I returned to my childhood last weekend by watching a couple of cult b/w British teen/rock'n'roll movies from the 1960s on DVD.
The first of these was Catch Us If You Can (retitled Having A Wild Weekend in the USA), which was the first movie directed by John Boorman, and was released in 1965. It stars one of my all-time favourite British bands, London's totally awesome Dave Clark Five, who were also exceedingly popular across the pond in the States (hence this movie's release there too). However, expecting a light-hearted romp akin to some of the Beatles movies and containing a sizeable number of their very popular hits, I was disappointed at how few DC5 songs actually appear in it (other than its two title songs), as well as by how oh-so-serious and deep this movie tries so hard to be, only to come across instead, at least imho, as frequently po-faced and pretentious.
Its plot sees the boys play TV stuntmen who become disenchanted with their unrewarding, unappreciated jobs, resulting in Dave's character Steve going awol in a stylish E-Type Jaguar with Dinah, a TV meat advertisement's beautiful starlet (played by Barbara Ferris), followed by the other boys, with Dinah's agency in hot pursuit of all of them, and everyone becoming entangled in all manner of unexpected situations en route to a small island that Dinah is thinking of purchasing. True, there are a few attempts here and there to inject some much-needed comedy into the proceedings (especially the scenes featuring Robin Bailey and the always-wonderful Yootha Joyce as a pair of unhappily-married, constantly-bickering socialites who become temporary hosts to absconding Steve and Dinah). Yet in my view even these often seem half-hearted or laboured.
Knowing how jovial and genial the DC5 always appeared (most especially their very personable lead singer Mike Smith) in their many interviews and guest appearances on numerous TV shows during their 1960s heyday, however, I certainly do not believe that the fault for such perceived shortcomings in Catch Us If You Can lay in any way with them. Instead, I personally feel that it stemmed from this movie's basic concept – apparently striving to be highbrow, rather than simply settling for humorous, like most movies in this particular genre tend to be.
Nevertheless, it's still great to know that this superb band are forever preserved in feature-length movie format at the height of their much-deserved fame and popularity, during the exciting decade of the Swinging 60s that I grew up in and which they so extensively helped to define musically. Moreover, Dave Clark himself is unquestionably one of the most influential figures of all time in British music.
The other movie was What A Crazy World, directed by Michael Carreras, released in 1963, and set in London's East End. Adapted for the big screen from an earlier stage play by Alan Klein, it stars British rockers Joe Brown and Marty Wilde in their heyday, alongside Susan 'Bobby's Girl' Maughan as well as Freddie and the Dreamers, plus a number of familiar British character actors – most notably Michael Ripper who plays multiple characters, all of whom are put upon somewhat amusingly by the unruly local youth contingent.
Thankfully, this film follows the much more traditional comedy-propelled course for such flicks, and also features a sizeable selection of specially-written songs. Unfortunately, however, with the sole exception of the very catchy title song (which was a minor hit in the UK singles chart for Joe and his backing band the Bruvvers), they are all instantly forgettable, as indeed, sadly, is the film itself to a large extent.
The plot revolves around working-class family the Hitchenses, with likeable if feckless youth Alf Hitchens (played by Joe Brown) very much an initially work-shy Jack the Lad figure, much to the disgust of his belligerent father (Harry H. Corbett), and made even worse by the hero-worship that Alf receives from his younger brother Joey (Michael Goodman). Alf's friends are equally irresponsible, especially the ostensibly loveable but invariably troublemaking layabout Herbie (Marty Wilde), none of which pleases Alf's on-off girlfriend Marilyn (Susan Maughan). Needless to say, however, after a few spills (and fewer thrills), it all turns out right for these Cockney salt-of-the-earth geezers and birds.
What A Crazy World is certainly a pleasant enough film for whiling away 85 minutes, but, as noted earlier, is mostly unmemorable, except for the scenes featuring Marty Wilde, and only then because of how huge he appears, towering over all of the other stars like a latter-day Lemuel Gulliver in a London-based Lilliput! Although I've always been a fan of his music, I had no idea that he was so tall!
In summary: although I'm glad to have watched both of these movies hailing from my very distant past, the ineluctable truth revealed from having done so is that nostalgia's simply not what it used to be! But don't let that stop you from checking them out for yourself, by clicking here to view and listen to the title credits scene and track for Catch Us If You Can, and here for a What A Crazy World trailer.
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