Six-Five Special (1958)

Six-Five Special (Dir: Alfred Shaughnessy, 1958).

Six-Five Special was a pre-Top of the Pops, youth oriented music television show, broadcast on the BBC for 96 episodes during 1957-58. Although short-lived the show was significant as the first Rock 'n' Roll programme on British TV. It was also vastly influential, pioneering a style of music television that would continue to be copied for decades to come. It also inspired this feature film adaptation from B-movie purveyors Insignia Films.

The slender story involves Anne (Diane Todd) a young woman with a talent for singing who is persuaded by her friend Judy (Avril Leslie) to up sticks and travel to London to pursue a career in showbusiness. Boarding the overnight 6.5 special train, the pair are surprised to find the locomotive full of stars, themselves bound for London to perform on the Six-Five Special television show. All pretence of a plot goes out of the window at about the halfway mark when the movie becomes strictly a musical revue. 

Among the acts you won’t remember (The Ken Tones?) are enough genuine legends to make the movie a musical treat. Notable among the acts are Lonnie Donegan, Petula Clark, Jim Dale, Cleo Laine and Johnny Dankworth. Some laboured comedy skits come courtesy of Mike and Bernie Winters. Television's Six-Five Special presenters Pete Murray and Jo Douglas also make an appearance, as does its resident bandleader Don Lang. It's undoubted highlight is the terrific performance from skiffle pioneer Donegan who sings two songs, 'Jack O'Diamonds' and 'Grand Coolie Dam'. He alone makes it worth watching.

If you are seeking intricately plotted cinema with a serious message I would look elsewhere. However, if you are looking for a lighthearted, dare I say twee, documentation of the state of the Hit Parade in 1958 you are in for a treat! Admittedly, this nostalgia fest will be most appreciated by 1950s teens and those with an interest in that era's music. Railway enthusiasts will also appreciate the steam locomotives on display. An invaluable record of the pre-Beatles British music scene, Six-Five Special is corny by today's standards but a lot of fun, nonetheless.