And so, to end this brief run on kid related releases y brawd brings you a gem from 1971, Melody [aka S.W.A.L.K.]. Given a luke-warm initial reception in UK & US - though a huge hit in Japan and, less explicably, Argentina and Chile - it has now graduated to bona fide cult classic status. Watch the trailer for the plot - Pulp Fiction it ain't - but do seek out the full hit. Like many British films of the period it's thrilling in a low-key way to see character actors like Keith Barron, Roy Kinnear, and John “the Scaffold then much later Tiswas” Gorman do their thing. Naturally, Mark Lester irritates and the late Jack Wild excels in equal measure. (And a role in the Jack Wild biopic surely beckons for Brett Anderson.)
The music is mostly Bee Gees at their sugary (not, please note, saccharine) best: In the Morning; First of May; Melody Fair. Additonal lush orchestrated versions of same plus incidental spicks and specks courtesy of the Richard Hewson Orchestra. Boasts a well-chosen closer in Graham Nash's Teach Your Children.
Oddi wrth y brawd
Latimer... Ornshaw... Ornshaw... Ornshaw!
3 comments:
I remember the film, by which I mean I probably caught it by accident whilst watching BBC2 late one night at some point in my teens and a few years after it's original release. It's fair to say I enjoyed it at the time, I'd be intrigued to watch it again after 30+ years (shit! that long?? tal about shorter of breath and one day closer to death - thanks Rog). I share Y Brawd's view of both Lester and Wild and how right he is with the fantasy casting of Brett "Bert" Anderson in the (title?) role of Wild in an eventual biopic. Oh to be a fly on the casting louche.
I too used to trawl late night UK TV(i.e. in those days, any time after 2100)in the mid 70s. My mission however was rather loucher - is it sentimental to speculate that pervy Brett was also on the hunt for a flash of breast in the likes of Vampire Circus.........? (Probably)
Hi There,
I was wondering if you could re-post this as the link is not working.
kind regards,
ell
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