This is certainly a different type of 'pop' musical film. It features one of the hottest groups of the day (seven top ten hits in the US) but takes a jaded and disillusioned view of the concept of 'youth culture'.
When Dinah and Steve break 'free' (nothing in this movie is what it appears to be) they encounter early hippies who have rejected society and its crass materialism for life on the road but seem to have found nothing but a kind of aimless boredom spiced with drug use. (I was very surprised to hear mention of heroin in 1965.) Their chosen guru is so spaced out he can hardly think straight (and we never hear the end of his rambling tale about a dead cat or discover if it has any point).
Their next encounter is with "an old married couple". This phrase normally signals contentment and affection. The film's couple is riven by jealousy, sexual predation and rejection of the present for an idealised past.
Finally meeting Louis, an old childhood friend and mentor of Steve's, they find him running a fake 'Western ranch' holiday resort in the Devon countryside. Steve angrily dismisses him and his dreams as shabby fakery.
As you can see, this is far from 'A Hard Day's Night' (in fact the film's titles both imitate and parody the scene of The Beatles running around a playing field).
Despite some negative comments here I think this film is well worth watching more than once to catch all the strands running through it. As actors the Dave Clark Five have - probably thankfully - little to do but be chirpy and quirky. Dave Clark himself rather overdoes the moody saturnine bit - that's best left to the real James Deans of this world.
The performance to watch is David de Keyser's Leon. He is a cynic who is painfully aware of his own cynicism, a man who realises the shallowness of the world he works in and the vulgarity of those he has to work with. He also harbours a genuine affection for Dinah which he can't express. He is protective in a way, but exploitative at the same time. He also envies Dinah's youth and spontaneous nature. When he says "maybe" he will join her on her next escapade, we know he won't and never could. It is a subtle and rather moving piece of acting.
Leon seems jealous of Steve's relationship with Dinah but, another of the films contradictions, there is no relationship. Steve is merely helping Dinah to reach her island. He is impatient with her shallowness and the way she seems willing to be distracted by people he sees as frauds (the hippies, Louis's ranch). The only time they kiss is when Dinah kisses Steve for the press cameras - just before he turns his back on her for the last time.
One of the film's other strengths is the photography, capturing the urban landscape of London's flashy new office blocks and the bleak winter countryside and adding much to the film's atmosphere.
This is a minor film - but compelling.
When Dinah and Steve break 'free' (nothing in this movie is what it appears to be) they encounter early hippies who have rejected society and its crass materialism for life on the road but seem to have found nothing but a kind of aimless boredom spiced with drug use. (I was very surprised to hear mention of heroin in 1965.) Their chosen guru is so spaced out he can hardly think straight (and we never hear the end of his rambling tale about a dead cat or discover if it has any point).
Their next encounter is with "an old married couple". This phrase normally signals contentment and affection. The film's couple is riven by jealousy, sexual predation and rejection of the present for an idealised past.
Finally meeting Louis, an old childhood friend and mentor of Steve's, they find him running a fake 'Western ranch' holiday resort in the Devon countryside. Steve angrily dismisses him and his dreams as shabby fakery.
As you can see, this is far from 'A Hard Day's Night' (in fact the film's titles both imitate and parody the scene of The Beatles running around a playing field).
Despite some negative comments here I think this film is well worth watching more than once to catch all the strands running through it. As actors the Dave Clark Five have - probably thankfully - little to do but be chirpy and quirky. Dave Clark himself rather overdoes the moody saturnine bit - that's best left to the real James Deans of this world.
The performance to watch is David de Keyser's Leon. He is a cynic who is painfully aware of his own cynicism, a man who realises the shallowness of the world he works in and the vulgarity of those he has to work with. He also harbours a genuine affection for Dinah which he can't express. He is protective in a way, but exploitative at the same time. He also envies Dinah's youth and spontaneous nature. When he says "maybe" he will join her on her next escapade, we know he won't and never could. It is a subtle and rather moving piece of acting.
Leon seems jealous of Steve's relationship with Dinah but, another of the films contradictions, there is no relationship. Steve is merely helping Dinah to reach her island. He is impatient with her shallowness and the way she seems willing to be distracted by people he sees as frauds (the hippies, Louis's ranch). The only time they kiss is when Dinah kisses Steve for the press cameras - just before he turns his back on her for the last time.
One of the film's other strengths is the photography, capturing the urban landscape of London's flashy new office blocks and the bleak winter countryside and adding much to the film's atmosphere.
This is a minor film - but compelling.