Hallo, Mr. Twen

Cliff Richard stars in The Young Ones, or Wonderful to be Young, from 1961, also starring Robert Morley, Carole Gray, and The Shadows.

This is a typical teenage movie with the "Hey, kids, let's put on a show" theme. The kids in this case are British, and their club is being closed due to the sale of the building for a high-rise. What no one knows is the developer, Hamilton Black (Robert Morley) is none other than the father of Nicky (Cliff Richard). Nicky, of course, works on behalf of his cronies but his back always goes out when they have to meet with the old man.

There's a renewal clause in the master lease, but Black is a good chess player - they can renew, but it's going to cost them 1500 pounds, a princely sum, up front. The kids decide to raise the money by putting on a show.

Like "Summer Holiday," "The Young Ones" is an exuberant, tuneful teen movie, with lots of singing and dancing. Richard doesn't force his acting - he says his lines in a natural manner, and his looks and charm do the rest. His early inspiration was Elvis, and some of his singing is definitely Elvis-like. But it's a different voice and persona -- he's a very smooth singer and his boyish handsomeness, unlike Elvis', is very nonthreatening. I can't imagine anyone breaking his records or coming out against him in a pulpit.

This is a very fun film. One can't help being impressed by Richard's longevity - 55 years later, he still looks great, he's still singing, and he's a Sir. He's almost Elvis-lite, a pop icon without the demons that caused us to lose Elvis all too soon.

I went to see this movie back in 1961 when it was first released, and I saw it at a special Midnight Matinée with Cliff Richard on stage in person at the end of the film. He was also in the lobby afterwards. A pleasant enough musical, the title song is sung at Ruisip Lido which was a popular summer venue in the 1960's. It is still there (2014)but swimming is no longer allowed. The theater where the young ones put on their show really was the Finsbury Park Empire which was designed by Frank Matcham a famous British theater architect,the building was standing empty having closed in 1960, the theater was demolished in 1965.So if you are into old theatres the movie serves as a reminder of that building. Some of the dance routines remind one of West Side Story. Although the film was in Cinemascope ratio it did not have stereo sound which is a pity for a musical. Robert Morley plays the part of Cliffs father well and it is fun to see Robert doing a dance routine near the end of the movie. If you like musicals you will probably enjoy this film as long as you do not expect it to be like a big Hollywood production.

I should come out with a confession before I start to review this movie, and that is that until recently, I was pretty ignorant of Cliff Richard. All I knew until about a month ago was one or two of his songs, and I hadn't seen any of his movies. My explanation for that is that I live in North America, where Richard had nowhere the impact he had in England. But recently I rented "Summer Holiday", and now this movie.

In this movie, Richard does come across as a kind of likable fellow, one you wouldn't mind meeting in real life (unlike a lot of music stars). However, he is lacking the edge that other musicians who went into movies had (like Elvis and the Beatles). He's pleasant but kind of forgettable. It doesn't help that the songs he sings here are as forgettable as his character here. The script is also very forgettable - it's the old "Let's put on a show!" story, and it unfolds VERY slowly. Had they made fun of this plot or added some memorable elements, things would have been livened up considerably. There's also the question as to why a millionaire's son doesn't have the money himself to pay off the relatively small sum the youth club needs... but I won't get into that.

Far from the worst movie ever made, and not really a bad movie. But if you are interested in the cinematic doings of Richard, I suggest you rent "Summer Holiday" instead, which is somewhat more memorable.

Before the Beatles came along to personify post World War II British music there was a battle between Tommy Steele and Cliff Richard as the top pop boy singer of the United Kingdom. Both these guys like Elvis Presley did some films that were tailored to the image they projected and this one The Young Ones suits Richard's clean cut image. Unlike the Beatles who had those Liverpudlian accents that took a bit of getting used to when they spoke, Richard's was a clear and proper diction.

Almost as precise as Robert Morley's who plays Richard's tycoon business father. It's almost like a Frank Capra film with the generations battling each other until the young one teaches the old one to be cool.

Morley is building a huge office building and the youth club that Richard belongs to is targeted for demolition. With no place for his pals to hang out the younger ones decide to use that tried and true method handed down from Mickey and Judy, put on a show.

The plot of course is just an excuse for Richard and his back up band The Shadows to perform a lot of numbers, some good ones too. That opening sequence was quite cleverly done using almost the whole city of London as a backdrop. Richard is a pleasing performer and he's given a good opportunity to display his wares.

As an actor not that good especially when stacked up against Robert Morley who looks like he's having a great old time as the Scrooge like father. But the numbers are staged well and this is a film that really shows London at the turn of the 60s.

Years before Sidney J. Furie went on to direct bone fide screen epics such as the fantastic Ipcress File or the not so epic Iron Eagle movies, He directed Cliff Richard in a couple of his manufactured movie musicals simply designed to cash in on both Cliff's youthful good looks and his raw Rock n' Roll talent.

Back in 1961 Cliff's clout with the record buying public was at it's peak. The Beatles were still a year or so away, and Cliff was our home grown British Rocker. (despite being born in Lucknow, India).

Like Elvis, The movies saw potential in Cliff's box office appeal and immediately put him in the movies. The films didn't really have to be good or entertaining even, the fact that it starred Cliff Richard was enough to but the bums on the seats.

His first two movies (Serious Charge and Expresso Bongo Both 1959), had done well, but neither really gave Cliff the starring vehicle his Godlike status with the teenagers required. However, all this was to change with The Young Ones. For the first time movie audiences were able to see him in both Technicolor and Cinemascope.

Cliff plays Nicky Black a member of a local London youth club under threat of closure from a ruthless property developer, Hamilton Black (Robert Morley). Nicky and his friends become determined to stop this closure by any means necessary. This task is not made easy for Nicky as the aforementioned property developer is actually his own father.

In order to raise £1500, (a HUGE amount of money then), to buy an extension of the lease to keep their club open, Nicky & Co decide to take a leaf out of Mickey Rooney's book, and PUT ON A SHOW. However, Hamilton Black is just as determined, and manages to scupper their plans as soon as they make them.

The youth club gang then decide that they will use pirate radio broadcasts, in order to let their audience know when and where their show will take place so Hamilton Black cannot put yet another fly in yet another tub of ointment.

The Shadows, appear here too, and over the previous two years, they had already emerged from being simply Cliff's backing band and become (and remain to this day), Britian's most successful instrumental band. Because of this, It's a shame that none of the Shadows actually get a speaking part in this movie, but are always on hand whenever a song needs to be performed. They do get their own shining hour though, when they perform their hit "The Savage".

Carole Gray woodenly plays Cliff's love interest, yet her singing voice was dubbed by the ultra-talented Grazina Frame. Why did the producers go to all that trouble? Why did they not just cast Grazina straight from day one? In fact, when you compare Carole Gray and Grazina Frame, Grazina was not only the better singer but their better looking of the two.

Robert Morley is quite amusing in his role, as are Melvyn Hayes, Richard O'Sullivan and Teddy Green in theirs, but it's Cliff & The Shadows that actually make this movie even remotely watchable.

The reason being, is that the film, when viewed as a complete film, is pretty crap, but that is a failing of ALL British musicals dating back to Jessie Matthews time. With each generation since the 1930's, we Brits have tried to make a decent movie musical and have fallen flat on our faces every single time. (Did you ever see Spiceworld?). Our inability to make a decent musical might have something to do with those awful big 'Production Numbers' like the ones displayed in this movie.

The Young Ones is a harmless way of spending a couple of hours, as there is nothing hear to shock or offend anyone, after all this is Cliff Richard we're talking about.

Enjoy.