It's Great to Be Young (1956 film)

It's Great to Be Young
It's Great to Be Young
Directed by	Cyril Frankel
Written by	Ted Willis (story and screenplay)
Produced by	Victor Skutezky
Starring	John Mills; Cecil Parker
Cinematography	Gilbert Taylor
Edited by	Max Benedict
Music by	Louis Levy (musical director)
Production; company	Marble Arch Productions
Distributed by	Associated British-Pathé (UK)
Release date	1956;
Running time	94 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Box office	£282,838

It's Great to Be Young is a 1956 British Technicolor musical comedy film directed by Cyril Frankel and starring Cecil Parker and John Mills.^[2] It was written by Ted Willis. The story concerns an inspirational school music teacher.

Plot

Mr Dingle seeks to interest his pupils in music in order to enjoy life, while the new strict headmaster, Mr Frome, believes Dingle is ruining the children's traditional education.

Mr Dingle's pupils come up with a way to raise money by playing to crowds in the street and persuade him to help them. When this fails they decide to jazz it up and bring in some younger kids to help. This initiative is a success and, with the help of one of the pupil's parents, they are able to buy new musical instruments. The total cost, £200, is to be paid in instalments of £2.10s. per week which Dingle personally signs for.

However, when Mr Dingle ends up on the front page of the local newspaper, the headmaster locks the instruments up. The pupils manage to get them out of the locked cupboards, rehearse and put them back without anyone noticing.

Mr Dingle takes a second job playing the piano in his local pub for £4 a week plus free beer. However, he is spotted by one of the teachers who reports him to Mr Frome, who sacks him for it. The children protest about Dingle's dismissal by organising a strike and a sit-in. Children from other schools also stand outside in protest.

Eventually, order is restored as Mr Frome relents and allows Mr Dingle to return. The children carry both out triumphantly to the tune of Top of the Form.

Cast

John Mills as Mr. Dingle
Cecil Parker as Frome
John Salew as Routledge
Elizabeth Kentish as Mrs. Castle
Mona Washbourne as Miss Morrow
Mary Merrall as Miss Wyvern
Derek Blomfield as Paterson
Jeremy Spenser as Nicky
Dorothy Bromiley as Paulette
Brian Smith as Ginger
Wilfred Downing as Browning
Robert Dickens as Morris
Dawson France as Crowther
Carole Shelley as Peggy
Richard O'Sullivan as Lawson
Norman Pierce as publican
Eleanor Summerfield as barmaid
Bryan Forbes as Mr. Parkes, organ salesman
Marjorie Rhodes as landlady
Eddie Byrne as Morris
Russell Waters as Mr. Scott, School Inspector

Soundtrack

The song "You are My First Love" is sung over the opening scenes of the film by Ruby Murray. Released on record, it reached number 16 in the UK charts.^{[citation needed]}

Reception

Box office

The film was one of the ten most popular films at the British box office in 1956.^[3]^[4]

Critical reception

Monthly Film Bulletin said "A simple, boisterous schoolboy romp which echoes Hue and Cry [1947] and the early Garland-Rooney musicals without achieving the gaiety of the former or the slickness of the latter. A fairly conventional script is enlivened by John Mills’ enjoyable performance and a few amusing moments. The dubbing of the musical numbers by professional groups is quite efficient, though the sugary, American-style songs strike an alien note in such emphatically British surroundings."^[5]

Kine Weekly said "Lively story, clever conbution by John Mills, talented juveniles, catchy theme song, rollicking highlights, picturesque backgrounds, star values, Technicolor and 'U' certificate."^[6]

BFI Screenonline writes, "It's Great To Be Young! has a fair claim to be not only one of Britain's first teenage musicals but also one of the most commercially successful of any musical made in Britain during the 1950s – it proved so popular that it allegedly caused riots in Singapore. Its virtues are those of many ABPC productions of its era, from the vibrant Eastmancolor cinematography to the immaculately-selected cast and even if some of the sixth-formers are aged in their twenties, they do sound convincing as teenagers."^[7]

The Radio Times Guide to Films gave the film 4/5 stars, writing: "This light-hearted comedy has a remarkable level of energy and a superb sense of pace. John Mills stars as trumpet-playing, jazz loving Mr Dingle, whose enforced resignation from Angel Hill School leads to a (very minor) revolution. The kids, led by Jeremy Spenser and Dorothy Bromiley, are charming, and, thanks to an excellent Ted Willis screenplay, the adults are utterly believable, as is the studio construction of the school."^[8]

Leslie Halliwell said: "Very acceptable but totally forgettable star comedy."^[9]

In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan rated the film as "very good", writing: "Tremendous comedy-with-music that only lets its swinging pace drop for a touch of sappy teenage romance. Bubbling, joyous stuff."^[10]

References

^ Vincent Porter, 'The Robert Clark Account', Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, Vol 20 No 4, 2000 p510
^ "It's Great to Be Young". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
^ BRITISH. FILMS MADE MOST MONEY: BOX-OFFICE SURVEY The Manchester Guardian (1901-1959) [Manchester (UK)] 28 Dec 1956: 3
^ Thumim, Janet. "The popular cash and culture in the postwar British cinema industry". Screen. Vol. 32, no. 3. p. 259.
^ "It's Great to Be Young". Monthly Film Bulletin. 23 (264): 91. 1956 – via ProQuest.
^ "It's Great to Be Young". Kine Weekly. 469 (2546): 26. 31 May 1956 – via ProQuest.
^ "BFI Screenonline: It's Great to Be Young! (1956)". screenonline.org.uk.
^ Radio Times Guide to Films (18th ed.). London: Immediate Media Company. 2017. p. 478. ISBN 9780992936440.
^ Halliwell, Leslie (1989). Halliwell's Film Guide (7th ed.). London: Paladin. p. 529. ISBN 0586088946.
^ Quinlan, David (1984). British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959. London: B.T. Batsford Ltd. p. 330. ISBN 0-7134-1874-5.