Displaying items by tag: Debbie Watling
Take Me High
TAKE ME HIGH
UK, 1973, 91 minutes, Colour.
Cliff Richard, Debbie Watling, Hugh Griffith, George Cole, Anthony Andrews, Richard Wattis.
Directed by David Askey.
Not exactly a 21st century entertainment! Rather, of interest for more historical reasons.
This was the last main feature film for popular singer, Cliff Richard, emerging at the age of 19-20 as a singer, and actor in such films as espresso bongo, but then moving to some popular musicals. After Take Me High, his main screen presence was a long list of music videos.
Rather surprisingly in this film, he plays a merchant banker, in Birmingham, working with Anthony Andrews, surprising to see him so early, soon to be in The Scarlet Pimpernel and his key role in Brideshead Revisited. Cliff Richard is not entirely persuasive as this kind of banker, especially when the script asks him to be something of a mastermind in financial deals, one up and ship towards his partner. The deals are between Hugh Griffith, highly overacting at first, then agreeably punctures, remembering his Oscar for Ben Hur as well is his presence in Tom Jones. He is conservative, a Birmingham family traditions, contrast with George Cole as a more left-wing representative.
Debbie Watling plays a manager a restaurant who has financial problems with the company, links up with Cliff Richard, inventing the new hamburger, the Bromberg. Longtime comedian, Richard Wattis, has a role as the head of the banks in one of his final performances.
Filmed on location in Birmingham, the city, the canals, the streets and parades… It has a listed soundtrack of 15 songs. The credits focused close-up of Cliff Richard singing but many of the songs, most of them, directly son as background to the action.
A belated attempt to have Cliff Richard as a film star – but, he continued his long career, is a popular singer.
