on the clichés of everyday life. It shows Harvey Middleman (Eugene Troobnick), a fireman in New York City who is married with two kids and a dog, in work and at home. He gets into a brief romance with a young woman (Patricia Harty) he saves from a fire. This latter complication sends Harvey to analyst Hermione Gingold, who basically plays her cuckoo-woman character but offers some funny moments. We also visit Harvey in dreams, flashbacks to his youth and occasionally he talks directly to the audience.
In many ways, HARVEY MIDDLEMAN, FIREMAN predates the neurotic slash nebbish comedies that Woody Allen would later make. Harvey's plight, however, has the look and feel of a TV sitcom stretched to feature length. The jokes are clever and funny but the movie is quite forgettable. Completists will note an early role by character actor Charles Durning, who in 1965 was looking quite trim and fit.
In many ways, HARVEY MIDDLEMAN, FIREMAN predates the neurotic slash nebbish comedies that Woody Allen would later make. Harvey's plight, however, has the look and feel of a TV sitcom stretched to feature length. The jokes are clever and funny but the movie is quite forgettable. Completists will note an early role by character actor Charles Durning, who in 1965 was looking quite trim and fit.