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    Nostalgia Central
    Home»Movies»Movies by Decade»Movies - 1960s
    Movies - 1960s Movies - W 2 Mins Read

    What a Crazy World (1963)

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    This British musical comedy from 1963 was essentially a hastily put-together showcase for pop stars of the time, Joe Brown, Marty Wilde and Susan Maughan.

    Brown stars as unemployed East End lad Alf Hitchens who has an on-off relationship with his girlfriend Marilyn (Maughan), whilst trying to sell a song he has written. But it’s Wilde who steals the show as roughneck Herbie Shadbolt.

    Filmed in black and white, it mixes together a bit of everything that was popular during the early 1960s, from kitchen sink social drama to musical numbers, dance scenes, and street gang culture (and even a bit of racial stereotyping in the labour exchange-based musical number A Lay-About’s Lament).

    The depiction of working-class life is as accurate as any kitchen sink drama from the period and the musical segments are great fun, particularly the highlight where the hilarious Freddie and the Dreamers turn up for a nightclub act and indulge in their trouser-losing routine onstage.

    Michael Ripper appears in a number of cameo roles, complaining about the “bleeding kids”.

    Those who like to watch vintage movies to see the locations will be extremely well-served by What a Crazy World as most of it was shot on location in London streets, so if you know the area you can spot where bits were set, and if not you can soak up as authentic an atmosphere as you can get.

    Joey Hitchens
    Michael Goodman
    Alf Hitchens
    Joe Brown
    Marilyn Bishop
    Susan Maughan
    Doris
    Grazina Frame
    Herbie Shadbolt
    Marty Wilde
    Lil
    Lesley Duncan
    Lenny
    David Nott
    Dave
    Barry Bethel
    Jervis
    Alan Klein
    Sam
    Harry H. Corbett
    Mary
    Avis Bunnage
    The Common Man
    Michael Ripper
    Chas
    Larry Dann
    Harry
    Brian Cronin
    Secretary 
    Tracy Rogers
    Dolly
    Fanny Carby
    Solly Gold
    Monte Landis
    Elsie
    Christine Martin
    Horror
    Denise Coffey
    Freddy 
    Peter Birrell
    George
    Harry Locke
    Percy
    Michael Robbins
    Freddie & The Dreamers
    Themselves
    The Bruvvers
    Themselves
    The Happy Wanderers
    Themselves

    Director
    Michael Carreras

    Video

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