Elstree Calling
An unofficial website dedicated to Elstree Studios
Recommended Films - Part 2:
On the Buses:
The first of the three On the Buses films is arguably the best of the wonderful spin-offs to the classic TV series.
In this film, Jack and Stan do all they can to prevent a new intake of women bus drivers stopping them from enjoying their life of fun, overtime pay and lazying around when they should be on the road with their bus instead. And as if a sudden cut in Stan's pay packet wasn't bad enough, financial pressures at home become worse when Olive discovers that she is pregnant!
Stage 5 at Elstree Studios doubled as the bus depot in this spin-off film series, while the town of Borehamwood was used extensively for locations in this and the second film, Mutiny on the Buses, with 2 Malden Road, being used for the exteriors of the Butler's home.
Summer Holiday:
The second musical which Cliff Richard made for A.B.P.C. at Elstree saw the cast taking a holiday by travelling Europe in a red London routemaster bus.
Probably the best-remembered and loved of all of the Cliff Richard films, it features aother great collection of songs as well as some brilliantly choreographed routines.
Una Stubbs is marvellous as one of three members of a female singing group called Do-Rei-Me, that The Boys from the bus depot give a bus ride to when they discover their old car has broken down. Seemingly-bound for a peaceful ride to Athens, the gang find themselves in the middle of a family row when what appears to be a young boy is discovered hiding in the bus one night.
More perfect family fun from a film which first inspired my interest in Elstree Studios, where the interiors of this film were shot.
Up Pompeii:
The first of three films that the much-missed comedian Frankie Howerd made at Elstree Studios saw Howerd in a Big Screen version of Up Pompeii!, a saucy sitcom set in Rome that he had made for the BBC.
Howerd is wonderful as the put-upon servent Lurcio, who ends up with an important scroll falling into his pocession while he is out shopping one day in the market place. From the moment Howerd appears at the start of the film standing behind a model of Pompeii which he proceeds to mock, the laughs come thick and fast! A wonderful cast was brought toegther by producer Ned Sherrin, including Patrick Cargill, Michael Horden and Lance Percival.
Up the Chastity Belt:
In this, the second of the films Frankie Howerd made at Elstree Studios for Ned Sherrin, Howerd plays a serf called Lurkalot. To earn some money on the side, Luraklot invents various things and then sells them in the local market place. But every film needs a villain, and in this particular one Bill Fraser plays Sir Braggart De Bombast, a vile man who decides he wishes to seize the castle where Lurkalot works and carry off Lobelia De Custard the daughter of Lurkalot's boss, Sir Coward De Custard.
Brilliant fun and shows why Frankie didn't just need a live studio audience to be a wonderful comedy performer. I love the three films Howerd made for Sherrin at Elstree, and just wish they had made more together!
The film also features such comedy performers as Roy Hudd, Graham Crowden and Hugh Paddick.
Up the Front:
The final of the three films Frankie Howerd made at Elstree Studios saw Howerd playing Lurk, a soldier doing his bit of King and country in the trenches of Germany during the First World War. There he manages to end up with a German Master Invasion Plan tattooed on his backside. A plan which, when revealed to those in the know, will help Lurk to "Save England"!
Every bit as good as the first two films Frankie made ay Elstree, Up the Front also features another great cast of British comedy performers including Bill Fraser, Lance Percival, Dora Bryan and even Stanley Holloway. There is also a great star guest performance from none other than the American actress, Zsa Zsa Gabor.
Great fun and highly-recommended - especially to fans of Frankie Howerd! And don't forget to look out for the great Can-Can sequence towards the end of the film.
Wonderful Life:
For the final part of Cliff Richard's three muscials for A.B.P.C., Cliff, The Shadows Melvyn Hayes, Richard O'Sullivan, Una Stubbs and not forgetting Susan Hampshire found theselves on location in the romantic island of Gran Canaria.
Set amongst the world of film-making, Wonderful Life, is, in my opinion, a very underrated musical which is as every bit as satisfactory to watch as The Young Ones and Summer Holiday. Highly-recommended. And don't forget to look out for the brilliantly staged number which features the gang recalling the history of films!
The Young Ones:
Cliff Richard (or Sir Cliff as he is now) and the rest of the cast of this film (including Robert Morley, Melvyn Hayes & Richard O'Sullivan), give enthused and highly-polished performances in this light-hearted A.B.P.C. musical which was made back in 1961.
Cliff plays Nicky Black, the son of a millionaire property developer Hamilton Black (Morley), who tries to help his friends save the youth club he goes to of an evening from being demolished by his father, the new owner.
Featuring a selection of memorable songs including, of course, The Young Ones, this musical benefited from an excellent exterior Town Set which was built on the back lot at Elstree Studios. This town set was to remain standing at Elstree for at least another fifteen years and was adapted and reused for a variety of film & television productions. The George Lucas Stage is now situated on the site of part of this Town Set, while a car park in front of the Big Brother house and various workshops is situated on the rest of this land.
This film is ideal family fun for a Sunday afternoon in front of the TV!