The Shadows Movies
If you weren't one of the lucky few who were able to make it to the Shadows' amazing swan song performance in person, this release offers fans a chance to say goodbye time and again by bringing their stunning goodbye concert straight into the comfort of your living room. Bringing Hank Marvin, Bruce Welch, and Brian Bennett together for one final night under the lights, this 2004 performance from the Cardiff Indoor Arena offers such Shadows hits as "Riders in the Sky", "My Home Town", &The Rise and Fall of Flingel Bunt", and "Lady of the Morning" as well as 37 other unforgettable hits. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
This animated, futuristic puppet fantasy finds Lady Penelope and Professor Brains working for the organization International Rescue. The professor has developed an aircraft for the New World Aircraft company. Corporate spies secretly working for the NWA organization steal the experimental flyer. The Lady and the Professor chase the villains around the world in their quest to return the plane to the rightful owners in this action-packed children's feature. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sylvia Anderson, Ray Barrett, (more)
- 1966
British pop star Cliff Richard and his band The Shadows (including influential guitarist Hank B. Marvin) star in this lighthearted blend of music, comedy, and espionage. An American fighter plane accidentally drops a small bomb on a Spanish town; the bomb fails to go off, but the community is thrown into a panic and the village is evacuated. When Cliff and the Shadows arrive in town to play a show, they're a bit puzzled to discover that no one is there; when they find out what has happened, the boys try to find the bomb so that it can be returned to the American pilots. However, it turns out that foreign agent Mr. X (John leMesurier) is also looking for the bomb and has blackmailed hotel owner Col. Roberts (Robert Morley) into helping him. As you might expect, Cliff and his band manage to squeeze in a few songs as they further the cause of Anglo-American unity. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cliff Richard, The Shadows, (more)
- 1963
British filmmaker Peter Yates directs singer Cliff Richard in the starring role in this early 1960s pop music romp. Richard plays Don, a mechanic who, with three friends, is preparing to launch an offbeat European continental travel service using an old London double-decker bus. On a test run, they collide with a car occupied by a group of female rock musicians, demolishing it -- so they offer to give the girls a ride to Athens. They also pick up an American pop singer, Barbara (Lauri Peters), who is posing as a boy to hide from her press agent and mother, who refuse to allow her a vacation from a demanding tour schedule. Don and Barbara fall in love, but Barbara's mother accuses him of abducting her, and the bus and the music roll on to Greece after a series of comic misadventures. The cast includes the real rock group The Shadows. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cliff Richard, Lauri Peters, (more)
- 1962
Director Sidney J. Furie was betwixt and between his Canadian TV work and his theatrical-film prominence vis-a-vis Ipcress File (65) when he helmed the British social melodrama The Boys. The title characters are four youths, all implicated in the murder of a night watchman. Robert Morley plays the defense attorney who tries to convince the jury to render a charitable verdict. His basic argument is that the government expects a death sentence in cases involving robbery, but is more lenient towards crimes of passion. Prosecuting attorney Richard Todd is unmoved; his job is to prove that the boys aren't the innocent victims of society they're made out to be. The Boys benefits from Furie's dextrous use of flashbacks during the testimony scenes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Todd, Robert Morley, (more)
Wonderful to Be Young! was released in Britain as The Young Ones. Given the later output of director Sidney J. Furie, one might suspect that the original title was meant as irony, but in fact this is an upbeat, life-affirming vehicle for British pop singer Cliff Richard. In this one, Richard, the son of millionaire Robert Morley, wants to buy a piece of property before his father can use it for avaricious purposes. Having no spending money of his own (!), Richard puts on a Big Show with his friends to raise the necessary funds. Morley outwits his son, leading one of the kids to kidnap the old guy out of vengeance. But Richard comes to the rescue with several more swingin' tunes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cliff Richard, Robert Morley, (more)
- 1957
Producer-director Roger Corman serves up another thinly plotted musicfest in Carnival Rock. Corman regular Susan Cabot stars as Natalie, a singer for an oceanside carnival. Smitten by Natalie, high-stakes gambler Stanley (Brian Hutton) wins the carnival in a poker game so that he can be near the girl. Christy (David J. Stewart), the carnival's ex-owner, is likewise in love with the girl, so he stays on as a baggy-pants burleycue comic. As in most films of this nature, the plot can be blissfully ignored in favor of the musical highlights, which in this case are performed by the likes of The Platters, David Houston, Bob Luman, The Shadows and The Blockbusters. And what would a Roger Corman flick be without Dick Miller in a supporting role? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Susan Cabot, Brian G. Hutton, (more)
