A Boy, a Girl and a Bike

Quite a nice film about a long lost past which although sombre for those without much money, was socially rich and enjoyable. Pursuits were predominantly outdoors (no TV), and the Saturday night dances. Others have commented about Diana Dors in this film. I personally thought that the then 22 year old Honor Blackman was the belle of the film, with a passable local accent.

The film has a somewhat rushed ending, with some plot lines not being resolved, while others are brought to fruition. For me, another ten minutes to better resolve the ending would have helped. This is a shame - perhaps the producers ran out of money or a key cast member had other commitments elsewhere?

I saw the film in our local cinema in Paddington in 1949, when I was nearly 13 and a keen cyclist. All of us young boys rated it highly, not least for the unique way the rear brake cable was routed to the brake via a small pilot tube within the bike's top tube. It was the first time that we had seen the young Diana Dors (I think she was 16 at this time) and a real head-turner. Honor Blackman spoke with a creditable Yorkshire accent and I particularly remember the scene when, after having a puncture, she asks John McCullum to "pass the patches and solution". Years later I met Miss Blackman when she was learning to fly at my flying club, Flairavia, at Biggin Hill in 1964 after having just played the part of Pussy Galore in "Gold Finger" - she couldn't remember saying those (to me) immortal lines from the 1949 film! I think the film has stood the test of time and is well worth viewing to remind us how we all lived.

Peter Woodman.

This movie has evaded me for a long time, originally seeing it in Skipton, which is featured in the movie. I couldn't remember the title but it turned up in the DVD 'Diana Dors collection'. It has matured like old wine and the little romances within the main theme make me wish I was back there again. It's a pity it is in black and white : the scenes are good in this medium but they would have been stunning in colour. It is a real advert for 'Come to West Yorkshire for your holidays' particularly since much of it has since been cleaned up revealing its natural beauty.

PS. We don't really talk like that in West Yorkshire - honest!

This film is a very good representation of a northern England mill town of post WW2. The characters although credible are not typical of the peoples found in the area at the time. This movie was filmed in and around my local town and as a historical aid it is valuable though not wholly reliable.

When John McCallum's roadster damages Honor Blackman's bicycle, he takes a liking to the mill girl. However, this annoys her boyfriend, Patrick Holt.

There are a lot of subplots in this story about a Yorkshire bicycling club, and a lot of handsome trucking shots of its members, particularly the ladies from behind, especially eighteen-year-old Diana Dors. the Yorkshire town and its environs are beautifully shot by DP Ray Elton, recently graduated from documentary shorts. He would later become a documentary producer.

Mostly though, it comes off as a paean to post-war prosperity. Like the Huggetts series, it's about the dances and bicycling and good times, now that the war was past, even as Miss Blackman's father wrangles with his mother-in-law about his sweets rations and control of the radio dial. the times are changing, and even though McCallum's parents are old-fashioned and snobby, his interest in Miss Blackman smacks of a new, classless society. Anyway, it's fresh-faced, 24-year-old Honor Blackman, best remembered now for being a Bond Girl and for THE AVENGERS.