Diagonaldi Very well executed

Reptileenbu Did you people see the same film I saw?

Cleveronix A different way of telling a story

Francene Odetta It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

writers_reign Seen in retrospect this is a hybrid, a link between the REAL musicals of the forties/early fifties, and the post 60s rubbish that's still around. For one thing everyone, boys and girls alike, are so clean cut; suits, ties, short hair, skirts, blouses, dresses, no one the slightest bit sexy despite being late teenagers at arguably their sexual peak. Tuneful, melodic songs with literate lyrics, no trace of BEAT substituting for melody and men's room gr and yet it's happening in 1961 when the rot had well and truly set in. Ronald Cass and Peter Myers who provided both the book and the lion's share of the songs were, of course, weaned in post-war Revue and were probably ill at ease with Rock and Roll. What we are left with is a hoary plot, a clutch of third-rate forties-type songs and a rock and roll idol who appealed to mums.

dbdumonteil Sir Cliff Richard was then England 's biggest star ,and the thing George Martin had in mind was to surpass his success,which meant a lot! It's 1961 ,still in the pre- Beatles days ,but girls (see the scene in the theater) already scream when the "mystery " singer appears on stage.Nicky is a millionaire's son but he does not want to let the cat out of the bag ,for fear he may lose all his good pals (only his girlfriend knows);and,you would never believe it, daddy wants to destroy the youth club to build big buildings;and he is so wealthy he can buy everything ,"lock,stock and barrel " to be precise .Blackman Sr is played by highly talented Robert Morley,who makes his character nicer than ,say ,Uncle Scroodge ( both Dicken's and Barks/Disney's)Richard ,21,is good-looking ,and there's a good chemistry with Morley (who could easily have stolen most of the scenes he is in);his ballads are tuneful and pleasant ,particularly the title track;he is less at ease with pure rock and roll :Elvis Presley,he is definitely not.The talented Shadows have an instrumental and ,with hindsight,can be considered influential in the future of rock,which is not really the case with their singer.Too bad the movie tries so hard to emulate the American musicals in an interminable sequence ;the best scenes ,from that point of view,are to be found in the youth club :the scene in which a deadpan Sir Cliff dances with the "star" is worth the price of admission;the illegal TV advertisement is also a good moment.This is delightfully old -fashioned stuff,which retains a certain pristine charm.

bkoganbing Before the Beatles came along to personify post World War II British music there was a battle between Tommy Steele and Cliff Richard as the top pop boy singer of the United Kingdom. Both these guys like Elvis Presley did some films that were tailored to the image they projected and this one The Young Ones suits Richard's clean cut image. Unlike the Beatles who had those Liverpudlian accents that took a bit of getting used to when they spoke, Richard's was a clear and proper diction.Almost as precise as Robert Morley's who plays Richard's tycoon business father. It's almost like a Frank Capra film with the generations battling each other until the young one teaches the old one to be cool.Morley is building a huge office building and the youth club that Richard belongs to is targeted for demolition. With no place for his pals to hang out the younger ones decide to use that tried and true method handed down from Mickey and Judy, put on a show.The plot of course is just an excuse for Richard and his back up band The Shadows to perform a lot of numbers, some good ones too. That opening sequence was quite cleverly done using almost the whole city of London as a backdrop. Richard is a pleasing performer and he's given a good opportunity to display his wares.As an actor not that good especially when stacked up against Robert Morley who looks like he's having a great old time as the Scrooge like father. But the numbers are staged well and this is a film that really shows London at the turn of the 60s.

dfarmbrough ... The Shadows come off best here with their few lines and great instrumentals undermining the potential datedness of pop stars' movie appearances. However Cliff really rocks and even if the cinematic techniques would be bettered in the follow-up Summer Holiday, the music is just superb.The basic plot of this is so similar to The Blues Brothers it's uncanny. I should be very surprised if John Landis and Dan Aykroyd hadn't seen The Young Ones.Forget about Grazina Frame's dubbed voice, forget about the square old pop played by Robert Morley, and remember the great songs and the unbelievably handsome Cliff!