Item #: 15702 Category: BRITISH Format: VHS MPAA Rating: U

Woolly Rating: 5/10 (153 votes)

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Kevin Rayburn

May 17, 2005 @ 9:50:40

The need to succeed
This Val Guest-helmed film was a very interesting one to watch after having recently seen the 1950 London noir "Night and the City"(directed by Jules Dassin) and the 1986 musical, "Absolute Beginners," set in London's Soho district during the birth of teen culture in the late 1950s. In this film, Lawrence Harvey is a pushy small-time promoter trying to break into the big time by finding the newest teen-idol rock-and-roll discovery. His character is very similar to Richard Widmark's pestering small-fry promoter in the Dassin film, though Harvey better rolls with the punches. "Absolute Beginners," a musical, owes much to the Guest film, taking place in the late '50s milieu of the earliest days of Swinging London. In it, too, the search for the hot new teen rock idol is part of the scenario. "Expresso Bongo" is less than the sum of its parts; it seems draggy at times, and much may depend on your tolerance of Brit rock idol Cliff Richard, who seems a bit too Fabian-ish for my taste. He has some musical interludes here, including an icky ballad that drives the teenyboppers wild. The satirical machinations behind the making of an image and the unmaking of small-fry agents who butt up against powerful music-biz interests are what make this film worthwhile to watch. Harvey, possibly miscast and not entirely convincing, still manages to drive the thing home by sheer energy. Sylvia Sims as his gal provides the eyecandy (alongside some pastie-clad strippers). Young Susan Hampshire (familiar to fans of PBS dramas back in its 70s heyday) has a hilarious cameo as an uber-Brit debutant snob caricature. The film is a pleasant way to pass the time, if not quite the classic it could have been. *** Expresso Bongo (1960) - kevin rayburn 2005

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