I wanted to like this film so much - I have a soft spot for 60s British rock musicals eg Cliff Richard vehicles, and this one stars Frank Ifield, early 60s pop idol. Very few Aussie pop stars managed to get their own movies - Olivia Newton John of course, but that was about it. There was no vehicle for JOK, Col Joye, the Bee Gees, Sherbert or Air Supply... but some enterprising producer thought Ifield had the right stuff. Little did he know that Ifield's popularity had actually peaked - something which this film did nothing to help reverse.
Frank plays an Aussie who arrives in London determined to become a famous singer. He rocks up to a music agent where there seems to be some sort of satire going on - something about big business, I wasn't sure. He moons after a beautiful model (a young Suzy Kendall), is pined after by the pretty daughter of a pub owner, and gets involved in various surrealistic adventures and bank robbers; there's even machine gun antics towards the end.
Its a wacky way out film that makes no sense, not in a particularly good way - the success of The Beatles Richard Lester movies seems to have inspired the filmmakers to throw away logic. Its also heavily influenced by the Cliff Richard musicals of the early 60s but Ifield lacks Richard's charm - he's handsome enough but is too stiff, badly lacks experience and doesn't really have anyone to bounce off (there is the standard British musical support cast of English character actors but he needed experienced actors to play good friends and the love interest). I felt he could have been protected more, not the least by having a strong story. Even hey-kids-let-put-on-a-show would have been preferable - as it is there's a massive subplot involving a robbery which Ifield really doesn't have anything to do with.
As if aware of the star's deficiencies, the filmmakers keep singing Ifield singing pretty much constantly - its wall to wall Ifield songs, including 'I Remember You' plus (as a bonus for Aussies), renditions of 'Waltzing Matilda' and 'Botany Bay'. So if you're into Ifield this is a move for you.
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