Summer Holiday (1963)

Lets see if it's true.

Summer Holiday is directed by Peter Yates who also co-writes the story and screenplay with Ronald Cass. It stars Cliff Richard, Lauri Peters, Melvyn Hayes and Una Stubbs. Story sees Richard and three pals take a red London double decker bus into Europe for their summer holiday. On the way their adventure will see them pick up some girls and an assortment of characters. Fun, frolics and songs follow.

Light on plot but big on heart, Summer Holiday is well dated and cheesy but still carries with it enough charm to entertain the undemanding musical fan. Some lively sequences dot themselves throughout, but it's with the foot tapping tunes that the picture remains most memorable. Stand outs include the title track, Batchelor Boy and The Next Time, while the presence of The Shadows is also a bonus. It's unlikely to make big fans of first timers who didn't have it as part of their childhood, but for many the nostalgia factor more than compensates for its 101 formula. And of course for fans of the ever amiable Cliff Richard, film remains essential. 6.5/10

With the help of London Transport, "Don" (Cliff Richard) and three of his mechanic pals pick up an American runaway "Barbara/Bobby" (Lauri Peters) and they all set off in a double decker bus on a tour of Europe. Their's is not the daftest of ideas, either - the are going to use the bus as an hotel on wheels. Meantime, her wealthy and well-known mother "Stella" (Madge Ryan) is having a paddy and calling on the police to arrest these kidnappers. As they journey through the continent, they discover some quirky characters - they almost run over the mime artist "Orlando" (Ron Moody) - and that gives Cliff plenty of opportunity to burst into song. "Bachelor Boy" and the eponymous title track are probably the most famous, but there are plenty of other two-minuters to keep the toes tapping and to compensate for the not exactly Nobel standard of dialogue. The star oozes charisma here - it's easy to see why he was a teen pin-up, and he's well supported by the boisterous Peters and by a feast of familiar faces to British audiences like Melvyn Hayes, David Kossof, Una Stubbs and, of course, the always great with the eccentric Ron Moody. It's quite literally a light-hearted vehicle for a twenty-three year old popstar and taken in that vein is actually quite fun.