Up Jumped a Swagman (1965)

This Zany British comedy stars Frank Ifield(originally from Coventry, England), as a guitar-twanging hopeful from Down Under, who forsaking the Australian music Scene,tries to get a productive audition with Lever, a London music Publisher, played by the laconic Richard Wattis, who is out to fleece his clients. Frank's crazy interest, is Billboard girl Suzy Kendall. Severally there are various twists that involve Ronald Radd and the delicious Annette Andre;the latter thankfully tested her acting talents in more substantial roles. There is so much slapstick in 'Up Jumped a Swagman', that this film relies on daub and dash scenes; any plot veneer is soon submerged in a welter of actor destruction and over the top hamming. Not a movie then, with a coherent story-line; rather 12 integrated song fillers by Frank Ifield, who bravely tries to hold the embattled structure together.

Poor Frank Ifield - in his one and only film appearance, he gets himself landed with this total load of tosh! No wonder his cinematic career was doomed before it even began, as this movie must have been some sort of curse. The whole thing is a slipshod, jumble of scenes which bear no semblance of continuity whatsoever. The story, if there is one, is so difficult to follow as to become downright irritating after a short while, and the film makes no sense at all. It's such a pity, in many ways, as Frank Ifield comes across as quite an engaging personality, with a more than pleasant singing voice. Unfortunately, he is totally hamstrung by the appalling material in a film that goes nowhere, not very fast. A big, big disappointment all round.

If you like Richard Wattis or Bryan Mosley(Alf Roberts), not forgetting the lovely Annette Andre(Pre Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased), then this film is for you.Suzy Kendall is good but she doesn't really appear as much as Annette A. Some surreal moments are well interspersed-a rare thing these days. If you like 'Smashing Time' or 'The Sandwich Man' then this is in a similar vein but very different at the same time.You have to see the film to know what I mean as it's a tricky one to describe. Frank Ifield is pretty striking and it's pretty obvious that this was intended to be his 'Good career move'up the showbiz ladder. Again, like the films I've compared this to we're in the 'No Longer Politically Correct' genre so you'll be VERY hard pressed to spy it on the box!!!!!!!! If you can get a copy of this you'll be impressed.Generally though, any film with Richard Wattis in seems to be a good bet!

I saw this on B.B.C.-2 one Saturday afternoon back in 1977. Its not been on since. So bizarre is it I would not be at all surprised to learn it has a cult following someplace.Frank Ifield plays Dave Kelly, an Australian singer seeking fame and fortune in Swinging London. No sooner has he gotten off the boat than he falls in love with a beautiful girl ( Suzy Kendall a.k.a. Mrs.Dudley Moore ) whose face he sees on a billboard, so he tries to track her down. Like you do. What follows next is a confusing mishmash of styles, as though Christopher Miles couldn't make up his mind what sort of film this was. With bewildering speed, it goes from being a love story to a cynical look at the British pop scene of the '60's to a 'fish-out-of-water' comedy to a caper movie ( a gang of inept crooks want to tunnel through the floor of Dave's flat and into the vault below ). Like 'Casino Royale' ( which was in production at the same time ), everything is thrown into the pot. Near the end, Dave is shot at by a bald heavy in dark glasses straight out of James Bond. My jaw dropped at this point. I half expected Graham Chapman's Monty Python 'Colonel' to appear and say: "Stop this. Its too silly!". Frank Ifield is no actor, but that does not really matter. Pop musicals of the era generally required artists to be themselves, you only have to remember Cliff Richard in 'The Young Ones', Billy Fury in 'I've Gotta Horse', and Joe Brown in 'Three Hats For Lisa'. Anyway, Frank has a nice personality, and that's enough.Lewis Greifer went on to write for 'The Prisoner'. Interestingly, his episode - 'The General' - also cocked a snook at contemporary art. Interviewed for I.T.V.'s 'After They Were Famous' a few years back, Frank said that when he read the script he could not make head not tail of it, and even after viewing the completed film was none the wiser. Richard Wattis, Annette Andre, Ronald Radd et al do their best, and the songs are rather pleasant, but the whole thing rings about as hollow as an empty billy can. A film that tried ( and failed ) to be all things to all people. Loved the 'Teenage Tester' though!