2hotFeature
one of my absolute favorites!
UnowPriceless
hyped garbage
Lollivan
It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.
Edwin
The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.
mcel-88340
To think that this was going on when I was listening to Radio Luxembourg and enjoying American pop. I studiously avoided 'trad jazz', tin pan alley's attempt to hold on to the teen audience. Thank goodness they failed and the Beatles and Stones got things moving here.
This is truly dreadful...
dc1-1
Richard Lester was perfecting his craft as rock movie director guru here. He did a great job! I have a soft spot for Helen Shapiro; anyone who does will love this movie. I was surprised about the number of Dixieland jazz band groups who played in this flick. I didn't realize that it was so popular then in the UK (I was only ten when this movie was made)! It was good to see Mr. Acker Bilk and his band; he was an Atlantic recording artist in the 60's. When I'd buy an album by Cream or The Allman Bros. Band back then, the sleeve would inevitably feature albums by Acker Bilk. I knew he was a good clarinet player, but I'd never seen him "play" until I saw this movie. Of course, the plot was undeniably banal, but really, who cares? It's an historical document!
Charles Herold (cherold)
I watched this because it's the first feature from director Richard Lester, and while often first films are forgettably generic, Lester's film is imaginative and funny. Unfortunately, most of the movie is given to endless musical rock and jazz performances, which range from pretty good to quite dull, with more of the latter. These numbers are imaginatively filmed, but by the halfway point I was fast forwarding through most of them.The acting is pretty awful; both leads are apparently pop stars of the time (Shapiro's voice, when she sings, is shockingly deep compared to her singing voice; she kind of sounds like a guy) and Lester hadn't yet learned how to pull good performances out of unskilled actors.For fans of Lester it's at least worth watching the intro. And if you like the music then this would be a swell film.Once read a comment from John Lennon that when he was starting out in music everything in England was jazz, now I see what he means. Jazz was apparently a big thing in the early sixties, and according to this movie put off the older generation just as much as rock & roll!
Mike Cloud
I never heard of this movie until seeing it tonight on Turner Classic Movies. Who would have thought that Trad meant Dixieland Jazz in Britain? This movie is full of excellent jazz performances but the American rock and roll artists seem out of place. Most of their careers, like Gene Vincent, were on the decline in the US. Chubby Checkers' was on the rise due to the twist craze.This was the first time I've seen Helen Shapiro though I've heard of her in conjunction with the Beatles. Lovely girl, I never would have guessed that she was only 15 when this was filmed. Luckily I was able to find out more on her web site.Too bad this movie isn't out on tape or DVD. If it's broadcast again, I'll record it.
