''It's Trad, Dad!'' (1962), known in the U.S. as ''Ring-A-Ding Rhythm'', is a British musical comedy featuring performances by a variety of Dixieland jazz bands and rock-and-roll singers. The film was one of the first produced by Amicus Productions, a company known predominantly for horror films. It was director Richard Lester's first feature film.

Plot

Craig ( Craig Douglas) and Helen (

Helen Shapiro Helen Kate Shapiro (born 28 September 1946) is a British pop and jazz singer and actress. While still a teenager in the early 1960s, she was one of Britain's most successful female singers. With a voice described by AllMusic as possessing "th ...

, then 15 years old) are teenagers who enjoy the latest trend of traditional jazz along with their friends. The local mayor and a group of adults dislike the trend and move to have the jukebox in the coffee shop silenced. With the help of an omniscient narrator, Craig and Helen try to find a disc jockey and organize a show to popularize the music. Their travels take them where the music is: nightclubs, TV studios, and recording companies. They eventually get to see disc jockey Pete Murray and persuade him to attend and arrange for several jazz bands to perform. Murray recruits two other deejays, David Jacobs and Alan Freeman, to join the party. The mayor, upon hearing the news of the upcoming performance, decides to stop the performers' bus by any means necessary. When the show is scheduled to start, Craig and Helen find that their disc jockey and musicians have not yet arrived, so they perform themselves and are well received by the crowd. The bands' bus manages to evade a series of obstacles set up by the local police, and they arrive and put on the show for the BBC television cameras. The film ends with everyone enjoying the music, including the mayor who has been easily persuaded to take the credit for having arranged a successful show.

Cast

* Craig Douglas * John Leyton * The Brook Brothers * Chubby Checker * Del Shannon *

Gary U.S. Bonds Gary U.S. Bonds (born Gary Levone Anderson, June 6, 1939) is an American rhythm and blues and rock and roll singer, known for his classic hits "New Orleans" and " Quarter to Three". Career Born in Jacksonville, Florida, Bonds lived in Norfolk, ...

(as Gary (U.S.) Bonds) * Gene Vincent * Gene McDaniels *

The Paris Sisters The Paris Sisters were a 1960s American girl group from San Francisco, California, United States, best known for their work with producer Phil Spector. Career The group consisted of lead singer Priscilla Paris (January 4, 1941 – March 5, 200 ...

(as Paris Sisters) * The Dukes of Dixieland (as Dukes of Dixieland) *

Chris Barber's Jazz Band Donald Christopher "Chris" Barber OBE (17 April 1930 – 2 March 2021) was an English jazz musician, best known as a bandleader and trombonist. He helped many musicians with their careers and had a UK top twenty trad jazz hit with "Petite Fle ...

with

Ottilie Patterson Anna Ottilie Patterson (31 January 1932 – 20 June 2011) was a Northern Irish blues singer best known for her performances and recordings with the Chris Barber Jazz Band in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Biography Anna Ottilie Patterson was ...

* Acker Bilk and His Paramount Jazz Band (as Mr. Acker Bilk and His Paramount Jazz Band) * Kenny Ball and his Jazzmen (as Kenny Ball's Jazzmen) *

Bob Wallis Robert Wallis (3 June 1934 – 10 January 1991) was a British jazz musician, who had a handful of chart success in the early 1960s, during the UK traditional jazz boom. Biography Wallis was born in Bridlington, East Riding of Yorkshire, where hi ...

and his Storyville Jazzmen * Terry Lightfoot and his New Orleans Jazz Band * The Temperance Seven * Sounds Incorporated (as Sounds Inc.) * David Jacobs * Pete Murray * Alan Freeman * Felix Felton as Mayor * Arthur Mullard as Police Chief * Deryck Guyler as Narrator

Soundtrack

The film predominantly comprises musical numbers, including performances by the principal actors Helen Shapiro and Craig Douglas themselves. However, unlike traditional "musicals" the songs have little to do with the movie plot. The other performers shown in the cast list were popular acts from both the U.K. and U.S.

References

External links

* * * * * {{Gene Vincent British musical comedy films 1962 films Films directed by Richard Lester British black-and-white films 1962 musical comedy films Amicus Productions films Columbia Pictures films 1962 directorial debut films Films scored by Ken Thorne 1960s English-language films 1960s British films