It is often said that 1963 was the first year of the sixties. "Some People" perfectly captures the pre-63 restlessness of youth in its quest to find its own voice and style. American rock and roll and leather jackets, motorbikes and Teddy boys, tight jeans (worn in a bath to make them skin tight) and quiffs - not to mention the brothel creepers and winkle-pickers. Man!
The Beatles in '62 looked exactly the same as the boys in "Some People" before they helped sweep youth into a new phase. What an exciting time it was but it was made so much more exciting by the fact that youth in the UK had struggled so hard to be different in the greyness of life after the war.
"Some People" stands up well. It has an authentic feel to it as it documents a moment on the cusp. No one could have been aware of what was to come and so it aims at what was happening rather than trying to give hints about its place in future history. "That'll Be the Day" did a very good job of documenting pre-63 UK youth but, because it was made in retrospect, it doesn't quite have the same effect.
Bill as played by David Andrews - like John Milner in "American Graffiti" - feels like he and his tough guy motorbike culture is being left behind by his friends. Bill represents the choice Johnnie has to make. It was bit like the Beatles choosing to accept the suits as opposed to their black leather gear from their rocker image days. As John Lennon found out, there is always a price to be paid if you want to go forward. Some, perhaps like Paul in the Beatles and Bert in the band in "Some People", gladly pay it. Others, like Johnnie and perhaps John Lennon, know that they will always be dogged by doubt and a sense of uneasiness. Isn't it another sign of what was to come as the band initially plays hard driving booggie woogie and guitar instrumentals but develop into a softer sounding pop band that uses a homemade mini pipe organ to augment their sound? Shades of the Beatles development - perhaps.
Brilliant cameo by Harry Corbett as Johnnie's dad and a moment of prescience as Johnnie plays "My Bonnie" - The Beatles first studio recorded effort albeit as the back-up band. It was used as a symbol of the past as the older people in the pub immediately warm to it. Johnnie's playing of the old standards becomes increasingly tortured as he seems intent on thrashing out the past in the hope of finding a future that is his own. Do I stay and become the despondent and heavy drinking old man like my father - as the song "Some People" says "sad about the song that they never sung"? Or can I escape? That's Johnnie's choice but escape is difficult. Ultimately "Some People" like songs such as "Fast Car" examines the eternal struggle of youth to find a path to a life that fulfils. I like the fact that the film ends with Johnnie still mulling over his future as he stands at a bus stop. There is no easy happy resolution to his problem.
