Cliff Richard Films

Reviews of DVDs

Expresso Bongo (1959) DVD from 'Kino on Video' (US)

Johnny: You strangled the old vocal chords very effectively, my boy. Bert: Do what? Johnny: The old tonsil caper. Bert: Ah, that's nothing. It's the old drums I fancy. I got the rhythm kind of natural like. It comes natural. Johnny: It's that golden voice you want to cultivate. Any schmuck can irritate those skins.

Stars: Laurence Harvey, Cliff Richard, Sylvia Syms, Yolande Donlan, Hermione Baddeley, Meier Tzelniker

Director: Val Guest Run Time: 01h:45m:48s

One of the timeless and reliable cinematic chestnuts concerns the discovery of a young, unknown musician, and his meteoric but rocky rise to stardom. During the heyday of the young Elvis Presley, when imitation was the most blatant form of flattery, it seemed that every studio rushed to crank out a story of a big-haired street-crooner-turned-star. In 1959, hip British director Val Guest, the man who gave us the creepy sci-fi horror of The Quartermass Xperiment (1955) and The Day The Earth Caught Fire (1961), took his shot at the genre, and the final product was Expresso Bongo. Working from a chatty screenplay by sporadic collaborating partner Wolf Mankowitz, Guest's film is the story of Johnny Jackson (Laurence Harvey), a jive-talking manager-wannabe in the trendy Soho district of 1959 London. Johnny is having a tough time making ends meet, despite the abundance of coffee shops full of unsigned talent. With all those crazy Brit teens and their "new" rock music, it's not long before Johnny locates the "next big thing," in the form of bongo-swatting singer Bert Rudge (Cliff Richard). After christening his new protege with the somewhat clunky moniker of "Bongo" Herbert, Johnny proceeds to jumpstart both of their careers. As with any film of the genre, some expected—and unexpected—bumps arise along the way, and Guest manages to moves us along through the lives of the characters without turning Expresso Bongo into a completely predictable ride. By the time the aging, but sultry, songstress Dixie Collins (Yolande Donlan) enters the film, near midpoint, it's clear that Guest and Mankowitz have managed to capture the fervor and energy of the so-called "Brit Beat" scene. Laurence Harvey's (The Manchurian Candidate, The Alamo) Johnny is the focal point of this film. It is his speedy, caffeine-induced monologues that generate much of the entertainment value here, as he bounds from scheme to scheme, with dollar signs in his eyes. Harvey, not a comedic actor specifically, is completely charismatic and likeable here, and delivers his lines with a wonderful bitterness. Johnny's bickering, love/hate relationship with his wide-eyed stripper girlfriend Maise (Sylvia Syms) is reminiscent of the onscreen partnering of William Powell and Myrna Loy. Syms and Harvey are perfect together, and their endless back-and-forth banter is a treat to listen to. Fans of unusual songs should take note of Maise's Material Girl-ish strip club number early on in the film. It's a hoot. Surprisingly, Cliff Richard almost takes a back seat to Laurence Harvey. Richard, who would go on to become one of Britain's all-time legendary pop stars, delivers a nice performance, and gets to belt out a few hip tunes, of course. His version of Shrine On The 2nd Floor, an ode to his working-class mother, is one of the oddities that make a film like Expresso Bongo that much more fun. Val Guest manages to work the rags-to-riches story into something a step above what is typical of this type of film. While not on par with the chilling subject matter of The Day The Earth Caught Fire, Expresso Bongo is more lighthearted fare, and does have more than a handful of interesting characters, snappy dialogue, and all that groovy music, daddy-o. Rating for Style: B Rating for Substance: B Aspect Ratio 2.35:1 - Widescreen Original Aspect Ratio yes Anamorphic yes Image Transfer Review: Kino's 2.35:1 widescreen anamorphic transfer is sprinkled with sporadic spots, and some scratches, especially during reel changes. For a film from 1959, however, Guest's film looks fairly good overall. Expresso Bongo was originally filmed in Dyaliscope, which was a European version of Cinemascope. John Wilcox's black & white photography looks relatively sharp, with only some edge enhancement issues, primarily during shots of striped sweaters and the like. Image Transfer Grade: B- Audio Transfer Review: Kino has not bothered to enhance the audio track, instead they have opted to present Guest's project in its original mono splendor. The general format limitations are present, but the rapid British dialogue is mostly easy to understand and very clear. At times some of the audio distorts a bit, especially during loud crowd sequences. I have no complaints with a good old-fashioned mono track, especially when it perfectly fits the tone of the film, as it does here. Audio Transfer Grade: B- Disc Extras Full Motion menu with music Scene Access with 12 cues and remote access Cast and Crew Biographies Extras Review: Like many Kino titles, this one is rather sparse on bonus material. Aside from a thin 12 chapter stops, the only supplementals are onscreen excerpts from Expresso Bongo's original press book. This segment is broken down into eight sections, ranging from profiles on the main cast to a truncated stills gallery. Val Guest contributed a fine commentary to Anchor Bay's The Day The Earth Caught Fire, and I would have enjoyed his comments here. Extras Grade: C+ Final Comments Val Guest's Expresso Bongo is groovy fun. It's a very hip, funny tale, set in the "Brit Beat" scene of 1959, when the music scene was literally exploding. An excellent cast manages to spit out a batch of memorable performances, and the end result is a cool little time capsule from an extremely underrated director. Review By: Rich Rosell

DVD Release Date: 21st May 2002 (USA)

"I've got an idea. Suppose we put on a show." - Nicky Black (Cliff Richard) Review By: Mark Zimmer Published: May 30, 2002

Stars: Cliff Richard, Robert Morley, Carole Gray, The Shadows Other Stars: Teddy Green, Richard O'Sullivan, Melvin Hayes, Annette Robertson, Teddy Green, Sonya Cordeau Director: Sidney J. Furie MPAA Rating: Not Rated Run Time: 01h:48m:16s Release Date: May 21, 2002

Although hardly known in the United States, Cliff Richard is one of the biggest musical stars in Britain, with an astonishing 120 Top Ten singles to his credit. Following in Elvis' footsteps, Richard made a series of musicals, of which The Young Ones is the first. An enormous hit in Britain, it didn't play in its original form in the States but was recut with different music by Burt Bacharach inserted. Anchor Bay presents here the first American release of the picture in its proper original form. Swiping its story shamelessly from the Judy Garland-Mickey Rooney vehicle Babes in Arms, this picture is yet another variant on "Let's put on a show." The motivating force here is the Simpkins Youth Club, a hut in downtown London that is to be demolished for a new office block by financier/developer Hamilton Black (Robert Morley). The kids, led by Nicky Black (Richard), discover that they can block this mishap by renewing the master lease on the property, but to do so would require £1500. Using a variety of tactics, including pirate radio broadcasts from a fruit cart, the kids take on the Establishment to raise the money to save their club. Complicating factors is the fact that Nicky is Hamilton Black's son, though the kids don't know that. Father and son take it as a challenge to outwit the other for their own goals. Although it has its desperately hokey moments, there's also a genuine energy and good feeling to this picture that helps it survive even in this cynical day. Richard isn't what one would call a great actor, but he is capable and definitely charismatic enough to carry the picture without being Olivier. He's helped by a gleefully capitalist performance by Morley, who is extremely funny in his scheming. The supporting cast is mostly dancers, but Melvyn Hayes and Richard O'Sullivan as two of the kids are agreeably amusing. The only threatening element is Teddy Green as Chris, a construction worker who is oddly the focus of the opening production number, rather than Richard, and Green has a bit of the teddy boy edge to him. But even the thugs are nice guys here. By and large the choreography by Herbert Ross is quite well done. Obviously influenced by West Side Story, it favors big production numbers in the old MGM musical style in an urban setting. Oddly enough, the fight sequence choreography is completely inept, with punches obviously nowhere near the chins of actors who go flying. As well, much of the non-Richard singing is quite poor, with vocals on a par with Lee Marvin in Paint Your Wagon. There's also some dreadfully poor looping of dialogue and odd continuity glitches from shot to shot that I found distracting. The picture was a huge success, however, and had its influence paving the way for A Hard Days' Night and Help! (indeed, director Furie in the commentary mentions that he was offered A Hard Days' Night). It also inspired a notorious short-lived anarchic British comedy series by the same title (and indeed, swiping the title song as its main theme), which made numerous references to Richard and this picture. Even today, the original Austin Powers film borrows its opening sequence from the opening of The Young Ones, with all the bright young things doing a production number down Carnaby Street in obvious homage to this picture. There are numerous musical head scratchers (such as where exactly the kids got a full orchestra for their show ?). And don't really ask why the wealthy Nicky didn't just pay the £1500 to save the club. But for a pleasant little musical that's agreeably good-natured and has some good numbers and decent comedy you could do a whole lot worse than The Young Ones. Rating for Style: B+ Rating for Substance: C Aspect Ratio 2.35:1 - Widescreen Original Aspect Ratio yes Anamorphic yes Image Transfer Review: The anamorphic widescreen 2.35:1 picture looks very nice indeed. The colors are dazzingly bright and nicely saturated, and detail is generally razor sharp. In one bit a young woman wears a fuzzy sweater and the detail visible there is quite striking indeed. Black levels and shadow detail are first-rate. Only the rarest speckle detracts from the picture, which looks as if it were shot four years ago, not forty. The one significant drawback is that there are some jaggies visible, notably in an upward pan against a skyscraper, but these only occur a few times and don't detract from the overall excellence of the picture. Image Transfer Grade: A Audio Transfer Review: The 2.0 mono sound is very nice. There is no hiss or noise at all. The range is decent, though there is not much in the way of deep bass to be heard. The musical numbers are bright and open with perfectly acceptable sound. I didn't detect any distortion of any kind. In particular, the instrumental, The Savage, by Richard's backup band, The Shadows, sounds great. Audio Transfer Grade: B+ Disc Extras Animated menu with music Scene Access with 26 cues and remote access Music/Song Access with 12 cues and remote access Cast and Crew Biographies Cast and Crew Filmographies 1 Original Trailer(s) Production Notes 1 Feature commentary by director Sidney J. Furie, filmmaker Paul M. Lynch, moderated by journalist Waylon Wahl Packaging: Amaray Picture Disc 1 Disc 1-Sided disc(s) Layers: single Extras Review: The director, Sidney J. Furie, contributes a very interesting commentary for the picture, although he initially sounds ill-prepared, not having seen the film in over 30 years. He eventually warms up to his subject, waxing forth on the film, Richard and Morley, his fondness for shooting anamorphic Cinemascope, his love for the DVD format, shooting musicals, deflating the auteur theory, lighting and editing forty years ago as opposed to the present day, and life in Britain in the early 1960s. Journalist Waylon Wahl does a good job of bringing a variety of topics out, and helps things along. Paul Lynch is along for the ride and doesn't really add much, although he does fill in a few details on the cast and crew that Furie has forgotten. This is an above average commentary that definitely adds to the appreciation of the picture. After all, how many directors of movie musicals are still around to record a commentary? Wrapping up the package are a lengthy trailer (with the most unfortunately dated tagline of all time: The gayest movie ever made!) and a fairly detailed bio of Richard. It tends to skim rather quickly over his career since the mid-1960s, however, with most of the emphasis on his earlier success. A very abbreviated filmography caps it all off. Extras Grade: B+ Final Comments A pleasant enough little movie that nicely showcases Cliff Richard as was intended. The transfer is very nice, with outstanding color and black levels and a decent transfer of the original mono. A very informative commentary leads the pack of a nice set of extras. Definitely worth checking out.

Menu on Disc : The Young Ones Chapter Selections Extras Trailer Commentary Commentary With Director Sidney J. Furie and Filmmaker Paul M. Lynch, Moderated by Waylon Wahl: Cliff Richard Biography Scene Index: The Young Ones 1. Program Start/Main Titles [3:17] 2. Friday Night [3:10] 3. Got a Funny Feeling [4:09] 4. Nothing's Impossible [4:01] 5. "Offices Breed Offices" [2:38] 6. Legal Loophole [4:20] 7. Father Against Son [5:54] 8. The Young Ones [4:34] 9. All for One [6:33] 10. Fiscal Matters [2:17] 11. Lessons in Love [3:53] 12. Star Power [4:04] 13. No One for Me but Nicky [3:02] 14. The Show Is Off [6:10] 15. What D'You Know, We've Got a Show [9:18] 16. Publicity Plan [1:48] 17. The Girl in Your Arms [4:23] 18. Pirate Radio [5:42] 19. New Star [5:49] 20. Just Dance [3:21] 21. Power Play [4:09] 22. A Friendly Little Kidnapping [4:25] 23. "We Want the Mystery Singer!" [4:43] 24. We Say Yeah [2:47] 25. Finale (What D'You Know, We've Got a Show Reprise) [2:32] 26. End Credits [1:00]

"You want to go to Athens, Charlie?" - Steve Jones (Teddy Green)

Review By: Mark Zimmer Published: May 30, 2002 Stars: Cliff Richard, Lauri Peters Other Stars: Melvyn Hayes, Teddy Green, Jeremy Bulloch, Una Stubbs, Pamela Hart, Jacqueline Darye, David Kossoff, Ron Moody, The Shadows, Madge Ryan, Lionel Murton

Director: Peter Yates MPAA Rating: Not Rated Run Time: 01h:47m:56s Release Date: May 21, 2002 UPC: 013131156393 Genre: musical

DVD Review When Cliff Richard wanted to make a musical followup to The Young Ones, that film's success dictated that a number of fundamentals be retained. Several of the costars return, as does songwriting team Peter Myers and Ronald Cass, and choreographer Herbert Ross. But this time the action is much more opened up as the gang takes a double-decker bus on a holiday across Europe. Don (Richard) convinces the bus company to let him fix up a bus as a traveling hotel and take it through Europe as a dry run for a tour series. He takes with him mates Cyril (Melvyn Hayes), Steve Jones (Teddy Green) and disaster-prone Edwin (Jeremy Bulloch). As they go through the Continent, they pick up three attractive young women singers who are going to Athens for a gig as well as a fourteen-year-old boy on the run, Bobbie. However, Bobbie turns out to be Barbara Winters (Lauri Peters), an American pop star on the run, leading to romantic complications amidst plenty of song and dance. The sensitive should be warned that there are plenty of French mimes featured. The songs are a notch below those in the earlier film, although a couple hits such as Bachelor Boy did come from the score. They tend to mostly be in the movie musical mold, without much straight pop that would be better for presenting Richard's talents, and thus feels like a definite step backwards from The Young Ones. He does well enough with the material, though. The dance numbers, on the other hand, tend to be less of the big production number and more a showcase for Teddy Green's athleticism. He's quite deft and frankly more interesting to watch by himself than a dozen people moving in coordination. The backdrops of several musical numbers make good use of the locations, such as filling the whole Cinemascope screen with a spectacular shot of the Greek Acropolis while Richard sings late in the film. Richard almost fades into the background here. Part of the problem is that this time he doesn't have a strong character actor such as Robert Morley to play off of, and the result is more like a lesser Elvis vehicle. Another part is the poor choice of a romantic interest, Lauri Peters. Although she sings well enough to stand up to him, even after she's out of disguise she still looks like a fourteen-year-old boy, making the whole romance with Richard more than a little creepy. They don't have any chemistry, so the love scenes feel strictly by the numbers. More amusing is Richard's backup band, The Shadows, as they appear throughout the film in a wide variety of cameos between Paris and Athens. Hapless Edwin is portrayed by Jeremy Bulloch, whom Star Wars fans will know as Boba Fett from The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, though here he comes off pretty much like a clumsy Opie. Ron Moody (best known as Fagin in Oliver!) makes an appearance as The Great Orlando, head of a mime troupe also seeking a ride and trying through pantomime to persuade a French judge not to hold the lot of them in jail. His knack for physical comedy is a highlight of the picture, despite being attached to a mime and an outrageously bad French accent. Nothing gut-busting here, but Moody does impress with his physical abilities. This is not to say that the film is without amusement value. It's definitely energetic and determinedly cheerful. The one threat is Barbara's stage-crazed mother, Stella (comic Madge Ryan), who is trying to stop the bus because it's attracting attention and she's enjoying the publicity that Barbara's disappearance has produced. So while there's conflict, it can hardly be considered serious, since Stella is not likely to cause any serious trouble. Despite having no serious antagonist here, the road nature of the picture helps carry it along in agreeable manner. It's one of the few non-Disney films I can think of that's completely kid-safe. Rating for Style: B Rating for Substance: C+ Aspect Ratio 2.35:1 - Widescreen Original Aspect Ratio yes Anamorphic yes Image Transfer Review: The 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen picture is generally quite attractive. The credit for Technicolor comes up over a dingy black and white shot of London (????) , making one wonder about the presentation, but when the red doubledecker bus hits the screen, the Technicolor fades in for an effect not unlike that of The Wizard of Oz, making it clear that we're in fantasy territory. There is a little minor ringing, but for the most part the picture looks excellent, with bright, vibrant colors. Black levels are good and detail is generally quite fine indeed. There are a few problematic elements, such as Richard's mesh shirt in the last few reels, but they are usually carried off without difficulty or major artifacting. Image Transfer Grade: A- Mono English, French Audio Transfer Review: The 2.0 mono track is generally good, though at times there is significant hiss and background noise. The musical numbers all come through fine and without distortion. Dialogue is generally quite clear. Audio Transfer Grade: B- Disc Extras Full Motion menu with music Scene Access with 26 cues and remote access Music/Song Access with 12 cues and remote access Cast and Crew Biographies Cast and Crew Filmographies 1 Original Trailer(s) Production Notes 1 Featurette(s) 1 Feature commentary by director Peter Yates and journalist Jonathan Sothcott Packaging: Amaray Picture Disc 1 Disc 1-Sided disc(s) Layers: RSDL Layers Switch: 00h:58m:06s Extras Review: The extras are decent enough this time out as well. The commentary from director Peter Yates (Bullitt, The Deep) contains a fair amount of information, but he's not a vibrant speaker. Despite the content this tends to get quite dry. He also tends to get into pointless and lengthy disputes with the moderator as to whether particular scenes are shot on location or in the studio, and there are quite a few empty spaces. Yates also spoils the ending of The Deep, for good measure. Journalist Jonathan Sothcott seems overly impressed by some of the special effects, even though they date back to the stopped-camera work of Georges Méliès some sixty years earlier. It feels as if they're trying to give this picture more importance than it really merits. I wouldn't exactly call this commentary dispensable, but it is nonetheless turgid going that will require copious amounts of caffeine to make it through. The same bio and filmography for Richard appears again here (as on The Young Ones), and there's a trailer in rather grim condition (though it still retains that Technicolor sparkle) to round out the disc. Extras Grade: B- Final Comments A good-hearted and sprightly romp across Europe, with some athletic dance numbers, given a nice transfer. Not bad if you're looking for a feel-good musical.

Summer Holiday Chapter Selections Extras Trailer Cliff Richard Biog Languages/Audio Setup English French Commentary With Director Peter Yates and Journalist Jonathan Sothcott Summer Holiday 1. Program Start/Main Titles [1:43] 2. Seven Days to a Holiday [4:59] 3. Summer Holiday [4:41] 4. Let Us Take You for a Ride [5:50] 5. Dancing in Paris [4:56] 6. Stowaway [3:45] 7. Stranger in Town [4:20] 8. Child Star [3:26] 9. The Great Orlando [4:32] 10. Tell It to the Judge [5:36] 11. Orlando's Mime [6:35] 12. Bachelor Boy [3:14] 13. Detour [4:23] 14. Swinging Affair [6:16] 15. "Follow That Bus" [2:56] 16. Really Waltzing [4:32] 17. All at Once [3:54] 18. Border Patrol [6:08] 19. Dancing Shoes [3:54] 20. Here Comes the Bride [4:09] 21. Heads Up [2:26] 22. Publicity Hounds [2:59] 23. The Next Time [3:56] 24. Press Conference [3:22] 25. Big News [4:02] 26. End Credits [1:05]