It's Great to Be Young!

I saw this movie when it first came out. I was in my early teens and so just the right age for it and oh it seemed so romantic! I managed to get an ep of some of the music - wish I knew where that ep got to, I've lost it. But I never managed to see the movie again until quite recently on TV - it's been shown a few more times since.

I was never a real jazz enthusiast however so much as I enjoyed all the fun and games at the school with the young musicians and their impressive teacher played by John Mills in a such lively youthful performance that nicely presages his later great dramatic talents, the music itself didn't stay in my memory. Only a year or two later we young people were stunned and delighted by the first rock 'n roll - I heard Rock Around the Clock for the first time in a Hancock's Half Hour, believe it or not, which very amusingly guyed Blackboard Jungle, and I was enthralled - by the music as much as Hancock, ie. Next came Elvis and Heartbreak Hotel, and the music and style and youthful behaviour of It's Great to be Young morphed into energetic rock dancing and Elvis's sexy gyrations.

It's Great to be Young is a splendid period piece now, one of the last gasps if you like of the pre-beat music generation but still enormous fun.

I am 40 and first saw this film about 2 years ago. It is full of fun, wit and charm. A true classic of English film making. As usual, Cecil Parker and John Mills are amazing together. Their performance and that of all the supporting cast, is true chemistry.

If you want fun, laughs, music and nostalgia, this is certainly a film to watch. I just wish I could obtain a full version on video or DVD, but unfortunately, it has never been released in the UK.

A brilliant evocation of 1950s Britain; anyone who went to school there, then, will love this. It is lighthearted, with a serious moral message, good performances, continuous action, and skillfully used musical intervals. I remember seeing it as a kid at the local small-town cinema, when it came around the first time; coming across it again, on BBC2 in an obscure afternoon slot, was a real treat. The leads are major stars, especially John Mills and Cecil Parker, and their performances are faultless, but it is the young people who carry the movie and make it so special. The music is great fun, too. Why has this not been reissued on DVD? Apart from its merits, the fact that it is a John Mills vehicle should have been enough to see it out by now, I would have thought. It seems from the other comments on this page that everyone who has seen it likes it, it is just not that easy for new people to see it if there is no DVD in the shops.

IF you were at school in the 1950's then watch this film if you get the opportunity. It's a lovely look at British school life in that era. The music throughout is great too. John Mills and Cecil Parker do a superb job in their respective roles. Wonderful nostalgia pieces like this should be treasured, and hopefully it will be released on DVD in time.

I saw this film about 55 years ago. And it is still in my mind fresh and clear. It brought me more emotions than any other film by John Ford, Ingmar Bergman o Woody Allen. Some one told me that the incredible, fantastic, young girl (five or six years old, white boots) dancing "claqué" (I think some English speakers name it Tap dance or something like that...), when the film is near its end, was the daughter of Sir John Mills, the well know Sarah Mills, a lot of years before Ryan's Daughter, and so on... Is it true? Some one knows? Just speaking about all that things make me feel 55 years younger... And, by the way, I have a light notion about the musicians. They were the Ray Martin Orchestra, is not it? The same people that in other memorable french film, "A la mi-Aôut"...