Two a Penny

Now out in the UK on DVD - something of a collectors piece, with some well known actors and lots of cine verite coverage of the 1967 Billy Graham London Crusade. I say the film on the big screen in 1970, when booklets were handed out from the Crusade organisation. Several big name English actors add spice to a fairly ordinary - perhaps cusading - movie, which follows the generic story line of the Billy Graham films of the period, but this time we have a strong English accent to add interest. Watch out for Dora Bryan in a phone box - there is an odd graphic in view as grafitti - it is the symbol of another film that Dora was making at the time, perhaps not entirely in keeping with this movie (The Killing of Sister George). This movie is rather special for me - I witnessed some of the events on a large TV screen in Manchester in 1967, and then in 1970 it marked the date my present wife and I became a team.

When I was a child in the 70's, there were lots of Cliff Richard films on like "Summer Holiday", "The Young Ones " and "Wonderful Life" full of the same supporting actors singing songs for mums and dads making him an "alrounder entertainer". Then the 60's moved on and these films went out of fashion and Cliff made the bizarre "Finders Keepers" about a discarded bomb, that was probably only on TV once on a Bank Holiday in 1972. "Two a Penny" is an oddity, that I dont think was ever on TV and features Cliff Richard playing a bad guy for once. His girlfriend attends a Billy Graham convention and finds God, but the character Cliff plays is not convinced. Hers is the problem with the film, is it a film to promote Billy Graham, or is it an chance for Cliff to play a bag guy? The whole thing comes across as a script for the TV show "Budgie", with Cliff Richard playing the Adam Faith part. I enjoyed it, dont get me wrong, but was confused why they made it in the first place? Recommended, but it remains an oddity!

The second half of the sixties was a quieter period in Cliff's long career - the Beatles and others having changed the musical landscape to a point where since 1963 he had started to seem irrelevant and uncool.

But here we find a good-looking '67-Cliff, in a serious role, and playing a less-than-desirable character called Jamie Hopkins. He's wearing a '65 chunky cord suit and a fringed hairstyle and acts the part surprisingly well - so much so, that at times I found myself forgetting it was Cliff.

Nice little period scene near the beginning of the film, where he emerges from Picadilly Circus tube station and stops momentarily at the newsagents stand to peer at an opened Sgt. Pepper gate-fold sleeve that's there on display. There's another Beatle connection where he sings Twist and Shout.

A film that Cliff fans will probably enjoy, because it's his first serious role (one that he's most proud of, according to the sleeve notes on my Daily Mail edition), and it gives an indication of what Cliff was up to during the "summer of love".

I saw this film late one night on TBN(which is a religious network here in the US)..This film caught my eye and made me chuckle a little bit. It stars none other than the "British Elvis" himself,Cliff Richard. What you get is an hour and a half of Mod kids hanging out trying to figure what path in life to take..all in all, I enjoyed it for its good nature and its camp value.

Just do one Cliff. What utter dreck. Apparently my "review" is too short. OK... Let's cover the ground again... Just do one Cliff.