Never content to do anything by halves, Ken Russell has made a movie musical that fascinated and frustrated me in nearly equal measure. This is a film within which a musical unfolds in real time that then has dream/fantasy sequences which, as the film goes on, tend to go on for too long. Actors in the play try to trip each other up while also mugging for the Hollywood talent scout. The songs are cliche bordering on parody but are often paired with the most sumptuous, opulent visuals. This is a film that revels in its excess and "muchness." Fortunately, this is-or-isn't-it-a-joke had a knee-slapper of a punchline-ending. (And theater kids would probably get a laugh or dozen out of this.)

After the demented excesses of The Devils this comes as a sharp contrast, lacking in the sexual and bombast that mark his other films. This is a unique film that will probably not find many modern viewers. Telling the duel story of a production of The Boyfriend and stage manager Polly, these two threads will occasionally intersect in the mind of a director named De Thrill who sits and watches from a box seat, imagining how it might look on the silver screen with a bigger budget. It sets off a series of sequences that gets us away from the low-rent stage performance. It is a charming film with a wonderful cast. The chemistry between Twiggy and Christopher Gable is very sweet. For the casual Ken Russell fan it might seem very light and superficial but he was a director one always expect the unexpected. He defied any attempt at being pigeonholed as many other directors, finding a comfortable niche to crank out a repetitive series of films. The Boyfriend is that curve ball that catches you off guard. It's a among a handful of musicals I can tolerate and the songs actually add something of value to either the story or characters.

A camp classic but also so much more. The critics came down like a ton of bricks on Ken Russell's musical comedy which was, on the one hand, a screen version of Sandy Wilson's show and, on the other, a comment on the 'putting-on-a-show' kind of musical popular in the early thirties. Russell's idea of opening up most of the numbers, as in a big Busby Berkeley production, worked brilliantly but didn't please either the critics or the public; still it made a movie star (of sorts) out of the model Twiggy who is charm personified while the former ballet dancer Christopher Gable is a delightful leading man. It's also got a great supporting cast of some of the best British character players of the time, including an unbilled Glenda Jackson - Go out there and be so great you'll make me hate you - and whatever happened to Antonia Ellis and Georgina Hale, both brilliant here, as well as Broadway's Tommy Tune whose dancing comes close to stopping the show. Unfortunately it wasn't really a commercial success and is seldom seen now but if, like me, you have any interest in the musical, catch it; it's absolutely fabulous!