Play It Cool
Director: Michael Winner
Year: 1962
Rating: 6.0
A harmless piece
of fluff that showcases a number of British pop stars from the early 1960's.
I always enjoy films like this for the opportunity to see artists who are
pretty much forgotten by anyone who wasn't alive during those years. And
even by some who were. Most of these singers were mainly popular in England
and never made it to the States. It is sort of an historical record. The
main story revolves around Billy Fury, a name that might strike a remote
bell for some. In the late 50's and early 60's he was very popular and had
a number of hits in England. John Lennon asked for his autograph. He was
very influenced by Elvis as was nearly every rocker at the time - his grinding
moves got him a lot of negative feedback from the press which was very far
from being with it.
In this he and his band are trying to break
into the business and have a gig lined up in Brussels. They get on the plane
and while they wait he breaks into a song, they have to get off and wait
in the lounge and he sings another song. They never make it to Brussels.
It is just a roundabout way to show some other acts. They meet a girl (Anna
Palk) on the plane who wants to get together with a singer that her father
(Dennis Price) is trying to keep her away from. So they all go looking for
her boyfriend and hit club after club trying to find him. And so we get to
see Helen Shapiro sing two songs. She was only sixteen at the time but had
her first hit at fourteen. Also Bobby Vee, a teenage idol, Danny Williams
who was called the British Johnny Mathis and had a hit with Moon River and
a few other acts that were too obscure for me. And that is pretty much it
except the boyfriend turns out to be a jerk. It is a very early film from
director Michael Winner who said at that point in his career he was happy
to take on anything. A little bit of humor and a lot of music.
