Aka
- Wonderful to Be Young (I am writing a sequel - Shitty to be Old)
This put me in such a good mood. An old fashioned let's put on a show in
the best tradition of Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland - except it was 1961
and set in England. This is the first of four pop musicals with Cliff Richard
as the leading man - this, Summer Holiday, Swinger's Paradise and Finders
Keepers. The first three are terrific - the last a bit too goofy and
without the great big numbers. It is directed by Sidney Furie and choreographed
by Herbert Ross both of whom also performed the same duties in Swinger's
Paradise. Summer Holiday was directed by Peter Yates - so some talent there.
Ross had been a choreographer for about ten years in the theater - but did
not get a chance to really directed till the end of the 60's when he ran
off Funny Girl, Goodbye Mr. Chips, The Owl and the Pussycat, Play It
Again Sam, The Sunshine Boys and Funny Lady over the next seven years. Interesting
that Barbra Streisand starred in three of them because he wanted her for
this film but the producer didn't think she was right for the part. Huge
mistake. The lovely actress in this film Carole Gray is a marvelous dancer
and stunning but she had to be dubbed for the singing parts. With Streisand
this film would be a classic. It was a boffo hit in England but I can't find
out if it even made it to America.
Simple enough plot - the kids have a club where they hang out, dance and
sing with Nicky (Richard) doing most of the performing. They find out that
a property developer has bought all the land around them and has dibs on
their clubhouse unless they can come up with 1.500 pounds and no one has
a shilling to spare. So they do the natural thing - put on a show, advertise
it on pirate radio and find an old dilapidated theater. Ok - not so easy
- the property developer played by Robert Morley - keeps buying the theaters
and putting an end to their dreams - he also happens to be Nicky's father.
Clearly, in the end they put on the show and everyone is happy - even Morley
who joins them on stage to dance - earlier he showed some karate moves! There
is a strange sub-plot thrown in about a well-endowed actress (Sonya Cordeau)
who wants to join the show but it seems to have little point other than giving
her assets a film premier.
But's it's the music Jake. Songs pop out from everywhere constantly - most
of them nice cozy pop songs - a few big numbers, a few small ones with Richard
and Gray gazing into each other's eyes. She gets one big dance number and
I had to wonder what happened to her. After this she made a few films in
the horror genre - Devils of Darkness, Curse of the Fly and Island of Terror
- before she moved back to Rhodesia to perform on stage. Before she did she
got the nickname "The Scream Queen". Maybe that is why she moved back. So
lots and lots of music - shot in Cinemascope and ablaze with color. The Shadows
get one song.
