The Boy Friend

Twiggy (modeling phenomenon of '60's swinging London) showed a surprising capacity for acting, singing and dancing as an understudy thrown into subbing for an injured star in a run-down production of .... the Boy Friend. The realistic depiction of a touring production on the skids contrasts with the Hollywood-extravaganza version of the show as seen in the imagination of a Hollywood director sitting in the audience. Wonderful performances from Tommy Tune and Glenda Jackson (small hobble-on as the injured star). The film is sweet and not frequently seen.

This film has never looked or sounded better than on the newly-released blu ray. Twiggy makes an enchanting screen debut in a totally unique contribution to the musical. The slim story tells of a run down theater troupe putting on a production of THE BOY FRIEND. Assistant Stage Manager Polly Brown (Twiggy) has to go on in place of the injured star (A marvelous, unbilled Glenda Jackson). This means Polly will have to play love scenes with a leading man she has had a mad crush on. (Christopher Gable). The house is near empty, and the star won't be missed too much, but wait! A Mr. DeThrill has arrived to scout out the performance! This gives director Ken Russell the chance to show us some stunning dream numbers which pay homage to early Hollywood musicals like SHOW OF SHOWS, (1929), FLYING DOWN TO RIO, (1933), and in particular, the work of Busby Berkeley. This is a totally unique show, but one that is worth warming up to.

While not among my personal favourite musicals or films, The Boy Friend was immensely entertaining in almost every sense and certainly unlike any movie musical we've seen before. The dog scats on your spats joke would have been better left out because it did wear thin and it was more tasteless than funny. But actually that is the only thing in The Boy Friend that came across as that to me, particularly for a director like Ken Russell who has been known to resort to excess and have material that people can be easily offended by. Russell always was a controversial director who fascinated a lot of people and repulsed others, no matter what you thought of him there is no denying that his directing and style was unique. So how does Russell's direction fare here? Brilliantly actually(for an unlikely choice of director for a musical), the style he brings is extravagant as can be seen in the sets, lighting and costumes that burst with primary colours and the purposeful and interesting camera shots(sweeping and a case of awkward working in its favour) showing a virtuoso at work. The spectacle is big and very eye-catching but, despite how this sounds, for Russell while not restrained as such it's not excessive either. The musical numbers are all delightful and always catchy whether in a humorous or emotional way, and they're staged with a Busby Berkeley influence that is always engaging and over-the-top to a delicious degree. Where else in a musical would you find leprechauns in a world of mushrooms, nurses pushing their patients in kaleidoscopic circular fashion in wheelchairs, aeroplane dancing in the snow and swimmers in the ocean in identical attire? The Grecian Nymph fantasy and the nymphs being led off to save the day by Tommy Tune are also great touches that provide plenty of amusement. Despite all this visual spectacle, The Boy Friend is surprisingly also brilliantly written, the satire is sharp and the backstage intrigue is intriguing and insightful. You do have to love Maisie's ad-libbing and attempts at seduction as well, and there's a fair share of emotional impact too, at the end Polly is very easy to root for. The story may sound clichéd and concept-wise it is but execution-wise it was surprising at how unconventional and breaking-new-ground the storytelling was and it's all done with fun as well as non-stop charm and nostalgia. The cast really give their all, even if Christopher Gable's acting and singing doesn't impress as much as his excellent dancing. The best being Twiggy who is charming to the hilt, Antonia Ellis who will leave you in hysterics with her ad-libbing and seduction attempts and Russell regular/favourite Glenda Jackson whose hilarious performance is one that is not easily forgotten in the long run. Barbara Windsor is always great value too. All in all, a fascinating and immensely enjoyable movie musical unlike any other that you've seen before. It's not for everybody, like Russell himself it will delight numbers of people- where I fit in- and perplex others, both viewpoints of which are totally understandable. 9/10 Bethany Cox

"The Boy Friend" is an exciting adaptation of Sandy Wilson's stage-born play which Ken Russell has elevated into the status of a grand musical.Although Mr. Russell's excesses have worked/failed in other productions (I still adore "The Music Lovers", this one has a complete menu that satisfies this viewer. Top-notch cast (Twiggy, Tommy Tune and others and elevates the viewer into a three world dimmension: the actual show, the backstage goings on and Mr. Russe's projection into the Busby Berekely world of film going. Visuals are splendid. JuST A WONDERFUL FILM!!

Interesting how the user reviews have shifted from the first entries which mostly HATE this film through to the current ones which mostly seem to LOVE it. That's some kind of cultural progress and sophistication at least.... Personally it's one of my favorite Russell films and I especially love the brilliant orchestrations by Peter Maxwell Davies. BOYFRIEND will reportedly be screened in Sept. by the American Cinematheque in Los Angeles. Russell has been in LA over the past month and I recently saw him at a screening of WOMEN IN LOVE and THE MUSIC LOVERS at the Aero in Santa Monica. Richard Chamberlain was also at the MUSIC LOVERS screening. So can't wait to see THE BOYFRIEND on the big WIDE screen again at last. I seem to remember that at the original first-run screening in NYC the fantasy sequences were all in stereo. Hope they manage to get that print at the Cinematheque.