Up Jumped a Swagman ** (1965, Frank Ifield, Annette Andre, Ronald Radd, Suzy Kendall) – Classic Movie Review 12,890

Country music and yodelling singer/ guitarist Frank Ifield stars as Dave Kelly, and his then new wife Gillian Bowden appears as a dancer, in the 1965 British musical comedy film Up Jumped a Swagman, directed in his debut by the 25-year-old Christopher Miles.

Frank Ifield stars as Dave Kelly, and his then new wife Gillian Bowden appears as a dancer, in the 1965 British musical comedy film Up Jumped a Swagman, written by Lewis Greifer and directed by Christopher Miles. It also stars Annette Andre, Ronald Radd, Suzy Kendall,Richard Wattis, Donal Donnelly, Bryan Mosley, and Martin Miller.

Ifield plays an aspiring Australian singer who moves to London to be a star, chases after a popular model, overlooking a pub owner’s beautiful daughter who loves him, and gets involved with a gang of thieves.

It includes the songs ‘Waltzing Matilda and Ifield’s big hit ‘I Remember You’ and is most memorable for that. Plus there’s a bit of nostalgia value, but perhaps not very much else.

Cinematography by Kenneth Higgins, and music by Norrie Paramor.

Ifield recorded the 1941 song ‘I Remember You’ (music by Victor Schertzinger, lyrics by Johnny Mercer) in a yodelling country-music style on 27 May 1962 in a version that went to number one on the UK Singles Chart, selling 1.1 million copies in the UK and staying at number one for seven weeks.

Miles was only 25 and it is his first feature film. Suzy Kendall (born Freda Harriet Harrison; 1 January 1937) makes her film debut.

It is shot at MGM’s London studios at Boreham Wood, with exterior filming at Gravesend Docks, St Paul’s Cathedral, Hyde Park, the Albert Memorial, and Elstree town.

Australian actress Annette Andre (born 24 June 1939) called it: ‘A very strange film. Good cast. Frank was nice.’

Miles said: ‘Thinking up a credible vehicle for Frank, amiable and charming as he was, proved to me that ultimately you cannot make a celluloid purse out of a sow’s ear, even though Frank was gamely willing to send himself up.’

Country music and yodelling singer/ guitarist Frank Ifield (30 November 1937 – 18 May 2024) was born on 30 November 1937 in Coundon, Coventry. to Australian parents a into his music. After living in Australia, Ifield returned to the UK in November 1959 where he had four number-one hits on the UK Singles Chart in the early 1960s with his cover versions of “I Remember You”, “Lovesick Blues”, “The Wayward Wind” and “Confessin’ That I Love You”.

Frank Ifield died on 18 May 2024, aged 86, in the Sydney suburb of Dural.

His single ‘Wayward Wind’ made him the first UK-based artist to reach number one three times in succession on the UK charts. The only previous singer to have done so was Elvis Presley.

© Derek Winnert 2024 – Classic Movie Review 12,890

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