Half a Sixpence

HALF A SIXPENCE on the London stage was good. When it came to Broadway,

trimmed and faster paced, it was better. The film, therefore, was keenly

anticipated by anyone, myself included, who loved one or both versions

of the play. What a disappointment. Bloated and overlong with new and

inferior orchestrations and arraingments, the film loses all the charm

that made the musical so delightful. Filters are used for no purpose (a

la Josh Logan with SOUTH PACIFIC), lyrics are dumbed down to inanity,

cameras are moved in and out for no reason and dance numbers are

unimaginative and fall flat! The only saving grace of this mess is the

delightful Tommy Steele who starred on stage and brings his charm and

charisma to the big screen. Without him, HALF A SIXPENCE would be a

disaster; with him it is simply a dreary mis-fire at the end of the

golden age of musical films.....

Master showmen were at work in the production of this perhaps over long but nevertheless delightful picture. It would be impossible to visualise the film without the warm performance of Tommy Steele, and it was an inspired move to bring in George Sidney, one of Hollywood's finest directors of musicals, to give the picture a very special flare. The budget was obviously huge and it all shows on the screen in the very lively production numbers, especially those shot on location. A super piece of screen entertainment which stands up well to occasional re-watching.

Here is a funny BIG frilly musical that is also a good comedy. Imagine someone moaning that it is too big, or even dreary! What a silly thing to feel when there is many musical scenes and easy comedy with which to have a great time. HALF A SIXPENCE is a British hybrid of TWO WEEKS WITH LOVE and HELLO DOLLY and belongs in that cinematic hat box of visual candy delights. If my mixed metaphors make sense (to those who know grammar...and grammar jokes). There is lovely film is all respects. It is raucous and silly and loaded with enough art direction and 'whalloping' stereo musical numbers to please even (Darling) Lili or even Leslie Caron at champagne best. HALF A SIXPENCE is actually a Teen musical but set in Victorian England. The dance numbers are just plain great, and humorous MGM veteran musical director George Sidney has delivered yet again. The music and tunes are memorable and if you see this film with educated kids, they get it and the experience is is a genuine family delight. A 'zac' in Oz vernacular is a sixpence...and there is more value than that in this DVD box of musical chocolates. Just enjoy it. Like those films also mentioned above. It has to be better than seeing Adam Sandler urinating on a door in BIG DADDY, the s-bend of 'family' movies for this clever new century.

If you're a fan of Tommy Steele this is a must watch movie. It's Tommy at his best. If you're a fan of musicals then this has to be on your list. It's warm, funny and has a great feel-good factor. Watch it when you're feeling down, you're bound to feel better.

I remember seeing this movie alot when I was little. They used to show on Tv here in NY in the late 60s and early 70s. I think the first time I first saw it was like in 67 or 68 I was like 5 or 6. The music is great most of the numbers are uplifting and Tommy Steel delivers them wondefully and so does the rest of the cast, especially the the ones with all the dancing like when they sing Money to Burn and Flash Bang Whallop. The one thing I didn't like about this movie was it had a great storyline that should of been developed stronger. The whole thing about the love between Artie and Ann and how it was almost destroyed because of new found wealth and the way it changed him and caused a rift between them and also between him and the boys he worked with could of been emphasized a little stronger. Other than that this movie is a gem, a wonderful, romping musical that you can watch with your whole family because theres's no excessive violence, sex or crude humor o