Wonderful Life (1964 film)
Wonderful Life | |
---|---|
Directed by | Sidney J. Furie |
Written by | Peter Myers and Ronald Cass |
Produced by | Kenneth Harper |
Starring | Cliff Richard Walter Slezak Susan Hampshire The Shadows |
Cinematography | Kenneth Higgins |
Edited by | Jack Slade |
Music by | Stanley Black |
Production companies | |
Distributed by | Warner-Pathé (UK) American International Pictures (US) |
Release date |
|
Running time | 113 minutes (U.K.)[1] 83 minutes (U.S.)[2] |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Wonderful Life (U.S.: Swingers' Paradise)[2] is a 1964 British film made as a vehicle for pop star Cliff Richard. It is the third in a series of film musicals following The Young Ones (1961) and Summer Holiday (1963).
Written by Peter Myers and
Plot
Jonnie and his bandmates work as waiters on a travelling ferry. Through a pyrotechnics accident, the power on the ferry cuts off and the group are fired on the spot, stranded on a tiny boat with nothing but their instruments. They float around in the Atlantic Ocean until they reach the Canary Islands.
The group ends up in a
Later that evening, Jonnie spots a blonde woman sitting at his opposite table reading from a script. Her name is Jenny and she doesn't believe that she is a good enough actress to be the
Jonnie's band realise they could cheer everyone up by making the movie a musical, disguising their spare camera behind various objects. The group race through the filming under Lloyd and Jenny's noses, filming a musical number by telling Jenny to sing her script along with the music secretly played by Jonnie's band hiding behind a wall. They are caught by an eavesdropping Lloyd who threatens to fire them, but Jonnie convinces him not to. Lloyd smugly tells him that he will allow them to continue but not with any of his equipment. Jonnie and his friends decide to film when the actual team is not around to witness, and borrow a camera, but worry about filming the finale without Jenny's knowledge. In a restaurant, they discuss their plans and make jokes at Lloyd's expense, unaware that Lloyd and Jenny are on an adjacent table. Lloyd, who is revealed as Jenny's father, vows to stop them and orders Jenny not to go on set the next day.
Jonnie finds Jenny at the nearest swimming pool and begs her to help them. She agrees, snapping that she never wants to see him again. When filming is over, Lloyd is disappointed that his final cut for the film isn't up to his standard and Jonnie isn't happy about the musical adaptation either. They decide to join forces and combine their movies, rewriting the tale as a story about two brothers and a princess. It is shown at the movie premiere and the audience's reception is positive. Lloyd expresses his gratitude to Jonnie during the applause and tells him that Jenny wants to marry him.
Cast
- Cliff Richard as Johnnie
- Walter Slezak as Lloyd Davis
- Susan Hampshire as Jenny Taylor
- Hank Marvin as Hank (The Shadows)
- Bruce Welch as Bruce (The Shadows)
- Brian Bennett as Brian (The Shadows)
- John Rostill as John (The Shadows)
- Melvyn Hayes as Jerry
- Richard O'Sullivan as Edward
- Una Stubbs as Barbara Tate the screenwriter
- Derek Bond as Douglas Leslie
- Gerald Harper as Sheik / Scotsman / Harold
- Joseph Cuby as Miguel [credited as Joe Cuby]
Film soundtrack
A soundtrack album was released in 1964 credited to Cliff Richard with The Shadows, all the music was produced by Stanley Black
Production
The film was shot in
Reception
It was among the ten most popular films of the year at the British box office in 1964.[3]
See also
References
- ^ John Walker (ed.) Halliwell's Film and Video Guide 2000, London: Harper Collins, 1999, p.922
- ^ a b Overview for Swingers' Paradise (1965)", Turner Classic Movies page
- ^ "The Box Office Winners of 1964". Kinematograph Weekly. 17 December 1964. p. 8.
External links
- Wonderful Life at IMDb
- Wonderful Life at Rotten Tomatoes