Every Day's a Holiday (1965 film)

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Every Day's a Holiday
Every Day's a Holiday film Theatrical release poster (1965).png
Theatrical release poster
Directed by James Hill
Screenplay by Anthony Marriott
Jeri Matos
James Hill
Produced byMaurice J. Wilson
Ronald J. Kahn
Starring John Leyton
Mike Sarne
Ron Moody
Grazina Frame
Freddie and the Dreamers
Cinematography Nicholas Roeg
Edited byTristam Cones
Music by Tony Osborne
Production
company
Maycroft Pictures Limited
Release date
  • 4 January 1965 (1965-01-04)
Running time
110 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Every Day's a Holiday (US title Seaside Swingers) is a 1965 British musical comedy film directed by James Hill and starring John Leyton, Mike Sarne, Ron Moody, Grazina Frame, and Freddie and the Dreamers. [1] The screenplay was by Anthony Marriott, Jeri Matos and James Hill.

Contents

Plot

A group of teenagers take up jobs in a seaside resort for the summer.

Cast

Production

It was filmed in and around Butlin's Clacton at Clacton-on-Sea.[ citation needed ]

Can label from an original 35mm print of Every Day's a Holiday 35mm Film Label.jpg
Can label from an original 35mm print of Every Day's a Holiday

Music

Critical reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "On the debit side are the near absence of plot, the heavy obviousness or leering suggestiveness of the humour, the over-acting of the older players in their trite roles, the embarrassing inability of many of the singers to dance more than a few easy steps, and the prolonged and irrelevant Wild West dream sequence. It is surprising, then, that this musical is quite attractive and entertaining. As co-author of the screenplay, James Hill may share in the responsibility for the film's failings, but as director he keeps it moving at a good pace, drops in some bright little visual jokes, sets up musical numbers unconventionally – for example during the camp toddlers' mass bath night – and quietly laughs at the real-life camp used as a background, notably during an amateur beauty contest. Nicolas Roeg's photography in Technicolor is a great strength, especially in the snappily edited final number. John Leyton has an engagingly melancholy personality, and in the other leading role Mike Sarne, as the languid Tim, is very funny. One is never sure, though, in the songs whether it is the film sending up the upper class Tim, or whether it is the pop lyrics that are being sent up by the cool Mr Sarne." [2]

The Radio Times Guide to Films gave the film 2/5 stars, writing: "Director James Hill's attempt to take the Swinging Sixties to the seaside is often laughably bad. John Leyton is the nominal star of this talent-show farrago, although the musical headliners are Freddie and the Dreamers, who were trying to match the movie achievements of the Beatles in A Hard Day's Night . However, no film with cinematography by Nicolas Roeg can be dismissed out of hand, and Ron Moody and Liz Fraser provide accomplished comic support." [3]

Variety wrote: "It is possible to get away without a story in a musical if the performers, songs and dancing are top league. But even then a crisp, strong story line helps. Every Day's A Holiday has an abysmally thin and trite yarn ... But peppy, enthusiastic young pop performers give the framework zest and a likeable, ingenuous sense of fun. ... The mediocrity of the acting is obvious, but it is outweighed by the genuinely infectious enthusiasm put into their jobs by the cast and some useful contributions by choreographer Gillian Lynne and composer Tony Osborne." [4]

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References

  1. "Every Day's a Holiday". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
  2. "Every Day's a Holiday". The Monthly Film Bulletin . 31 (360): 175. 1 January 1964. ProQuest   1305824091 via ProQuest.
  3. Radio Times Guide to Films (18th ed.). London: Immediate Media Company. 2017. p. 296. ISBN   9780992936440.
  4. "Every Day's a Holiday" . Variety . 237 (2): 6. 2 December 1964 via ProQuest.