P'tang, Yang, Kipperbang

This sweet, breezy, coming of age/first kiss movie follows the trials and tribulations of Alan "Quack-Quack" Duckworth, a likable young teenager going through his first crush. Set in post WWII Britian, Alan has his public love of Cricket, and his secret puppy-love for classmate Ann Laughton, who barely tolerates his existence. And just as Baseball (or Cricket) can throw you a curve ball, Alan gets his curve ball in the the form of an iron-clad opportunity to kiss the girl of his dreams. But will "Quack-Quack" be able to step up to the plate and fulfill his dream? Well, get a hold of this little gem of a movie and find out. Great supporting cast of his Teacher and Headmaster, his schoolyard chums, and Tommy the Groundskeeper , whom Alan admires, but whom might throw Alan yet another curve ball. All in all, an entertaining movie that I highly recommend.

An enjoyable movie, without a doubt, and very evocative of both its era and that very particular stage in any boy's 'rites of passage'. But I have to say that having read the very positive comments here, I was a bit disappointed. The period was captured, but the plot was desperately thin. The whole thing revolves around the most egregious bit of miscasting in the history of school plays. The idea that quack quack would ever be chosen to play not only one of only three star turns, but a philanderer, is risible. And without that, nada. The sub-plots bore no relation that I could see to the main plot - all of them could be removed in their entirety without in any way affecting the main story - which surely suggests a fundamental flaw. When all your sub-plots look like padding, you know a central idea is being stretched beyond its limits. Nevertheless, it's a benign movie with its heart in the right place, there are some fine performances, and you just get the feeling that everyone involved felt deflated at the final 'cut!' That good feeling permeates the film. And that has to count for something. A flawed really quite good movie. 7 out of 10.

My review was written in February 1984 after watching the film at a Midtown Manhattan screening room.

"Kippebang" is a flat, understated attempt at romantic comedy, made for British television in 1982 as part of the "First Love" series, but virtually evaporating on the big screen. U. S. Theatrical release via UA Classics comes several months after the picture in video cassette form has been available in domestic video stores.

Writer Jack Rosenthal's consistently precious script matches the romantic problems of young adolescents (hero is 14) with those of their elders, as the English teacher (Alison Steadman) must deal with an unplanned pregnancy,l the father being the school groundskeeper (Garry Cooper).

Very thin material emphasizes running gags, most noxious of which is the kids reciting the nonsense phrase "P'tang, Yang, Kipperbang" (pic's original title in Britain, pointlessly followed by a grunt, shortened for U. S. release), as an example of the youngsters' codes and rituals.. Young cast members throw away their dialog in mumbled, naturalistic readings, reducing potential chuckles to groaners.

Plot gimmicks, generally overemphasized, include the hero Alan (John Albasiny) dreaming of his first kiss with plain classmate Ann (Abigail Gruttenden), with attempted suspense generated as he is cast in a dull school play in which he is supposed to kiss co-star Ann in the final scene.

Device of a voiceover narrator turning most events into cricket match play-by-play (representing Alan's wish-fulfillment point-of-view) is overworked, as are the frequent references back to World War II (groundskeeper is fake war hero, leading to the predictable disillusionment of the hero).

Director Michael Apted appears uncertain how to approach this material, combining the general understatement with a coy approach to vulgar issues of adolescent sexs (Alan and his two pals form the inevitable central trio of sex-obsessed young teens) and hyped-up crosscutting between the school play's climax and police arresting the groundskeeper.

Adult actors, especially Steadman, turn in good performances, but the kids are a drag. In his big finale scene, pouring his heart out to Ann, John Albasiny delivers his lines into the ground, inadvertently giving a worse performance than his intentionally incompetent non-acting during the school play. Tech credits are okay.

Not as "simple" as the plot synopsis makes out. The lad struggles with issues such as his hopes that after the second world war there will be progress for everyone and that there will be no more wars in the future. It is a sad awakening he has to the reality of lies and deceit. Lies from the person he admires and what we the audience see as the hypocrisy of his form teacher who while preaching moral decency to the class, behaves very differently herself (i am not condemning her it is actually the hypocrisy of the times astutely observed by Jack Rosenthal the author). Still, these are deep waters among the shallows of a "simple" boy girl plot. Oh, and I have't mentioned the cricket commentary that runs through the lads mind at crucial times. If you love any ball game e.g. Baseball, you will so get it- so US do give it a go. You could well love it! Cricket lovers- well it goes without saying.

There is a great danger when you watch a film that had had such a profound affect on you the first time around , that 20 years later , it wont hold the same magic as it did before. I must admit i wasnt expecting it to be as good as i remembered but a was pleasently suprised. P'tang Yang Kipperbang is still as fantastic as i remember it when i was a 12 year old .This film has a certain type of brilliance that not many films possess. It is engrossing , it is briliantly acted and best of all it makes me feel like a kid again and there isnt many things that can do that. John Albasiny and Abigail Cruttenden's rolls in this film are 1st class and i had forgotten how good they were until now. I urge any parent of teenagers to sit them down and watch this and see if it has the same affect on them as it did on me. P'TANG YANG KIPPERBANG EEHHH! 10 out of 10.