The Young Ones (1961 film)
| The Young Ones | |
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Original UK quad format poster
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| Directed by | Sidney J. Furie |
| Produced by |
Kenneth Harper Andrew Mitchell |
| Written by | Peter Myers Ronald Cass |
| Starring |
Cliff Richard Robert Morley Carole Gray The Shadows |
| Music by |
Stanley Black Ronald Cass |
| Cinematography | Douglas Slocombe |
| Edited by | Jack Slade |
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Production
company |
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| Distributed by |
Warner-Pathé (UK) Paramount Pictures (US) |
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Release date
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13 Dec 1961 (World Premiere, London)
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Running time
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108 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Budget | £230,000 |
The Young Ones (US title: It's Wonderful to Be Young!) is a 1961 British film musical, directed by Sidney J. Furie and featuring Cliff Richard, Robert Morley as his character's father, Carole Gray as his love interest, and The Shadows as his band. The screenplay was written by Peter Myers and Ronald Cass, who also wrote most of the songs. Herbert Ross choreographed the dance scenes.
The film was produced by the Associated British Picture Corporation and shot at their Elstree Studios. It had its World Premiere on December 13, 1961 at the Warner Theatre in London's West End.
The story is about the youth club member and aspiring singer Nicky and his friends, who try to save their club in West London from the unscrupulous millionaire property developer Hamilton Black, who plans to tear it down to make room for a large office block.
The members decide to put on a show to raise the money needed to buy a lease renewal. The twist in the story is that Nicky in reality is Hamilton Black's son, something he keeps secret from his friends until some of them try to kidnap Black senior to prevent him from stopping the show. Although he is fighting his father over the future of the youth club, Nicky cannot allow them to harm him, so he attacks the attackers and frees his father.
In the meantime, Black Sr has realised that his son is the mystery singer that all of London is talking about, after the youth club members have done some pirate broadcasts to promote their show. So, although he has just bought the theatre where the show is to take place, in order to be able to stop it, the proud father decides that the show must go on. At the end, he joins the youth club members on stage, dancing and singing, after having promised to build them a new youth club.
This was Cliff Richard's third film, following Serious Charge and Expresso Bongo. Producer Kenneth Harper hired Sidney J. Furie as director and Ronald Cass and Peter Myers as writers, and during a meeting in Harper's flat, the four agreed to borrow the storyline of the film musical Babes In Arms (1939), where youngsters Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland put on a show with their friends to raise money.
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Wikipedia