With the help of London Transport, "Don" (Cliff Richard) and three of his mechanic pals pick up an American runaway "Barbara/Bobby" (Lauri Peters) and they all set off in a double decker bus on a tour of Europe. Their's is not the daftest of ideas, either - the are going to use the bus as an hotel on wheels. Meantime, her wealthy and well-known mother "Stella" (Madge Ryan) is having a paddy and calling on the police to arrest these kidnappers. As they journey through the continent, they discover some quirky characters - they almost run over the mime artist "Orlando" (Ron Moody) - and that gives Cliff plenty of opportunity to burst into song. "Bachelor Boy" and the eponymous title track are probably the most famous, but there are plenty of other two-minuters to keep the toes tapping and to compensate for the not exactly Nobel standard of dialogue. The star oozes charisma here - it's easy to see why he was a teen pin-up, and he's well supported by the boisterous Peters and by a feast of familiar faces to British audiences like Melvyn Hayes, David Kossof, Una Stubbs and, of course, the always great with the eccentric Ron Moody. It's quite literally a light-hearted vehicle for a twenty-three year old popstar and taken in that vein is actually quite fun.
Review of Summer Holiday
