BACK in the Fifties and Sixties Norman Wisdom was Britain's highest-earning performer with a string of hit films in which he played his famous character, The Gump.

But, like most comics, he always fancied playing it straight.

Darwen, of all places, gave him that chance in the rather odd film There was a Crooked Man in 1961, centred round the Theatre Royal in Railway Road, opened in 1877, which became the McKillup Arms.

It wasn't a roaring success. Wisdom fans wanted The Gump.

Darreners got the comic character, but only when Norman clowned around with the locals while filming around town, as this image from Darwen Days shows.

And unlike today, filming was public, with daily life of Darwen carrying on as normal as the cameras rolled and crowds always watching the action.

Housewives would gather to watch the drama unfold during the day, while factory and office workers, along with schoolchildren swelled the numbers late afternoon.

The film disappeared into virtual oblivion for over 50 years till it was released on DVD by Network Distributing, as part of The British Film Collection.

Darwen folk can see it and the town from 50 years ago again, however, as it has now been released on on Blu-Ray and Amazon Video.