The Duke Wore Jeans | |
---|---|
Directed by | Gerald Thomas |
Screenplay by | Norman Hudis |
Based on | |
Produced by | Peter Rogers |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Otto Heller |
Edited by | Peter Boita |
Color process | Black and white |
Production company | Insignia Films |
Distributed by | Anglo-Amalgamated Film Distributors |
Release date |
|
Running time | 90 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
The Duke Wore Jeans is a 1958 British comedy musical film directed by Gerald Thomas and starring Tommy Steele, June Laverick and Michael Medwin. [1]
The songs for the film were released in 1958 by Decca on a 10-inch LP, a 7-inch EP and two 7-inch singles and, in more recent times, on compilation CDs.
The only son of the poor but aristocratic Whitecliffe family is to be sent to the nation of Ritalla in order to sell the family's cattle to upgrade the nation's livestock. As a side benefit, his parents hope he will marry the King's only daughter, Princess Maria. Unknown to his family, Tony is already secretly married to a commoner. Fate intervenes when drifter Tommy Hudson, who is the identical likeness of Tony, comes to the Whitecliffe estate to seek work. Tony engages Tommy to impersonate him on his trip to Ritalla accompanied by Cooper, the family's only servant.
Tommy and Cooper travel to Ritalla where Tommy pretends to be Tony. The princess refuses to meet him because she does not want to get married. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Bastini is scheming to force the King to abdicate since his daughter refuses to marry.
Tommy meets the princess and they fall in love. [2]
Steele made the film because he was contracted to Nat Cohen and Stuart Levy for one more movie. He says the idea of the film was his, as he always liked The Prince and the Pauper . "It wasn't only a chance to act a bit, it was also an opportunity to kick around new musical ideas," he wrote later. "I wanted to act a good part and sing show numbers." [3]
Steele was paid £20,000 plus 10% of the profits. [4]
Producer Peter Rogers says he found Steele "vain, conceited, bad mannered and the biggest crime of all, unprofessional." Bart pitched Rogers the idea of making a version of Oliver Twist starring Steele but Rogers did not want to work with the singer again.The producer claims he told Bart to turn the idea into a stage musical which led to Oliver!. [5]
The songs in the film included:
All of the songs were written by Lionel Bart, Mike Pratt and Jimmy Bennett (a pseudonym of Tommy Steele).
Steele said "Family Tree" in particular "proved Lionel Bart's talent as a wordsmith... It was a bastard to sing but I relished it." [6]
Chart | Year | Peak position |
---|---|---|
UK Albums Chart [7] | 1958 | 1 |
Lionel Bart was a British writer and composer of pop music and musicals. He wrote Tommy Steele's "Rock with the Caveman" and was the sole creator of the musical Oliver! (1960). With Oliver! and his work alongside theatre director Joan Littlewood at Theatre Royal, Stratford East, he played an instrumental role in the 1960s birth of the British musical theatre scene after an era when American musicals had dominated the West End.
Sir Thomas Hicks, known professionally as Tommy Steele, is an English entertainer, regarded as Britain's first teen idol and rock and roll star.
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June Laverick is an English film, television and stage actress.
This is a summary of 1960 in music in the United Kingdom, including the official charts from that year.
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The Tommy Steele Story is a 1957 British film directed by Gerard Bryant and starring Tommy Steele, dramatising Steele's rise to fame as a teen idol. Along with Rock You Sinners, it was one of the first British films to feature rock and roll. In the US, where Steele was not well-known, the film was released under the title Rock Around the World. The film was announced in January 1957, three months after the release of Steele's first single "Rock with the Caveman".
Jim! is the first studio album by the English actor, singer and songwriter Jim Dale, credited to Dale with Ken Jones and his Orchestra and the Michael Sammes Singers. Released as a 10-inch LP on EMI's Parlophone label in March 1958, Jim! was produced by the label's head George Martin and has been cited as "the first British rock and roll LP". It was Dale's only album released during his initial fame as a teen idol; he quit recording to pursue comedy soon after its release.
Tommy Steele Stage Show is a live album by English entertainer Tommy Steele, released as a 10-inch LP by Decca in March 1957. A concert recording of Steele backed by the Steelmen at London's Conway Hall, it was his first album release and features a version of the hit single "Rock with the Caveman" alongside several covers of American songs including three previously recorded by Hank Williams. The album's release followed Steele's swift rise to fame as a teen idol widely considered Britain's first rock and roll star, and the success of his UK Singles Chart number one "Singing the Blues". It received a muted critical reception but was commercially successful, peaking at number five on the UK Albums Chart.