8.11.09

play it cool (1962)

"It seems a shame to go without doing the twist."
Billy Universe (Billy Fury) is an up and coming singer, with a motley band in tow, including one member who looks about 10! He gets involved with a poor little rich girl, who is going out with pop star, and all round nasty piece of work Larry Grainger (Maurice Kaufmann). Sir Charles (Dennis Price) her father is trying to split them up, and rightly so. Will Billy get involved, or continue to believe it is none of his business.
Along the way he manages to sing at the drop
of a hat, and we get turns from a number of other stars such as Helen Shapiro, Bobby Vee, Shane Fenton (or Alvin Stardust as he became), and Danny Williams. Plus appearances from many of the great and the good of the time such as Norrie Paramor.
This film is carried totally by whether you like Billy fury or not, given that there is very little plot, and pitifully little in the way of what would normally be called acting. This is really a standard pop music exploitation piece directed with all the flair that journeyman director Winner can muster, which is not a lot. But even with all that said, Billy's star quality still shines through. An enjoyable piece of pre-Beatles pop.

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