Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

To all those who have watched it: I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

The acting in this movie is really good.

Seen in retrospect this is a hybrid, a link between the REAL musicals of the forties/early fifties, and the post 60s rubbish that's still around. For one thing everyone, boys and girls alike, are so clean cut; suits, ties, short hair, skirts, blouses, dresses, no one the slightest bit sexy despite being late teenagers at arguably their sexual peak. Tuneful, melodic songs with literate lyrics, no trace of BEAT substituting for melody and men's room gr and yet it's happening in 1961 when the rot had well and truly set in. Ronald Cass and Peter Myers who provided both the book and the lion's share of the songs were, of course, weaned in post-war Revue and were probably ill at ease with Rock and Roll. What we are left with is a hoary plot, a clutch of third-rate forties-type songs and a rock and roll idol who appealed to mums.

I went to see this movie back in 1961 when it was first released, and I saw it at a special Midnight Matinée with Cliff Richard on stage in person at the end of the film. He was also in the lobby afterwards. A pleasant enough musical, the title song is sung at Ruisip Lido which was a popular summer venue in the 1960's. It is still there (2014)but swimming is no longer allowed. The theater where the young ones put on their show really was the Finsbury Park Empire which was designed by Frank Matcham a famous British theater architect,the building was standing empty having closed in 1960, the theater was demolished in 1965.So if you are into old theatres the movie serves as a reminder of that building. Some of the dance routines remind one of West Side Story. Although the film was in Cinemascope ratio it did not have stereo sound which is a pity for a musical. Robert Morley plays the part of Cliffs father well and it is fun to see Robert doing a dance routine near the end of the movie. If you like musicals you will probably enjoy this film as long as you do not expect it to be like a big Hollywood production.

Cliff Richard stars in The Young Ones, or Wonderful to be Young, from 1961, also starring Robert Morley, Carole Gray, and The Shadows.This is a typical teenage movie with the "Hey, kids, let's put on a show" theme. The kids in this case are British, and their club is being closed due to the sale of the building for a high-rise. What no one knows is the developer, Hamilton Black (Robert Morley) is none other than the father of Nicky (Cliff Richard). Nicky, of course, works on behalf of his cronies but his back always goes out when they have to meet with the old man.There's a renewal clause in the master lease, but Black is a good chess player - they can renew, but it's going to cost them 1500 pounds, a princely sum, up front. The kids decide to raise the money by putting on a show.Like "Summer Holiday," "The Young Ones" is an exuberant, tuneful teen movie, with lots of singing and dancing. Richard doesn't force his acting - he says his lines in a natural manner, and his looks and charm do the rest. His early inspiration was Elvis, and some of his singing is definitely Elvis-like. But it's a different voice and persona -- he's a very smooth singer and his boyish handsomeness, unlike Elvis', is very nonthreatening. I can't imagine anyone breaking his records or coming out against him in a pulpit.This is a very fun film. One can't help being impressed by Richard's longevity - 55 years later, he still looks great, he's still singing, and he's a Sir. He's almost Elvis-lite, a pop icon without the demons that caused us to lose Elvis all too soon.

This is the kind of movie to spend your fee on when you were a British teenager in the early sixties. But there is hardly a story, and what there is is very predictable. The movie has two strong moments however: the first 10 minutes are really an example of how a musical can start at full-speed, and the part where Cliff Richard sings the title song, strolling along "the serpentine" in Hyde Park, London, with the lovely Carole Gray aside him. A little bit of a cult movie, and a very weak brother of West side story. But it has its place in history and millions have enjoyed it. Cliff's fans probably still do.