Four mechanics (led by Cliff Richard) take a London double decker bus to Europe for a holiday, picking up three girls along the way. Then a young boy stowaway joins the group and there are complications...
The durable Cliff Richard was one of the most successful British pop singers in the movies, proving likeable in a number of films of which Summer Holiday is the best known. It's that rarest of things, a British road movie: but they wisely decide against hanging around in Britain for the rainy summer. Instead, they drive off to the Continent, headed for the south of France.
On the way, Cliff finds himself strangely drawn to the young stowaway, but it's all right, everyone, the boy is actually a girl (Lauri Peters) - an American singer who has run away from her domineering mother. There is a touch of the battle of the sexes between the boys and the girls, but after a while they all get along famously, and have a jolly good time.
This sunny musical has only two songs you might recognise, the title one and the prophetic "Bachelor Boy". The Shadows turn up to play a few tunes at a various points on the journey, but mostly you get dance sequences (choreographed by Herbert Ross). My favourite sequence is where Cliff imagines various middle aged women changing into young and attractive versions of themselves, but then they change back and chase him around a park in the Benny Hill tradition.
It has to be said, Cliff isn't all that great at dancing, but he's adequate here; at least there's none of that arm-swinging technique he usually uses (well, actually there is, but he keeps it to a minimum). Some prefer Cliff in his early, moody roles, but he seems more at ease in the more innocuous movies, and Summer Holiday is probably the most enjoyable. And it led to a good joke in the last episode of The Young Ones. Also with: mime Ron Moody doing a silent movie comedy scene, Cliff and friends in blackface.
British director with some range, originally from theatre and television. After Summer Holiday and Robbery, he moved to Hollywood to direct Bullit, with its car chase making waves. There followed The Hot Rock, The Friends of Eddie Coyle, Mother, Jugs and Speed, The Deep and touching teen drama Breaking Away before he returned to Britain for the fantasy Krull and The Dresser. Has spent recent years working back in America.
