P'tang, Yang, Kipperbang

There is a great danger when you watch a film that had had such a profound affect on you the first time around , that 20 years later , it wont hold the same magic as it did before. I must admit i wasnt expecting it to be as good as i remembered but a was pleasently suprised. P'tang Yang Kipperbang is still as fantastic as i remember it when i was a 12 year old .This film has a certain type of brilliance that not many films possess. It is engrossing , it is briliantly acted and best of all it makes me feel like a kid again and there isnt many things that can do that. John Albasiny and Abigail Cruttenden's rolls in this film are 1st class and i had forgotten how good they were until now. I urge any parent of teenagers to sit them down and watch this and see if it has the same affect on them as it did on me. P'TANG YANG KIPPERBANG EEHHH! 10 out of 10.

Although i don't like cricket at all and i have seen this movie 13 years ago, I still think it is one of the best coming-of-age movies ..i remember the day i returned home from my school and sat down to have my lunch, I saw the opening titles of that movie and then....i was so immersed in it that i felt i was there, it really affected me personally. i still remember how i felt when i first saw it ,i felt that the poor boy was a friend of mine, going through the same adolescent experience we were having in those days. what i really liked about that movie is the main theme of a "shy" boy fantasizing about "kissing" his dream girl, no offense but if that was an American movie, you would certainly see-at a certain point, mainly climax- the "shy" boy "making love" to his girl, and i really can't grasp this contradicting concepts till now...i have a simple request ,if anyone knows how to get this movie on a DVD by mail ,please let me know cause i need a shot of memories..Thanks

This sweet, breezy, coming of age/first kiss movie follows the trials and tribulations of Alan "Quack-Quack" Duckworth, a likable young teenager going through his first crush. Set in post WWII Britian, Alan has his public love of Cricket, and his secret puppy-love for classmate Ann Laughton, who barely tolerates his existence. And just as Baseball (or Cricket) can throw you a curve ball, Alan gets his curve ball in the the form of an iron-clad opportunity to kiss the girl of his dreams. But will "Quack-Quack" be able to step up to the plate and fulfill his dream? Well, get a hold of this little gem of a movie and find out. Great supporting cast of his Teacher and Headmaster, his schoolyard chums, and Tommy the Groundskeeper , whom Alan admires, but whom might throw Alan yet another curve ball. All in all, an entertaining movie that I highly recommend.

1948. 14-year-old Alan Duckworth dreams of playing cricket for England and of kissing Ann Lawton, a classmate. She is oblivious to his infatuation and only has eyes for Geoffrey, the class heartthrob. It seems Alan's dreams will forever be dashed but then fate intervenes.

A sweet, funny coming-of-age film. Solid, entertaining plot and engaging characters and heaps of nostalgia make for a great movie. You can't watch this without thinking of your own school days and relating to Alan's priorities and predicament.

It's not just about the kids: the adults' sub-plots are very entertaining too. These also bring up some interesting themes.

Solid performances from the (largely) young cast.

My review was written in February 1984 after watching the film at a Midtown Manhattan screening room.

"Kippebang" is a flat, understated attempt at romantic comedy, made for British television in 1982 as part of the "First Love" series, but virtually evaporating on the big screen. U. S. Theatrical release via UA Classics comes several months after the picture in video cassette form has been available in domestic video stores.

Writer Jack Rosenthal's consistently precious script matches the romantic problems of young adolescents (hero is 14) with those of their elders, as the English teacher (Alison Steadman) must deal with an unplanned pregnancy,l the father being the school groundskeeper (Garry Cooper).

Very thin material emphasizes running gags, most noxious of which is the kids reciting the nonsense phrase "P'tang, Yang, Kipperbang" (pic's original title in Britain, pointlessly followed by a grunt, shortened for U. S. release), as an example of the youngsters' codes and rituals.. Young cast members throw away their dialog in mumbled, naturalistic readings, reducing potential chuckles to groaners.

Plot gimmicks, generally overemphasized, include the hero Alan (John Albasiny) dreaming of his first kiss with plain classmate Ann (Abigail Gruttenden), with attempted suspense generated as he is cast in a dull school play in which he is supposed to kiss co-star Ann in the final scene.

Device of a voiceover narrator turning most events into cricket match play-by-play (representing Alan's wish-fulfillment point-of-view) is overworked, as are the frequent references back to World War II (groundskeeper is fake war hero, leading to the predictable disillusionment of the hero).

Director Michael Apted appears uncertain how to approach this material, combining the general understatement with a coy approach to vulgar issues of adolescent sexs (Alan and his two pals form the inevitable central trio of sex-obsessed young teens) and hyped-up crosscutting between the school play's climax and police arresting the groundskeeper.

Adult actors, especially Steadman, turn in good performances, but the kids are a drag. In his big finale scene, pouring his heart out to Ann, John Albasiny delivers his lines into the ground, inadvertently giving a worse performance than his intentionally incompetent non-acting during the school play. Tech credits are okay.