Film musicals often get by on shaky storylines but these are usually decked out with lively jokes and badinage and Peter Myers and Ronald Cass [who wrote the songs], prove themselves somewhat sparing in this department. It puts an unfair onus on Cliff Richard, to expect his personality to buck several slack passages and remarkably unwitty wordage.
Film musicals often get by on shaky storylines but these are usually decked out with lively jokes and badinage and Peter Myers and Ronald Cass [who wrote the songs], prove themselves somewhat sparing in this department. It puts an unfair onus on Cliff Richard, to expect his personality to buck several slack passages and remarkably unwitty wordage.
Richard, the Shadows group and comedians Melvyn Hayes and Richard O’Sullivan are merchant sailors stranded in the Canaries where they come across Walter Slezak directing a diabolical Beau Geste epic. Caught up in this mish mash, leading lady Susan Hampshire is having a rough time. For love of the young lady the lads decide to boost her confidence by making an off-the-cuff musical version of the director’s film.
The happiest flight of fancy is a sequence which sends up films down the ages. Richard, Hampshire, and the rest show a pleasing sense of mimicry and satire as they josh such favorites as Valentino, the Marx Brothers, the Mack Sennett Cops, Shirley Temple, Garbo, Grable, Boyer, Fairbanks Sr, Bogart, Dick Powell, Tarzan and others right up to James Bond.
Jump to CommentsWonderful Life
UK
More from Variety
Engineering Emmys: NVIDIA’s Jensen Huang Says AI Offers ‘New Canvas’ for Storytelling
The Globalization of Streaming: A Special Report
Awards Season Calendar 2024-2025: Complete Schedule for Oscars, Emmys, Grammys and More
Latest Production Stats Paint Grim Picture for Reality TV
Most Popular
‘The Substance’ Director Coralie Fargeat Pulls Film From Camerimage Following Festival Head’s Comments About Women
‘SNL’ Roasts Elon Musk for Saying Trump Task Force Workers Will Get No Pay: ‘You Can’t Be Surprised the White African Guy’s First Idea Is Slavery…
‘Cobra Kai’ Bosses on Killing Off [SPOILER] in Season 6 Part 2, What’s Next for Kreese and the Show’s Endgame
Donald Trump and Joe Biden Bond Over Hating Being President on ‘SNL’ as Alec Baldwin Debuts as RFK Jr.: ‘I Got a Dead Dolphin in My Car…
The Lonely Island Teams With Charli XCX for New Song ‘Here I Go,’ About Suburban Couples Who Love to Call the Cops
Warner Bros. Discovery, NBA Settle Legal Fight Over TV Rights
Oscars Predictions 2025: A Post-Election Race in Pursuit of Happiness
Mattel’s ‘Wicked’ Movie Dolls Mistakenly List Porn Site on Packaging
Barney Actor Says ‘I Laughed’ When the Ku Klux Klan ‘Banned Their Kids From Ever Watching Barney Again’ Because of His Casting
Mike Tyson Says He ‘Almost Died’ Ahead of Jake Paul Fight: ‘Lost Half My Blood and 25 Lbs in Hospital’
Must Read
- Music
Grammy Nominations 2025: Beyonce Leads With 11 Nods
- Film
Mattel’s ‘Wicked’ Movie Dolls Mistakenly List Porn Site on Packaging
- Film
With ‘Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point,’ Director Tyler Taormina Makes an Instant Holiday Classic
- TV
How ‘Office Ladies’ Transformed From a BFF Hang for Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey to One of the Biggest Podcasts in the World
Sign Up for Variety Newsletters
By providing your information, you agree to our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy.We use vendors that may also process your information to help provide our services. // This site is protected by reCAPTCHA Enterprise and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.Variety Confidential
ncG1vNJzZmiukae2psDYZ5qopV9mhnd%2Fjp%2BgpaVfp7K3tcSwqmivn6Oxpr7FrqNmpJmbsm59kWlnbWpgaYRyew%3D%3D