Wonderful Things! (1958)

Wonderful Things! (1958)

British Poster

Wonderful Things!, a British romantic comedy-drama helmed by veteran director/producer Hebert Wilcox, starred singer Frankie Vaughan as, Carmello, a down-on-his-luck fisherman in Gibraltar.  Carmello intends to marry Pepita (played by our girl, Jocelyn, as Jackie Lane), as soon as he can make enough money to make it happen.  He decides to go to England to make his fortune, whereupon he will send for Pepita to join him so that they can get married.  Meanwhile, his fishing partner and brother, Mario (played by Jeremy Spenser) is still in Gibraltar and pining away for Pepita.  Carmello finds that the going can be tough in England, but he is befriended by a pretty blonde (played by Jean Dawnay) whom he had previously met in Gibraltar.  Romance becomes complicated in London and in Gibraltar, but there is a happy ending for all, and Vaughan gets to both show his manliness and warble a few pleasant tunes.

Along with 1957’s Dangerous Youth, Wonderful Things! was a key role in Jocelyn’s early career, as it provided her with significant billing and screen time.  While her role as Pepita was not going to be award material for any actress, I believe that she gave a credible performance and showed enough talent to warrant better than the small roles that she tended to be getting at the time.  Certainly, she was stunningly beautiful and displayed a strong screen presence.  Wonderful Things! is not an all-time classic film, but it is solid entertainment and should be considered a must-see for Jocelyn Lane fans.  It is too bad that it was not shot in Technicolor, rather than in black-and-white, because the scenic Gibraltar location would have benefited greatly.

Filming commenced September 16, 1957 on Wonderful Things!, and it was completed by the end of the year and premiered in London on June 10, 1958 (per IMDB).  I have seen no indication that it was ever released theatrically in the U.S.

Variety reviewed the film in its June 18, 1958 edition based on a private viewing (with an 88 minute running time) at Elstree studios.  The review was generally positive, calling the film a "[p]leasant romantic drama against refreshingly different locale."  It further noted that "Vaughan and Jeremy Spencer are convincing as the brothers sharing the same dark good looks and charm.  They handle the comedy and romantic sequences with plenty of dash."  As for Jocelyn, it noted:  "Jackie Lane, a brunette cutie, is given her best acting chance and responds well considering her lack of experience." 

The film had long been difficult to find, and I had almost given up hope of seeing it, but it was released on DVD by the Network label in the UK in 2014.  

The print is good, with a good picture and good sound.  Extras consist of the theatrical trailer and a slide show of promotional material for the film (mostly still photos).  The running time is approximately 82 minutes.  IMDB lists the running time for the film as 84 minutes, and the Variety review indicated an 88 minute running time.  I have no explanation for the differences.  I recommend that you purchase this DVD to support the Network label in finally making this film available to us.  While it will not play on standard DVD players in the U.S., it will play on region free DVD players and on computers.

Here are a couple of British ads:

Here are some publicity photos/production stills:

What appears to be a color publicity photo in a magazine:

Sailor of Fortune: Angelina's Adventure (1956)

(Note:  This post is slightly out of chronological order.)

Sailor of Fortune was a 26-episode sea adventure series produced in the UK.  The 30-minute episodes where shot in black and white and starred pre-Bonanza-fame Lorne Greene as the captain of a ship, whose ragtag crew has many anxious moments transporting unusual cargo in international waters. 

Jocelyn played Angelina in an episode called "Angelina's Adventure."  Information about this series is difficult to find.  It does not appear to have ever been released on any type of home video.  It appears that the episodes aired in the UK between late 1955 and early 1957.  By the summer of 1957, Variety was reporting that the series had aired in the UK and was being shopped for syndication in the U.S. by RKO television but was apparently having a hard time finding buyers. 

My best guess is that Jocelyn's episode was probably shot in 1956, airing sometime later that year.

If anyone has more information about this series, please let me know.

The Truth About Women (1957)

U.S. One Sheet Poster

The Truth About Women is a British comedy/drama co-written by the husband-and-wife team of Sydney and Muriel Box and directed by Muriel in Eastmancolor.  It is the story of the life and loves of a young man of privilege, Sir Humphrey Tavistock (Laurence Harvey).  The story begins when he is an old man, talking to a younger male friend (or family member) who is going through a big fight with his wife.  Sir Humphrey talks to the younger man about his own experiences through the years with women.  As the film looks back, we see that Sir Humphrey first fell in love with a liberated, modern woman in England, but his intention to marry her so upset his family that he was shipped off to a Muslim country near Turkey to serve in the diplomatic service of England and forced to live off of his meager salary.  It is there that he meets a young harem girl, Saida (Jocelyn, as Jackie Lane).  She never speaks and has her face covered at all times by a veil.  However, when she finally reveals her face to him, he is smitten by her beauty.  When she is sold at the public market, he tries to outbid the local ruler for her but fails.  He then resorts to sneaking into the palace undercover in order to steal her away from the ruler, but that ruse also fails, nearly costing both of their lives. 

 

We then follow Sir Humphrey through France (where he learns of the ways of French married couples, with lovers and mistresses), to the U.S.A. where he encounters a gold-digger, through England and abroad (where he marries and has children), and back to England following the death of his wife.  It does not appear that his advice had much impact on his acquaintance, since he and his wife again start fighting within moments of reconciling.

Simply put, Jocelyn is about the only positive thing that I have to say about this film.  Of all the female co-stars, which includes Julie Harris, Diane Cilento, Mai Zetterling, and Eva Gabor, Jocelyn is far and away the most attractive.  Yet, she has no lines in the movie!  Her segment, between about the 18 minute and 32 minute mark of the film, is the only reason that I can give to watch it.  I find nothing about Laurence Harvey’s screen persona that makes him believable as a ladies man that can woo women on every continent.  I’ll just leave it at that.

It appears that the film was intended as a generally humorous look at the age old battle of the sexes.  The problem, for me, is that I love that sort of film made in Italy in the 1960’s.  For example, I like Divorzio all’italiana (1961, Marcello Mastroianni and Stefania Sandrelli), Il magnifico cornuto (1964, Ugo Tognazzi and Claudia Cardinale), and Adulterio all’italiana (1966, Nino Manfredi and Catherine Spaak).  This British production, however, has none of the wit, charm, and edge found in those films.  Unfortunately, this is another example of Jocelyn’s 1950’s work that failed to fully utilize her talents.  If you are a Jocelyn fan, watch her segment to see her at work in color in the 1950’s, but don’t bother watching the rest of the film.

Production on The Truth About Women commenced in May 1957 and was completed by August.  IMDB shows UK release dates of October 1957 and February 12, 1958.  The film premiered in the U.S. in August of 1958.  Box office returns reported in Variety appear to have only been fair and show no evidence that the film scored well at the U.S. box office.  

IMDB shows a running time of 107 minutes.  I have seen no indication that the film has ever been released on DVD, but it was released in the U.S. on VHS video in 1991, with a reported running time of 105 minutes.   

 

It has also been available for streaming on Amazon with a reported running time of 104 minutes.

The version that I watched was a TV print that ran for approximately 98 minutes, so I cannot say for certain whether or not any footage of Jocelyn had been edited from that print.

Variety reviewed the film in its February 12, 1958 edition based on a February 4 viewing at Studio One in London (with a 107 minute running time), concluding that it was an "overlong, uneven comedy which is often witty; star cast should make this a reliable booking." As for Jocelyn, it noted:  "Diane Cilento, Julie Harris, Mai Zetterling, Eva Gabor, and Jackie Lane are the women in his life.  Each gives a pleasant, varied performance."   

 Here are a couple of British posters (courtesy of emovieposter.com), along with a British pressbook:

Here is a lobby card set (one of which shows Jocelyn):

Here are some U.S. publicity photos (the first 3 feature Jocelyn):

Here is a Danish poster:

These Dangerous Years (1957)

These Dangerous Years (1957)

British Quad Poster (courtesy of emovieposter.com)

These Dangerous Years (aka Dangerous Youth), is a British youth drama directed in black and white by Herbert Wilcox.  Frankie Vaughan plays Dave Wyman, a member of a group of young delinquents that hang out on the Liverpool shore, gambling and getting into minor trouble.  Dave is also the son of a decorated war hero.  Vaughan gets a chance to perform the title song as part of a singing competition in a local club, where he edges out Dina Brown (Carole Lesley) for the crown.  Carole is accompanied there by her roommate and friend Maureen (Jocleyn Lane, as Jackie Lane).  Dave is attracted to Dinah and begins to pursue her, even though he is about to enter the army, but Dinah plays hard-to-get. 

After Dave is inducted, he continues to get into trouble, but the leaders see potential in him, particularly a chaplain (played by George Baker), and make him the platoon leader.  One of the soldiers, who is out to get Dave, fakes orders that cause Dave to lead his group into a live mine field, where one of them is killed.  In the fallout, Dave beats the solder that misled them, and thinks that he has killed him.  Dave then goes awol, because he does not think that anyone will take his side or believe him about the faked orders.  Utimately, he hides out with Dina, the chaplain works to help him clear his name, and all ends well.

These Dangerous Years was the first of four films starring British singing sensation Vaughan to be directed by Wilcox and produced by his wife, Anna Neagle.   The film reminds me of the type of youth-oriented films being produced in the U.S. at the time, like Jailhouse Rock, although Vaughan (at age 29) was a little old for this type of role and had a singing style that was probably not quite in line with the more cutting edge youth music of the era.  Vaughan performs admirably, in only his second film role, and his singing is rather catchy, even if some of his dance moves look a bit humorous on such a thick, barrel-chested fellow.

Neagle made a smart move in casting Carole and Jocelyn in the female roles.  Both were very pretty, hungry starlets that had been desperately seeking attention in the press, and both performed well in this film.  Carole received the bigger role and higher billing than Jocelyn, but they were credited together as "introducing Carole Lesley and Jackie Lane."  This is the type of role that Jocelyn should have been provided by Warwick Films, who clearly missed the boat with her.  Jocelyn displayed a British accent that was not too thick, and she handled light comedic scenes quite well.  We get the opportunity to see her dance a bit in the club, and we get to hear her sing a bit, as she hums and sings the Vaughan song on the way back to the apartment (with a very pleasant voice, I might add).  I presume that Lesley was lip synching her singing number in the club, but if that was actually her, then she had a surprisingly good voice.

The film launched Carole Lesley briefly, but any momentum that she had was gone by 1964.  Sadly, she died of an overdose of pills at age 38 in 1974, which was ruled a suicide.  Fortunately, Jocelyn fared better.  All in all, These Dangerous Years is an entertaining film that is a must-see for Jocelyn fans.  Finally, she was given a chance at a decent role, and she delivered.

These Dangerous Years commenced filming in the first week of January 1957 and was completed by the spring.

The film premiered in Liverpool on June 24, 1957, ahead of its release and opening run in London on July 3.  Variety reviewed the film (with a 110 minute running time) in its July 24, 1957 edition based on a July 3 viewing at the Rialto in London, giving it a generally fair review.  It called the film "An adult type of deadend kid drama that provides a good vehicle for the radio and disk crooner Frankie Vaughan.  It is overlong but presents an entertaining problem of topical interest, the absorption by the army of juvenile delinquents."  It applauded Vaughan, saying:  "Frankie Vaughan does well in this, his first screen appearance, his main obstacle being his maturity, which is too obvious in the early stages."  It added that "Carole Lesley looks attractive" and "Jackie Lane, siste of Joan Collins, is cute as her tough little roommate."   

In mid-August of 1957, Lee Mortimer's New York Confidential syndicated column in the U.S. included a note that "When Warners releases the English film, 'These Dangerous Years,' you are going to flip over a babe who puts Loren in limbo.  She's Jackie Lane, Joan Collin's kid sister."  Perhaps he picked up that erroneous relationship information from the Variety review.  Nonetheless Jocelyn was starting to get some real attention.

Warner Brothers originally planned to call the film Misguided in the U.S.

• The September 21, 1957 edition of the New York Age ran an article called "Warner Bros. Film Juvenile Drama," which stated:  Misguided has been announced by Warner Bros. as the new title for the motion picture drama about juvenile delinquency formerly called 'These Dangerous Years.  George Baker and Frankie Vaughan star in 'Misguided,' which introduces Carol Lesley, Jackie Lane, and Katherine Kath."

Vaughan came to New York in October 1957 and again in late February of 1958 to promote the film ahead of its U.S. release in May.  Variety gave the film a more tepid review in its June 11, 1958 edition (based on a May 13 viewing in Hollywood with a 97 minute running time) than it had the previous year in London, concluding that the "[j]uvenile delinquency theme lacks needed punch" and that "the characters are unbelievable."  It noted that "bright moments" were provided by "Carole Lesley, a looker."  As for Jocelyn, it merely commented that "Jackie Lane is pert as Miss Lesley's roommate." 

Here is some cool footage of the film's premiere in England:

These Dangerous Years was released on DVD in the UK on the Network label in 2014 (with a 94 minute running time; the film seems to be continually shrinking from its original 110 minute length).  I recommend that you purchase this DVD and support the Network label for making this film available in a nice print at a reasonable price.  Although it will not play on standard U.S. DVD players, it will play on a region free DVD player or a computer.

Here is a trailer from the Network label on youtube:

Here are the U.S. three sheet, one sheet, and insert posters (I have not seen the half sheet or the pressbook):

The U.S. lobby card set:

Some U.S. publicity photos/stills:

  
Some British stills/publicity photos:

A British pressbook:

A British press brochure:

An Australian poster:

A German poster and program:

Italian fotobustas:

Some type of Italian promotional literature:

Here are links to other on-set photos and stills:

Photo with Carole Lesley and Herbert Wilcox

Dangerous Youth Set Photo

Publicity Still - 5