Summer Holiday (1962) (U)

“We’re all goin’ on a summer holiday,
No more workin’ for a week or two. 
Fun and laughter on our summer holiday,
No more worries for me or you,
For a week or two”

Cliff Richard and the gang get on board their double-decker and head off to mainland Europe for sun and songs.

Summer Holiday skilfully mixes commercial pop with mainstream show and swing numbers. There are frequent opportunities for song and dance. ‘Really Waltzing’ is a mass of swirling colour, while ‘Stranger In Town’ features a touch of the Gene Kellys, arranged by Stanley Black with Latin rhythms, trad jazz and blues. Summer Holiday skillfully mixes commercial pop with more mainstream show and swing numbers.

The film’s opening sequence is among the most iconic of its era. Into the grey world of early ’60s ‘realism’ comes Cliff Richard, driving his red bus and – literally – bringing colour to those around him. The transition to colour, following The Wizard of Oz, indicates that we are in fantasy territory – in folklore, Cliff would be the pixie/fairy who brings good tidings – and there never was a bus mechanic like this: his over-enthusiasm immediately sets him apart.

The ‘young ones’ remain honest and decent throughout, unlike Barbara’s mother Stella (Madge Ryan), a musical-comedy American ‘mother from hell’, self-seeking, avaricious and prejudiced towards Don (a ‘hoodlum’). But being a fantasy, Summer Holiday ends with a reconciliation between youth and middle-age, thus reinforcing traditional values of successful business enterprise and marriage.

The film remains popular in folk memory, and there was even a 1997 stage production.

Dir. Peter Yates, UK 1963, 107 mins. With Cliff Richrd, Una Stubbs, David Kossoff, Ron Moody, Melvin Hayes, The Shadows.

Certificate U

346357