Danny Jones

The alternative title for this film is 'Fires of Youth', the same as Collier's novel on which it is based. And that is a more accurate description of the genre of the film – it is a coming-of-age movie.

The central character is Danny Jones (played by Len Jones). He is 17 years old and rather naïve. He works with his father (played by Frank Finlay) as jobbing builders in the Welsh valleys. Danny leads an uneventful existence until he and his father are commissioned to carry out some building work at a rather posh girl's school. Here Danny meets up with Angie (Jane Carr) and her friend Sue (Jenny Hanley). Ms. Carr is of course best remembered for her performance as the innocent Mary McGregor in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. And Ms. Hanley is probably best known (by U.K fans at least) as the presenter of the children's show Magpie. Both actresses here play characters of a totally different social class to Danny and that friction forms the backbone to this film's story line. They are also much more experienced and worldly-wise than Danny so that presents the openings for Danny's learning opportunities.

A relationship develops between Danny and Angie. No detailed spoilers here – but that relationship leads Danny to question his relationship with his father, and also uncovers some demons in the mind of Angie, especially with regards to her relationship with her more attractive friend Sue.

This is a quaint, beautifully photographed, rather dated but still very viewable film; in fact it is a little gem. If you ever get the chance to watch it on one of the rare occasions it is shown on TV – I would recommend you take it. Jane Carr is the real star of the movie, a stellar performance which requires her to act out a character who is the total opposite of her Mary McGregor portrayal. Indeed I believe this is the only film in her career in which Ms. Carr was required to perform several topless/nude scenes – a total contrast to her innocent Mary McGregor. Finally – and as an added bonus to fans of 1960s English 'classic' cars (like me) – an Austin A35 van and a (rare) Morris Minor convertible also make appearances in this movie!

I've watched this movie a few times maybe once or twice over the last month or so and I think it's an alright movie with showing how the loving relationship of Danny and Angie is starting to develop and they begin their sort of loving relationship together but at the same time the film seems to have some flaws just with the whole story as well, because for a start Angie who's described as "experienced" on the poster itself, well in the film she doesn't seem that experienced in some ways because it seems that throughout the film the main thing it seems that all she wants to do is to to have sex and make love with Danny and earlier on in the film when Danny and Angie first sleep together and she shouts about getting laid with Danny, it's like in that sense even though the film is basically letting the viewer know and implying that Angie is experienced as an 18 year old, she still comes across as being quite childish most of the time and you might think well it's just because she's a young adult but still it's implied that she's experienced yet it's shows that she doesn't really seem to be and Danny's father seems to be quite abusive towards him and the sort of message that comes across from him is that one day if his son ever wanted to flee the nest he would just never let him and it's almost like the father is putting down the message to his son that he would have to be a higher class of a person like Angie is to have a relationship with someone.

Maybe I'm just over exaggerating over a not too important detail but, I don't know.

(It seems Angie is a bit mixed emotioned aswell.)

...and not very well ( saw this flick just once 30 years ago )...a young man of low class falls in love with a young upper class lass student at a posh - anyway, Jane Carr ( so fantastic in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie ) is the lass, and Frank Finlay ( one of my favorite actors - so many wonderful roles ) plays the young man's father. A nice little film.