''I've Gotta Horse'' (also known as ''Wonderful Day'') is a 1965 British musical comedy film directed by

Kenneth Hume Kenneth Hume (22 March 1926 – 25 June 1967) was a British filmmaker and manager known for being married to Shirley Bassey. Hume made the ballet film ''Mods and Rockers''. Although Hume was gay, he married Bassey in 1961. He divorced Bassey in ...

and starring

Billy Fury Ronald Wycherley (17 April 1940 – 28 January 1983), better known by his stage name Billy Fury, was an English musician. An early star of rock and roll, he spent 332 weeks on the UK singles chart. His hit singles include " Wondrous Place", " H ...

Amanda Barrie Amanda Barrie (born Shirley Anne Broadbent; 14 September 1935) is an English actress. She appeared in two of the '' Carry On'' films before being cast as Alma Halliwell in the ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'', a role she played on and off ...

Michael Medwin Michael Hugh Medwin (18 July 1923 – 26 February 2020) was an English actor and film producer. Life and career Medwin was born in London. He was educated at Canford School, Dorset, and the Institute Fischer, Montreux, Switzerland. He first ...

Jon Pertwee John Devon Roland Pertwee (; 7 July 1919 – 20 May 1996), known professionally as Jon Pertwee, was an English actor. Born into a theatrical family, he became known as a comedy actor, playing Chief Petty Officer Pertwee (and three other roles) in ...

and pop bands The Gamblers and

The Bachelors The Bachelors were a popular music group from Dublin, Ireland, but based primarily in the United Kingdom. They had several international hits during the 1960s, including eight top-ten singles in the UK between 1963 and 1966. The Bachelors spli ...

. It was written by

Larry Parnes Laurence Maurice Parnes (3 September 1929 – 4 August 1989) was a British pop manager and impresario. He was the first major British rock manager, and his stable of singers included many of the most successful British rock and roll singers of t ...

Ronald Chesney Chesney and Wolfe, were a British television comedy screenwriting duo consisting of Ronald Chesney (born René Lucien Cadier; 4 May 1920 – 12 April 2018) and Ronald Wolfe (born Harvey Ronald Wolfe-Luberoff; 8 August 1922 – 18 December 2011). ...

and Ronald Wolfe. Musical direction was by

Mike Leander Michael George Farr (30 June 1941 – 18 April 1996), known professionally as Mike Leander, was a British arranger, songwriter and record producer. He worked variously with Cliff Richard, the Beatles, David McWilliams (" Days of Pearly Spe ...

Plot

Based on the star's famous love of animals, this musical comedy portrays Billy setting out to add a sheepdog to his vast entourage of animals and coming back with an irresistible horse named Armitage instead. To his manager's horror, Billy smuggles the horse backstage during rehearsals for his big show and the horse proceeds to create havoc. Little do either of them know that Armitage is actually a thoroughbred racehorse. Then Billy's horse contracts pneumonia and Billy must choose between love of his horse and the big show.

Cast

as Billy *

as Jo *

as Hymie Campbell *

Marjorie Rhodes Marjorie Rhodes (9 April 1897 – 4 July 1979) was a British actress. She was born Millicent Wise in Kingston upon Hull, Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire. Career One of her better-known roles was as Lucy Fitton, the mother in Bill Naughton's pl ...

as Mrs Bartholomew *

Bill Fraser William Simpson Fraser (5 June 1908 – 9 September 1987) was a Scottish actor who appeared on stage, screen and television for many years. In 1986 he won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Comedy Performance for his stage role in the play '' ...

as Mr Bartholomew *

Peter Gilmore John Peter Gilmore (25 August 1931 – 3 February 2013), known as Peter Gilmore, was an English actor, known for his portrayal of Captain James Onedin in 91 episodes of the BBC television period drama ''The Onedin Line'' (1971–1980), cre ...

as Jock *Allan Angel as dancer *Peter Ardran as dancer *

as themselves *Tom Bowman as Trainer *Elisa Buckingham as Melissa *Linda Bywaters as dancer *Elaine Carr as dancer *Tom Carty as dancer *

Michael Cashman Colin Michael Maurice Cashman, Baron Cashman, (born 17 December 1950) is a British actor, dancer, politician, and LGBT rights activist. A member of the Labour Party, he served as a Member of the European Parliament for the West Midlands from 1 ...

as Peter *Doreen Cran as dancer *Ronald Curran as dancer *Roy Durbin as dancer *

Leslie Dwyer Leslie Gilbert Dwyer (28 August 1906 – 26 December 1986) was an English film and television actor. Career He was born in Catford, the son of the popular music hall comedian Johnny Dwyer, and acted from the age of ten and appeared in his firs ...

as Bert *

Fred Emney Frederick Arthur Round Emney (12 February 1900 – 25 December 1980) was an English character actor and comedian. Emney was born in Prescot, Lancashire,GRO Register of Births Mar 1900 Frederick Arthur R Emney 8b 725 PRESCOT1901 Census: RG ...

as Lord Bentley *John Falconer as butler * The Gamblers as themselves *Richard Gardner as dancer *Terry Gilbert as dancer *Bill Harvey as dancer *Derina House as dancer *John Kelly as Michael – donkey man *

Ann Lancaster Ann Lancaster (5 May 1920 – 31 October 1970) was a well-known character actress who appeared in many British films, television shows and in theatre. Lancaster specialised in comic roles and had a talent for voices which she often used on ra ...

as woman shopkeeper *Pauline Loring as Lady Bentley *Constance Luttrell as Duchess *Cal McCord as Whitney *Rosemary Neil-Smith as Lady Sloane *Sheila O'Neill as Betty *

as costumier's assistant *Gareth Robinson as jockey *Brian Todd as dancer

Production

The film is a semi-autobiographical musical comedy based on a script by Fury's manager. It was one of several musicals featuring rock stars from Nat Cohen at Anglo-Amalgamated, starting with ''

The Tommy Steele Story ''The Tommy Steele Story'' is a 1957 British film directed by Gerard Bryant and starring Tommy Steele, dramatising Steele's rise to fame as a teen idol. Along with '' Rock You Sinners'', it was one of the first British films to feature rock and r ...

'' and including '' Play It Cool'' (1962) also with Fury. (Although Cohen had turned down the chance to make a film with The Beatles. ) In July 1964 Fury signed a contract with Anglo to make three films over the next two years of which ''I've Gotta Horse'' was to be the first. The film was shot on location in

Techniscope Techniscope or 2-perf is a 35 mm motion picture camera film format introduced by Technicolor Italia in 1960. The Techniscope format uses a two film- perforation negative pulldown per frame, instead of the standard four-perforation frame ...

Great Yarmouth Great Yarmouth ( ), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside resort, seaside town which gives its name to the wider Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. Its fishing industry, m ...

where Fury had just finished his summer season at the

Royal Aquarium The Royal Aquarium and Winter Garden was a place of amusement in Westminster, London. It opened in 1876, and the building was demolished in 1903. The attraction was located northwest of Westminster Abbey on Tothill Street. The building was design ...

Theatre which was used as the theatre in the film, with shooting also taking place at

Shepperton Studios Shepperton Studios is a film studio located in Shepperton, Surrey, England, with a history dating back to 1931. It is now part of Pinewood Group, the Pinewood Studios Group. During its early existence, the studio was branded as Sound City (not ...

. It took place in September 1964. by

Bill Harry William Harry (born 17 September 1938) is the creator of ''Mersey Beat'', a newspaper of the early 1960s which focused on the Liverpool music scene. Harry had previously started various magazines and newspapers, such as ''Biped'' and ''Premier ...

at sixtiescity.net – Accessed 2015-12-13 According to Amanda Barrie, continuity on the film was poor because the director, Ken Hume, would routinely throw out pages of the script if running behind schedule. She also says the first two weeks of filming had to be re-shot because the wrong film stock had been used. Barrie says she and Fury had an affair during the shoot. The film features Fury's race horse, Anselmo, and several of his dogs. Director

died in 1967.

Soundtrack

The following songs were performed in the film, all written by

David Heneker David William Heneker (31 March 1906 – 30 January 2001) was a writer and composer of British popular music and musicals, best known for creating the music and lyrics for '' Half a Sixpence''. Life and career Heneker was born in Southsea, Eng ...

and John Taylor, and performed by Billy Fury, except where noted. * "I've Gotta Horse" * "Stand by Me" * "Do the Old Soft Shoe" (Jay Taylor), performed by Billy Fury and Sheilla O'Neill * "I Cried All Night", performed by The Gamblers. * "Far Far Away" (

Jimmy Kennedy James Kennedy (20 July 1902 – 6 April 1984) was a British songwriter. He was predominantly a lyricist, putting words to existing music such as "Teddy Bears' Picnic" and "My Prayer" or co-writing with composers like Michael Carr (composer), ...

), performed by

* "I Like Animals" * "Find Your Dream" (John Taylor) * "Dressed Up For a Man", performed by Amanda Barrie * "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" (Phil Raymond, Richard Gregory and Lew Griffiths), performed by

* "Won't Somebody Tell Me Why" * "Problems", performed by Amanda Barrie and Michael Medwin * "You've Got to Look Right for the Part", performed by Billy Fury, Amanda Barrie and Jon Pertwee * "I Must Be Dreaming"(

Jackie DeShannon Jackie DeShannon (born Sharon Lee Myers; August 21, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter and radio broadcaster who has had many hit song credits beginning in the 1960s, as both a singer and composer. She was one of the first female singer-son ...

and

Sharon Sheeley Sharon Kathleen Sheeley (April 4, 1940 – May 17, 2002) was an American songwriter who wrote songs for Glen Campbell, Ricky Nelson, Brenda Lee, and Eddie Cochran. Biography Sheeley attended Newport Harbor High School in Newport Beach, an ...

) * "Like a Child" * "My Friend" * "How Can You Tell" * "Finale Melody" * "Wonderful Day" (Mike Leander), performed by the cast. Billy Fury's numbers included his backing group The Gamblers, consisting of Jim Crawford (lead guitar/vocals), Alan George (piano/organ), Andy Mac (drums), Ken Brady (sax), Tony Diamond (guitar, trumpet, vocals) and Alan Sanders (bass vocals). The film's soundtrack album "I've Gotta Horse" was released in March 1965. It was produced by

Dick Rowe Richard Paul Brutton Rowe (9 June 1921 – 6 June 1986) was a British music executive and record producer. He was head of A&R (Singles) at Decca Records from the 1950s to the 1970s, and produced many top-selling records during that period. Kn ...

for

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis after his acquisition of a gramophone manufacturer, The Decca Gramophone Company. It set up an American subsidiary under the Decca name, which bec ...

(Decca LK 4677). It does not include four of the songs from the film: "I Must Be Dreaming", "Like a Child", "My Friend" and "How Can You Tell".

Reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin The ''Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 until April 1991, when it merged with '' Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those wi ...

'' wrote: "The line-up of songs and production numbers is unusually generous: sometimes there is only a brief snippet of dialogue or story development (not that there is, in fact, much of a plot) to separate them. The dance ensembles are executed with precision, yet despite a general liveliness and even suggestions of imagination in the presentation, they lack that eye-catching exuberance and flair which one associates with Hollywood: somehow or other the polish does not create a real shine. Billy Fury makes an agreeable hero, but it is Amanda Barrie who, despite having little to do, steals the show through sheer personality and an ability to make a mediocre line sound like a pearl of humour."

References

External links

''I've Gotta Horse''
at sixtiescity.net * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ive Gotta Horse 1965 films 1965 musical comedy films British musical comedy films Films about horses British horse racing films 1960s English-language films 1960s British films English-language musical comedy films