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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writers:
Wolf Mankowitz (play)
Wolf Mankowitz (screenplay)
more
Release Date:
18 May 1960 (Sweden) more
Tagline:
Laurence Harvey in an outstanding and different motion picture that takes you into a world of burlesque houses .. jazz dens ... and flesh-and-blood people!
Plot:
Johnny Jackson, a sleazy talent agent, discovers teenager Bert Rudge singing in a coffee house. Despite... more | add synopsis
Awards:
Nominated for 2 BAFTA Film Awards. more
User Comments:
People say this is the worst film ever made. more (8 total)
Cast
(Complete credited cast) | Laurence Harvey | ... | Johnny Jackson |
 | Sylvia Syms | ... | Maisie King |
| Yolande Donlan | ... | Dixie Collins |
| Cliff Richard | ... | Bert Rudge / Bongo Herbert |
| Meier Tzelniker | ... | Mayer |
| Ambrosine Phillpotts | ... | Lady Rosemary |
 | Eric Pohlmann | ... | Leon |
| Gilbert Harding | ... | Himself |
| Hermione Baddeley | ... | Penelope |
| Reginald Beckwith | ... | Reverend Tobias Craven |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
111 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Certification:
UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (re-rating) (1986) | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl
Filming Locations:
Dorchester Hotel, Park Lane, Mayfair, London, England, UK more
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
Meier Tzelniker and Susan Hampshire were the only cast members to carry their parts over from the stage-play. more
Movie Connections:
Featured in The Love Goddesses (1965) more
Soundtrack:
Shrine on the Second Floor more
FAQ
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more (8 total)
Message Boards
Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Expresso Bongo (1959)| Recent Posts (updated daily) | User |
|---|---|
| and 'Bye Bye, Birdie' | jbart39-1 |
| Is new DVD complete? | rayshaw44 |
| Laurence Harvey sings? | rockolaray-1 |
| Espresso Bongo | hsiegel-1 |
| tits and arse (ass) | jwb-4 |
Recommendations
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| Sid and Nancy | Josie and the Pussycats | The Bodyguard | Lost in Translation | My Own Private Idaho |
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IMDb User Rating:
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Related Links
| Full cast and crew | Company credits | External reviews |
| IMDb Drama section | IMDb UK section | Add this title to MyMovies |
A British radio show asked for people to ring in to tell them what they thought was the worst film ever made. Several people mentioned Expresso Bongo. This might not be the best film ever made, but let us be fair: I can think of at least a couple of hundred films worse than this.
The story tells of the exploits of an unscrupulous theatrical agent (Laurence Harvey) and how he tries to exploit a young rock 'n' roll singer (Cliff Richard).
Even if you don't like the film, you can play "spot the uncredited performers." Burt Kwok is in there, as is Susan Hampshire. Carole Ann Ford is supposed to be there, but I am yet to detect her. If you think you have seen the TV psychiatrist somewhere before...it's Patrick Cargill.
Some parts of the film are right. It gets the atmosphere of the 2i's coffee bar from which the British rock scene sprouted more or less right. But the show is stolen not by Harvey or Cliff Richard but by Cliff Richard's backing group The Drifters (later to become The Shadows.) There is a scene in a coffee bar where they rock out an instrumental. That's worth watching in itself. This scene also includes some rare footage of Jet Harris's Framus bass guitar. Rock historians take note.