Some People

Not many films used to be shot in Bristol, England in the 1960s. But Some People was shot entirely in and around the old city going out of its way to show the main characters in the very spots they would actually have been hanging about in real life as aimless teenagers. I know for certain because my parents were courting teens at that very time in that very place. I showed them the film recently (yes they're still a couple 54 years later) and the locations were very accurate to life as they knew it. My father actually worked in the Aircraft factory featured. The dance club in the film was the top spot for young Bristolians to cut a rug in 1962, a favorite place for them and all of their young friends (the front door manned by no less than Dave Prowse (not in the film unfortunately), the actor who made good as Darth Vader in a slightly better known film.) Bristol has changed but not so much that anyone familiar with it wouldn't know most of the locales.

Not much of a film really critically speaking, but well cast, well meaning, and well...it's not half bad. If you know the place it's a precious document though of a time and place which can never be duplicated.

I was 10 when i first saw Some People and managed to catch it on TV often after that, a film of the times to copy a much used phrase. 1962, when American Graffiti was released its advertising slogan was 'where were you in 62' well I was a 10 year old kid living in Edmonton north London, i had a sister 5 years older that took me to see all the films. Some People was all about youth clubs, motorbikes, vicars,English rock'n'roll,shrinkable blue jeans! and boy meets girl. I truly love this film and films of its type'up the junction'for instance one of the best lines of the film is 'jonnys got a new fairing' when you get to see the fairing on the bike its what we later called a grandad fairing, not a patch on a new suzuki gsxr's fairing today, i think this film was the main reason i became a ROCKER a few years later. the opening line of the sound track is as relevant today as it was 40 years ago 'Some People think that kids today have gone astray' does this sound familiar? well its followed by 'Well they should know cos they were kids once too' that kind of sums it up.i need a copy.RjS

So, this movie DOES actually exist after all! I've tried searching the title for years in various film guides to no avail. For some strange reason, "Some People" showed up at our local theater in Dover, NH sometime in either 1964 or 1965 and I saw it with a bunch of my 12 year old buddies. All I can remember is a scene where a teenager is sitting in a bathtub with a pair of jeans on to get that "form fit" we were all looking for back then, and the lyrics to the theme song "some people think that kids today have gone astray, but they don't know the kids the way I do," have stayed in my head for 44 years. I'm a once and future "British Invasion" junkie and was probably hoping that the movie would feature some of my current favorites such as the Searchers, Hollies, Honeycombs, Manfred Mann, Animals, etc., but I guess it was more along the lines of "That'll Be The Day," which covers the era immediately preceding "beat" music hitting it big in the States. Anyhoodle, I would like to thank the IMDb crew and all who commented on this forgotten classic (?) for restoring faith in my own sanity. If anyone out there would like to discuss music from this era, I'm more than ready to comply.

I heard of this film from my brother-in-law basically because it was filmed in my home city. I thought it was fantastic, with all the scenes of Bristol before I was born. It was great fun trying to guess where it was filmed. Clifton, Filton, probably Patchway, Broadmead (but which store?), City centre, Totterdown, The Downs, The Portway and the now re-built bus station. Kenneth More is brilliant as ever. It might have been a bit corny but not as bad as a Cliff film. I purchased a DVD of it off ebay (not great quality as it had been transferred from video) and really enjoyed it. When will it be available on DVD in all its remastered glory?

The first thing to note is that nearly all the actors playing teenagers are well into their twenties.This film obviously appealed to Bristolians but otherwise it is going to leave you cold.It is boring and runs out of plot very quickly.Kenneth More,on his way down,appears only occasionally.Was he that desperate?Some scenes are badly recorded you can't hear the dialogue over the ambient sound.