Movie Number 33: Double Switch (David Greenwalt, 1987).

Movie number 33: Double Switch (David Greenwalt, 1987).

With the creation of The Disney Channel and the return of the Disney anthology series to the ABC network, the 1980s saw a renaissance in Disney made-for-TV movies. Ironically this was at a time when Disney branded cinema releases had all but ground to a halt; 1984 saw no new Disney movies save for Splash (Ron Howard) and Country (Richard Pearce) both distributed under their newly formed ‘adult’ Touchstone Films banner.

Double Switch premiered in two parts on the newly re-titled Disney Sunday Movie series. This contemporary take on Mark Twain’s The Prince and the Pauper stars George Newbern in the dual roles of geeky high school student Matt Bundy and spoiled yet isolated popstar Bartholomew who switch places for some comedy hi-jinks and poignant life lessons. Elizabeth Shue is the only recognisable name in an otherwise no-star cast; the following year would see her breakthrough role in Adventures in Babysitting (Chris Columbus) and two years later she would inherit the part of Jennifer in Back to the Future Part II (Robert Zemeckis, 1989). With its synth rock soundtrack, legwarmer clad dancers and capitalist aesthetics, Double Switch is a movie which could only have been made in the Eighties, the decade of excess. Juxtaposing high school life and rockstar masquerades, Double Switch is kind of John Hughes lite meets Hannah Montana and one gets the feeling that were this made 20 years later we would be shopping for Bartholomew CDs, lunch boxes and backpacks at The Disney Store.

While barely remembered today, this movie isn’t half bad. Sure the music is a little generic and the comedy is somewhat laboured, but Newbern does well in the lead and if, like me, you enjoyed this when you were 12 you will probably get a nostalgic kick out of it now. Disney’s more faithful adaptation of The Prince and the Pauper (Don Chaffey, 1962) and their similarly themed classic The Parent Trap (David Swift, 1961) are both vastly superior movies. Double Switch is nowhere near as essential as those but is entertaining nonsense all the same.

RIP Stanley Donen

OLIVER! (Dir: Carol Reed, 1968).

Carol Reed’s movie adaptation of Lionel Bart’s blockbuster stage musical is a universally acclaimed, multi-award winning masterpiece.

Based, of course, on Charles Dickens’ novel Oliver Twist, it is certainly a sanitised depiction of Victorian East End London; a film about child exploitation populated by thieves and murderers should probably not make for suitable family entertainment, and yet it does.

A top drawer cast includes unknown juveniles Mark Lester, winsomely appealing in the title role and Jack Wild gives a spirited and charismatic performance as Dodger. Of the adults, Ron Moody as Fagin, Oliver Reed as Bill Sykes and Harry Secombe as Mr Bumble are all impressive but perhaps the stand out is the previously little known Shani Wallis. As Nancy, Ms Wallis gives a genuinely moving, sympathetic performance. It’s staggering to think that Oliver! did not launch her to international movie stardom.

Bart’s outstanding score is easily one of the best to grace stage or screen; unusually for any musical all 13 songs taken from the show, from Food Glorious Food to Om Pah Pah have entered the public conscious and are all exquisitely staged, lavish production numbers.

In spite of the tremendous critical and commercial success of Oliver! by 1968 the big budget family musical was becoming a less commercially viable prospect for Hollywood. The previous year had seen the commercial failure of Disney’s The Happiest Millionaire and Fox’s Doctor Doolittle and in the half decade since its initial release few non-animated film musicals have had anywhere near its impact. Although the genre has undergone a successful revival, such recent examples as Mary Poppins Returns and the live-action Beauty and the Beast, as good as those movies may be, have not managed to match it for artistry or sheer entertainment.

It is easy to see why critics and audiences were so enamoured by Oliver! as 50 years on it remains a genuinely fantastic film that withstands many repeated viewings.

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Happy birthday to one of my ultimate heroes, the incredibly talented Mr Rolly Crump. I bow down to you sir.

RIP Jan Michael Vincent

DAVY (Dir: Michael Ralph, 1958).

Notable as the first British film shot in Technirama and featuring a lovely muted Technicolor palette, Davy is often regarded as the final Ealing comedy. In truth this is a bit of a misnomer. A better description of Davy would be a comedy drama which happened to be released by the Ealing Studios, as it has little of the characteristics associated with Ealing and the comedy is some rather heavy handed slapstick.

Harry Secombe stars as the titular Davy, the only real talented member of a family vaudeville act. When he is given the chance to audition for Covent Garden’s Royal Opera House he must decide whether to keep the act together or go it alone.

Much of the comedy in Davy is confined to sequences of the family’s act and is not really part of the narrative. The remainder of the film is somewhat downbeat in tone and not really a comedy at all.

Secombe and his beautiful singing voice are undoubtedly the film’s strong suit and one feels that with a better showcase for his talents he could have carved out a successful film career. As it is, Davy was seen as a critical and commercial disappointment. However Davy is by no means a bad film. If you watch it expecting an Ealing comedy you will be disappointed; if you approach it as a low-key drama with musical interludes there is much to enjoy.

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