"Square" was a word that had very little existence except in the media,rather like the word "boobs" a few years ago and the word "romp" today.It was used in the M.M. and the N.M.E.(how square were they for using it)and D.J.s like Jack Jackson (like Jack Jackson?he was about the only D.J. at the BBC)used it on the air,but in the youth clubs and coffee bars where we used to hang out I never heard it.The word,like so many others in popspeak,had been lifted from the jazz lexicon of 20 years before.Jazz musicians,stolidly traditional as any "Daily Mail" reader , occasionally borrowed it back as when alto saxist Bruce Turner was asked why his band didn't go down too well in Russia and he replied "Too many Red squares,dad".(The word "dad" had a shortish life as an alternative for the word "man",but died out soon after the movie "It's Trad,dad" brought it into common currency). Certainly Miss Anna Neagle could have been correctly described as a square.Anybody over the age of 20 was a square - which put Messrs Vaughan and Newley beyond the pale for anybody who was likely to be going to see this movie.The only people over the age of 20 I knew were my parents.Mr Vaughan tried hard but missed the cut.My mother liked his record of "Green door" for heaven's sake,instant death for any would-be pop star.He was very big on white teeth and just the suggestion of a sneer,not the full-on Presley sneer but more a pre - Stallone sneer. When he sang "Give me the moonlight,give me the girl,and leave the rest he,he,he,he......to me" I wanted to throw up. But "The lady is a square" instantly transports me back to the days when you either liked Humphrey Lyttelton or Chris Barber but you couldn't like them both.The only thing I know to equal it in the "A la recherche du temps perdu" stakes is opening the sleeve of a 1950s "Vogue" L.P. and sniffing hard.Suddenly it's 1957 again and you're going to finish your homework and walk down to Baker's Wood and hope Sue Wilkins will be there.Amazing how potent cheap music is.............
7 Reviews
Undistinguished last film for Anna Neagle
malcolmgsw24 April 2016
Anna Be able had a very distinguished career starting in the early thirties.this was her last film.However it is clear that it is Frankis Vaughn who is the main attraction.He must have around six numbers in this film.He was a great singer and I saw him later on in 42nd Street.However a great film actor he is not.In any event he would my have been able to save this dated rubbish even if he had been Olivier.Anthony Newley features as sidekick and comic relief.Jeanetge features as Beagles daughter.Basically this film shows that both Herbert Wilcox and Be able had lost touch with public taste and it is little surprise that both careers turned towards the theatre.
Dated Delight
pgeary600115 August 2021
Totally cornball, but simultaneously charming and a fun watch if approached with the right attitude. Frankie Vaughan is in fine voice and delivers his lines with a twinkle in his eyes that almost makes up for the numerous clunkers in the screenplay. His operatic number is probably the musical high point of the film, while the "Honey Bunny" ditty is so dire one can only shake one's head in dismay. Overall, though, it's a pleasant time killer if nothing more promising is on offer.
Dated but entertaining light musical comedy.
musical-215 May 1999
Frankie Vaughan as a young singer (surprise!) who falls in love with a young Janette Scott, but Mummy (Neagle) is more your classical admirer not your popular vocalist type! Excellent, experienced support from Wilfrid Hyde White and the fabulous Anthony Newley, who gets to dance with Anna Neagle on stage at the late lamented Talk of the Town in the movies close. Worth a visit to see the start of many great entertainers careers.
Herb Gets Hep
richardchatten3 February 2020
A drab attempt by Herbert Wilcox to get With It by starring wife Anna Neagle opposite new singing sensation Frankie Vaughan. The film's title describes Neagle only too well, while Vaughan (playing a pop singer who speaks Russian and can namedrop Mahler) obliged by the plot to impersonate a butler is likeable but plainly no actor. The attempts by Wilcox' regular scriptwriter Nicholas Phipps at topical humour include some gruesomely apt references to looming financial ruination; since Wilcox was himself declared bankrupt in 1964. As Neagle's daughter and Vaughan's romantic interest Janette Scott, however, has gracefully made the transition from child actress to a charming young woman; while Neagle's own dance duet with Anthony Newley is actually rather sweet.
Dismal and tedious!
geoffm6029513 February 2020
Frankie Vaughan had a successful career as a crooner and had several big hits, but he was certainly no actor. His wooden performance renders much of the film unwatchable. Vaughan makes for a very unconvincing butler and his one note performance casts a shadow over the whole film. Even the cheesy dance routines and banal songs are totally unforgettable. It's tame & lifeless storyline is shot through with cliched dialogue. Anthony Newley is badly miscast as Vaughan's comedy 'go - between' while the rest of the cast, with the exception of Janette Scott, all appear middle aged and 'fuddy duddy.' The film lacks those essential ingredients of dynamism and excitement, and with its plodding storyline, was dated, even back in 1959. To call it a B film is being generous!
Delightful Musical
sharonjudithlee5 August 2021
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