After losing his job as an entertainer on a cruise ship, Johnnie (Cliff Richard) and his backing band (The Shadows) are cast away in the Canary Islands where they encounter a film group on location. Johnnie is hired as a stuntman in a tale of a sheikh’s daughter and the legionnaire who loves her, and his friendship with timid leading lady Jenny (Susan Hampshire) has a dramatic effect.
The happy-go-lucky pop musical had been dealt a big blow in 1964 by the release of The Beatles‘ endlessly innovative and iconoclastic A Hard Day’s Night.
Yet the winsome formula continued to rear its sweetly smiling head throughout the decade. Elvis Presley‘s efforts became increasingly embarrassing, but there was enough here from Cliff Richard and The Shadows to suggest they might have enjoyed greater movie success away from the cloying confines of family entertainments such as this one, in which they rescue Susan Hampshire from tyrannical Otto Preminger-esque director Lloyd Davis (Walter Slezak).
The highlight, if that’s the right word, is a song-and-dance history of the movies.
A tiny part in the film was given to Miss Israel (Aliza Gur). Released in some markets as Swingers Paradise.
Johnnie
Cliff Richard Jenny Taylor
Susan Hampshire Lloyd Davis
Walter Slezak Hank
Hank Marvin Bruce
Bruce Welch Brian
Brian Bennett John
John Rostill Jerry
Melvyn Hayes Edward
Richard O’Sullivan Barbara
Una Stubbs Douglas Leslie
Derek Bond Miguel
Joseph Cuby Senior sheikh/Scotsman/Harold
Gerald Harper
Director
Sidney J Furie
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