Wonderful Life (1964)

User Rating:

5.4/10   

Director:

Sidney J. Furie

Writers:

Ronald Cass (writer)
Peter Myers (writer)

Release Date:

7 September 1964 (Denmark)

Genre:

Musical | Romance

Tagline:

Cliff's back! - He's swingin' singin' livin' and dancin' to a dozen it tunes!

Plot:

A group of (literally) drifting popsters find themselves involved in a grim sand-and-sandals desert movie...

Plot Keywords:

Film In Film | Independent Film

Cast

Cliff Richard	...	Johnnie
Walter Slezak	...	Lloyd Davis
Susan Hampshire	...	Jenny
Melvyn Hayes	...	Jerry
Una Stubbs	...	Barbara
Derek Bond	...	Douglas Leslie
Joseph Cuby	...	Miguel (as Joe Cuby)
Richard O'Sullivan	...	Edward
Gerald Harper	...	Sheik / Scotsman / Harold
Bruce Welch	...	The Shadows
John Rostill	...	The Shadows
Brian Bennett	...	The Shadows
Hank B. Marvin	...	The Shadows

Also Known As:

Swingers' Paradise (USA)

Runtime:

113 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:U | Australia:G | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl

Company:

Associated British Picture Corporation (ABPC)

Trivia:

Derek Bond was booked after Dennis Price who was first hired was fired.

Movie Connections:

Spoofs Dr. No (1962)

Soundtrack:

Theme For Young Lovers

Enjoyable musical-comedy with Britain's "Elvis"

Cliff Richard and his backing group, "The Shadows" (affectionately called The "Shads" by kids in Britain at the time) made three very entertaining films in a row in the early 60's. They were all filmed in CinemaScope, the most widely-used widescreen process of the era. "Wonderful Life" was the last of this trio. The other two were, "The Young Ones" (aka "Wonderful to be Young") and "Summer Holiday" To say Cliff and The Shads were a phenomenon is an understatement. To this day both Cliff and the Shads still perform to sold-out audiences around the world. For some uncanny reason they never really made it in the states, altho Cliff had one hit with"Devil Woman" and the Shads had "Apache" Okay these movies didn't (and won't) win any awards. But they are a fun way to spend a couple of hours. "Summer Holiday" and "Wonderful Life" were both filmed on location, in glorious color, and all three could best be compared to any of the Elvis or Frankie/Annette musical-comedies of the same era. "The Young Ones" featured a great dance sequence performed by the female lead, Carole Grey - a tribute to Bob Fosse's "Steam Heat" number from "Pajama Game" Enjoy them for what they are -entertainment! Shields, Santa Barbara, CA