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IMDbPro

Expresso Bongo

  • 19591959
  • Not RatedNot Rated
  • 1h 51m
IMDb RATING
6.2/10
527
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
43,915
12,694
Expresso Bongo (1959)
Johnny Jackson, a sleazy talent agent, discovers teenager Bert Rudge singing in a coffee house. Despite Bert's protestation that he really is only interested in playing bongos, Johnny starts him on the road to stardom.
Play trailer2:57
1 Video
20 Photos
DramaMusic
Sleazy talent agent Johnny Jackson discovers teenager Bert Rudge singing in a coffee house. Despite Bert's protestation that he really is only interested in playing bongos, Johnny starts him... Read allSleazy talent agent Johnny Jackson discovers teenager Bert Rudge singing in a coffee house. Despite Bert's protestation that he really is only interested in playing bongos, Johnny starts him on the road to stardom. The deal they cut, however, is highly exploitative of the young s... Read allSleazy talent agent Johnny Jackson discovers teenager Bert Rudge singing in a coffee house. Despite Bert's protestation that he really is only interested in playing bongos, Johnny starts him on the road to stardom. The deal they cut, however, is highly exploitative of the young singer, and their relationship begins to go bad.
IMDb RATING
6.2/10
527
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
43,915
12,694
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Director
      • Val Guest
    • Writers
      • Wolf Mankowitz(based on "Expresso Bongo" by)
      • Julian More(based on "Expresso Bongo" by)
    • Stars
      • Laurence Harvey
      • Sylvia Syms
      • Yolande Donlan
    Top credits
    • Director
      • Val Guest
    • Writers
      • Wolf Mankowitz(based on "Expresso Bongo" by)
      • Julian More(based on "Expresso Bongo" by)
    • Stars
      • Laurence Harvey
      • Sylvia Syms
      • Yolande Donlan
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 20User reviews
    • 18Critic reviews
    • Nominated for 2 BAFTA Awards
      • 2 nominations total

    Videos1

    Trailer
    Trailer 2:57
    Trailer

    Photos20

    Expresso Bongo (1959)
    Quad 30 x 40
    Expresso Bongo (1959)
    Wolf Mankowitz in Expresso Bongo (1959)
    Sylvia Syms in Expresso Bongo (1959)
    Laurence Harvey and Cliff Richard in Expresso Bongo (1959)
    Laurence Harvey, Yolande Donlan, and Cliff Richard in Expresso Bongo (1959)
    Yolande Donlan and Cliff Richard in Expresso Bongo (1959)
    Laurence Harvey, Cliff Richard, and Sylvia Syms in Expresso Bongo (1959)
    Expresso Bongo (1959)
    Expresso Bongo (1959)
    Laurence Harvey, Cliff Richard, and Sylvia Syms in Expresso Bongo (1959)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Laurence Harvey
    Laurence Harvey
    • Johnny Jackson
    Sylvia Syms
    Sylvia Syms
    • Maisie King
    Yolande Donlan
    Yolande Donlan
    • Dixie Collins
    Cliff Richard
    Cliff Richard
    • Bert Rudge…
    Meier Tzelniker
    • Mayer
    Ambrosine Phillpotts
    Ambrosine Phillpotts
    • Lady Rosemary
    Eric Pohlmann
    Eric Pohlmann
    • Leon
    • (as Eric Pohlman)
    Gilbert Harding
    • Self
    Hermione Baddeley
    Hermione Baddeley
    • Penelope
    Reginald Beckwith
    Reginald Beckwith
    • Reverend Tobias Craven
    Paula Barry
    • Intime Girl - Dancer
    • (uncredited)
    Jack 'Kid' Berg
    • Slam Dance Crowd
    • (uncredited)
    Eddie Boyce
    • Autograph Seeker
    • (uncredited)
    Avis Bunnage
    Avis Bunnage
    • Mrs. Rudge
    • (uncredited)
    Rita Burke
    • Intime Girl - Dancer
    • (uncredited)
    Susan Burnet
    • Edna Rudge
    • (uncredited)
    Esma Cannon
    Esma Cannon
    • Night Club Cleaner
    • (uncredited)
    Patrick Cargill
    Patrick Cargill
    • A Psychiatrist
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Val Guest
    • Writers
      • Wolf Mankowitz(based on "Expresso Bongo" by)
      • Julian More(based on "Expresso Bongo" by)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The credit titles for writer, producer and director are written on sandwich boards carried by writer Wolf Mankowitz as he walks around Soho.
    • Crazy credits
      Opening credits are shown on a neon sign outside a theatre, a jukebox, a pinball machine, a barrel organ, a restaurant menu, a pin-board, ending with a sandwich-board man.
    • Alternate versions
      Reissued in 1962 at 106 minutes. This shorter version omitted a number of songs, including "Nausea." About 2 minutes of alternate scenes were used to fill in some of the cut musical scenes.
    • Connections
      Featured in The Love Goddesses (1965)
    • Soundtracks
      Nausea
      (uncredited)

      Music by David Heneker (as David Henneker) and Monty Norman

      Lyrics by Julian More and Wolf Mankowitz

      From original stage show

    User reviews20

    Review
    Top review
    8/10
    Cliff Richard's best film
    Watching any film 50 years after you last saw it is, at any time, a mildly unnerving experience. A film that boasts the dubious title 'Expresso Bongo' and features a not-greatly post-pubescent Cliff Richard should have provided a strong warning that turning back the clock is not always a good idea but, actually, this was a great pleasure. Based on a successful stage musical and set in the heart of the Soho music industry of the late 1950s as it comes to terms with rock and roll , 'Expresso Bongo' retains a salty edge even now. Laurence Harvey plays a chancer who happens to come across a young rocker (Cliff Richard) who he seeks to exploit shamelessly but who then proves more than a match for him. With a sharp, pungent and funny script (by 50s star writer Wolf Mankowitz) and plenty of night location shooting in Soho, the film fizzes along for the most part, resembling 'Sweet Smell of Success', but with songs and a slightly softer edge. The version on this DVD has been shorn of its extrinsic musical numbers (including one sung by old-style musical promoter Maier Tzelniker that I remember well, starting 'When I compare these little bleeders to the chorus from Aida….nausea!') but still has time for the wonderfully cynical 'Shrine on the Second Floor', as Cliff is propelled into religiosity to further his career. Harvey's weaselly good looks are just right and Sylvia Sims is very sexy as his long-suffering stripper girlfriend. Even Cliff acquits himself well, with just the right amount of ambivalence as to his complicity (including being asked, not for the last time, why he has no girlfriend). In a film where everyone is either on the make or being exploited, sometimes at the same time, there is at least one poignant real-life parallel. The distinguished stage actress Hermione Baddelley here plays a veteran street tart. She has a couple of affectionate scenes with Harvey, with whom, despite their age difference, she had a relationship in the early 1950s just as his career was getting under way. Now, Harvey was on a roll and would shortly go to Hollywood on the strength of his next film, 'Man at the Top'.
    helpful•6
    0
    • helenandgraham
    • Jan 7, 2015

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • December 11, 1959 (United Kingdom)
    • Country of origin
      • United Kingdom
    • Official site
      • Kino Lorber (United States)
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • 女体入門
    • Filming locations
      • Old Compton Street, Soho, London, England, UK
    • Production company
      • Val Guest Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 51 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.35 : 1

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