The Young Ones (1961)

The Worst Film Ever

Absolutely the worst movie.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

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.

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.

I went to see this movie back in 1961 when it was first released, and I saw it at a special Midnight Matinée with Cliff Richard on stage in person at the end of the film. He was also in the lobby afterwards. A pleasant enough musical, the title song is sung at Ruisip Lido which was a popular summer venue in the 1960's. It is still there (2014)but swimming is no longer allowed. The theater where the young ones put on their show really was the Finsbury Park Empire which was designed by Frank Matcham a famous British theater architect,the building was standing empty having closed in 1960, the theater was demolished in 1965.So if you are into old theatres the movie serves as a reminder of that building. Some of the dance routines remind one of West Side Story. Although the film was in Cinemascope ratio it did not have stereo sound which is a pity for a musical. Robert Morley plays the part of Cliffs father well and it is fun to see Robert doing a dance routine near the end of the movie. If you like musicals you will probably enjoy this film as long as you do not expect it to be like a big Hollywood production.

This is the kind of movie to spend your fee on when you were a British teenager in the early sixties. But there is hardly a story, and what there is is very predictable. The movie has two strong moments however: the first 10 minutes are really an example of how a musical can start at full-speed, and the part where Cliff Richard sings the title song, strolling along "the serpentine" in Hyde Park, London, with the lovely Carole Gray aside him. A little bit of a cult movie, and a very weak brother of West side story. But it has its place in history and millions have enjoyed it. Cliff's fans probably still do.