Il boy friend

Wonderful music and terrific English performers make this spoof of 30s musicals a must. Twiggy is wonderful as the understudy who must fill in for the injured star (Glenda Jackson in a funny cameo). And a Hollywood big shot is in the audience.... Hmmmm. Superb turns by Antonia Ellis as Maisie, Christopher Gable as Tony, and the rest: Max Adrian, Georgina Hale, Moyra Fraser, Barbara Windsor, Bryan Pringle, Catherine Willmer, Tommy Tune, and Murray Melvin. Great sets and costumes and all those musical numbers. Twiggy (yes, she can sing and dance) and Tune teamed up on Broadway years later in Me and My Girl. And this is the show that made a star of Julie Andrews on Broadway in 1954. Great Sandy Wilson show made into a glorious film by Ken Russell. His gentle spoof of 30s musicals, including the famous Busby Berkley dance routines and many inside jokes and lines from 30s musicals make this a total treat for fans of the genre. Jackson's "now go out there and be so great.... you'll make me hate you," is a direct quote from 42nd St, where Bebe Daniels says the line to Ruby Keeler. Also with Graham Armitage, Caryl Little, Sally Bryant, Brian Murphy, Vladel Shaybal as DeThrill, and Peter Greenwell as the pianist (who won an Oscar nomination for his orchestration). What fun! And one of Russell's best films.

Ken Russell takes a straightforward show and adds layers by having characters imagine bigtime Hollywood versions of the small touring company's musical numbers. This opens up the movie and makes for a dazzling spectacle of music, dance, and color. But without terrific performances, this would all be for nothing. Twiggy is really good as the shy Polly the stand-in. She and Christopher Gable make a nice dance team in several numbers. Max Adrian and Catherine Willmer are hilarious as the troop manager and his wife Hilda, as are Moyra Fraser and Bryan Pringle as the haughty star and his wife. My favorites are Antonia Ellis as the ferocious Maisie, Georgina Hale as the fog-horn voiced Fay, and Barbara Windsor as busty Hortense.

The music is great. Twiggy gets to sing "You Are My Lucky Star" and "All I Do the Whole Day Through." Hale and Adrian are memorable in "Never Too Old to Fall in Love." Fraser and Pringle are fun in "You Don't Want to Play with Me Blues," and the closing "Doing the Riviera" is a fond homage to Berkley with the famous chorus girls on winged plane number. Also love "The Boy Friend," "We're Perfect Young Ladies," "Nicer in Niece," "A Room in Bloomsbury," "Fancy Your Forgetting," and "Sur La Plage."

THE BOY FRIEND is a fond and loving spoof of old-time musicals and beautifully done. A must-see for all fans of classic musicals. Amazingly, Shirley Russell didn't get an Oscar nomination for the fabulous costumes.

2011 UPDATE: Warners has issued a remastered DVD and the color is spectacular!

As hilarious today as it was in 1971, this much loved comedy is probably to musicals what Blazing Saddles is to westerns. I know that might sound odd but the analogy describes how much of a very funny send up of Busby Berkeley musicals and wobbly British seaside theatre this film really is. I saw the longer 139 min version in a 1997 reissue in Australia, and it actually is not as tidy as the shorter 109 min version originally released, It is too excessive and impromptu (cast laughing etc) whereas the shorter version does work better. However it does allow for 2 more songs and some extras in the dance numbers that you will want to see... Twiggy is gorgeous, the art direction superb and the end result hilarious and charming. Interestingly it was made because MGM fumbled the possibility of a straight stage reworking with Julie Andrews (she made Thoroughly Modern Millie instead), and by 1968 the world went to hell in the Vietnam war and street riots. The Boyfriend has aged well, and so has Twiggy. Alert viewers will see some of the same clothes previously in Women In Love because Shirley Russell used to buy the real 1920s garments from London markets and used them in several films her husband made. BRIGHT YOUNG THINGS is a good 2003 equivalent in art direction and style.

This film has never looked or sounded better than on the newly-released blu ray. Twiggy makes an enchanting screen debut in a totally unique contribution to the musical. The slim story tells of a run down theater troupe putting on a production of THE BOY FRIEND. Assistant Stage Manager Polly Brown (Twiggy) has to go on in place of the injured star (A marvelous, unbilled Glenda Jackson). This means Polly will have to play love scenes with a leading man she has had a mad crush on. (Christopher Gable). The house is near empty, and the star won't be missed too much, but wait! A Mr. DeThrill has arrived to scout out the performance! This gives director Ken Russell the chance to show us some stunning dream numbers which pay homage to early Hollywood musicals like SHOW OF SHOWS, (1929), FLYING DOWN TO RIO, (1933), and in particular, the work of Busby Berkeley. This is a totally unique show, but one that is worth warming up to.

While not among my personal favourite musicals or films, The Boy Friend was immensely entertaining in almost every sense and certainly unlike any movie musical we've seen before. The dog scats on your spats joke would have been better left out because it did wear thin and it was more tasteless than funny. But actually that is the only thing in The Boy Friend that came across as that to me, particularly for a director like Ken Russell who has been known to resort to excess and have material that people can be easily offended by. Russell always was a controversial director who fascinated a lot of people and repulsed others, no matter what you thought of him there is no denying that his directing and style was unique. So how does Russell's direction fare here? Brilliantly actually(for an unlikely choice of director for a musical), the style he brings is extravagant as can be seen in the sets, lighting and costumes that burst with primary colours and the purposeful and interesting camera shots(sweeping and a case of awkward working in its favour) showing a virtuoso at work. The spectacle is big and very eye-catching but, despite how this sounds, for Russell while not restrained as such it's not excessive either. The musical numbers are all delightful and always catchy whether in a humorous or emotional way, and they're staged with a Busby Berkeley influence that is always engaging and over-the-top to a delicious degree. Where else in a musical would you find leprechauns in a world of mushrooms, nurses pushing their patients in kaleidoscopic circular fashion in wheelchairs, aeroplane dancing in the snow and swimmers in the ocean in identical attire? The Grecian Nymph fantasy and the nymphs being led off to save the day by Tommy Tune are also great touches that provide plenty of amusement. Despite all this visual spectacle, The Boy Friend is surprisingly also brilliantly written, the satire is sharp and the backstage intrigue is intriguing and insightful. You do have to love Maisie's ad-libbing and attempts at seduction as well, and there's a fair share of emotional impact too, at the end Polly is very easy to root for. The story may sound clichéd and concept-wise it is but execution-wise it was surprising at how unconventional and breaking-new-ground the storytelling was and it's all done with fun as well as non-stop charm and nostalgia. The cast really give their all, even if Christopher Gable's acting and singing doesn't impress as much as his excellent dancing. The best being Twiggy who is charming to the hilt, Antonia Ellis who will leave you in hysterics with her ad-libbing and seduction attempts and Russell regular/favourite Glenda Jackson whose hilarious performance is one that is not easily forgotten in the long run. Barbara Windsor is always great value too. All in all, a fascinating and immensely enjoyable movie musical unlike any other that you've seen before. It's not for everybody, like Russell himself it will delight numbers of people- where I fit in- and perplex others, both viewpoints of which are totally understandable. 9/10 Bethany Cox

"The Boy Friend" is an exciting adaptation of Sandy Wilson's stage-born play which Ken Russell has elevated into the status of a grand musical.Although Mr. Russell's excesses have worked/failed in other productions (I still adore "The Music Lovers", this one has a complete menu that satisfies this viewer. Top-notch cast (Twiggy, Tommy Tune and others and elevates the viewer into a three world dimmension: the actual show, the backstage goings on and Mr. Russe's projection into the Busby Berekely world of film going. Visuals are splendid. JuST A WONDERFUL FILM!!