It's All Over Town

A quirky variety revue featuring popular artistes from 1963. Among things you wouldn't see today are bunny girls, and April Olrich dancing to Acker Bilk's arrangement of 'The Volga Boatmen' with a live bear in attendance. (Incidentally I don't see why some are so disparaging of Mr. Bilk; he was a superb musician with a great sense of humour.) Other enjoyable acts include The Springfields and the young Clodagh Rodgers. Frankie Vaughan, who contributes five numbers of varying quality may seem desperately 'uncool' to many now, but he was immensely popular back in the day, especially with female audiences. I recall him turning up to do a show at a local theatre a good twenty years after this film was made, when he was mobbed by ladies of a certain age. I liked the Scottish- accented dry commentary and the amusing Lance Percival at the centre of it all. All in all, thoroughly entertaining.

This is a review not a film as such.It was clearly made to support a British Lion "A" feature.It probably would have been paid for by the Eady Levy.Lance Percival and Willie Rushton are featured.This is about the time when "Private Eye" was founded by Rushton with others.Both Rushton and Percival were appearing on the famous satire show "That Was The Week That Was".Frankie Vaughn was big star at the time.He was appearing in his own TV show.He was a great performer and I managed to see him late on in his career in the West End in 42nd Street.Dusty Springfield would of course go on to international stardom.Acker Bilk was having his 5 minutes of fame.There is also a rather strange reverse striptease.All rather dated and uninspiring.

This has a few good points, MGM London Studios,nice photography now revealed in the digital age and a lush backing score by Ivor Raymonde but that is where it ends.Two boring contemporary celebs that use to turn up all the time on TV for some reason or other link the musical numbers using a script (if there was one) that could have been scrawled by a 10 year old on his/her own let alone three grown men mentioned in the script credits. It must have looked dated even at its premier with perhaps its high spots being 'The Springfields' and Frankie Vaughan doing his sea shanty celebrating the fact it was nearly over. Poor old Cloda (Clodagh) Rogers does not even get a close up.You have to ask how on Earth did they get the money for this when at the same time people like Harold Pinter were out with the begging bowl trying to get his 'The Caretaker' financed.

If knowing that it starts with bunny girls doing the Twist at Raymond's Revue Bar doesn't put you off (it's easy to see why it carried an 'A' certificate in 1964), then this film is for you.

Frankie Vaughan and 'Mr' Acker Bilk having already demonstrated that they couldn't act in 'My Teenage Daughter' and 'Band of Thieves', that problem is skirted by including them as performers only and leaving the thesping to TV funnymen Lance Percival and William Rushton.

Plainly shot on half a shoestring but ravishingly and enthusiastically shot in early sixties Eastman Colour (within fifteen years assistant art director John Barry won an Oscar for his work on 'Star Wars'), a young and big-haired Dusty Springfield - billed simply as one of 'The Springfields' - is just one of the treats crammed into less than a hour.