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The Golden Disc

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The Golden Disc
US Poster under the title The In-Between Age
Directed byDon Sharp
Written byDon Sharp
Don Nicholl
Based onstory by Gene Nicholl
Produced byW.G Chalmers
StarringMary Steele
Lee Patterson
Terry Dene
Production
company
Distributed byButchers Film Distributors
Release date
  • 3 August 1958 (1958-08-03)
Running time
78 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

The Golden Disc (also known as The In-Between Age) is a 1958 British pop musical film directed by Don Sharp, starring Terry Dene and Mary Steele.[1] It was written by Sharp and Don Nicholl—a story about a young man and a young woman who opened a trendy coffee bar and discovered a singing star.

Plot

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Joan Farmer, with the help of her friend Harry Blair, persuades her aunt to turn her worn-out cafe into a trendy espresso bar for teenagers. The opening of the bar allowed the discovery of a singing star, Terry Dene. Later on, the coffee bar was transformed into a recording company. After various adventures, Terry sells a million records in America, and Joan and Harry fall in love.

Cast

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Production

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The film was shot at Walton Studios. It was a vehicle for Terry Dene who had three top twenty hits in Britain.[2]

It was one of several British pop films set around coffee bars, others including The Tommy Steele Story, Serious Charge, Beat Girl and Expresso Bongo.[3] Director Don Sharp said it was made at a time when "everybody was making a musical". His wife Mary played the female lead.[4]

Filming started on 23 September 1957. Jack Phillips of Butchers Film Productions, who made the film, claimed the film was "not an imitation of The Tommy Steele Story or anything like this" even though it was a musical vehicle for a pop star.[5]

Songs

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  • "I’m Gonna Wrap You Up" (Ray Mack, Philip Green) performed by Dennis Lotis
  • "Before We Say Goodnight" (Norman Newell, Philip Green) performed by Mary Steele
  • "Dynamo" (Tommy Connor) performed by Les Hobeaux Skiffle Group
  • "C’min and be Loved" (Len Paverman) performed by Terry Dene
  • "Charm" (Ray Mack, Philip Green) performed by Terry Dene
  • "The In-between Age" (Ray Mack, Philip Green) performed by Sheila Buxton
  • "Let Me Lie" (Sonny & Stewart) performed by Sonny Stewart and his Skiffle Kings
  • "Candy Floss" ( Len Paverman) performed by Terry Dene
  • "Lower Deck" (Phil Seamon) performed by Phil Seamon Jazz Group
  • "Balmoral Melody" (Philip Green) performed by Murray Campbell
  • "Johnny O" (Len Praverman) performed by Nancy Whiskey and Sonny Stewart and his Skiffle Kings
  • "The Golden Age" (Michael Robbins, Richard Dix) performed by Terry Dene.

Reception

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Box office

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The film was not a success at the box office, a factor which was thought to have contributed to Dene showing symptoms of unstable behaviour.[2]

Critical reception

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In a 1958 review The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Rock'n'roll music 1s loud and exnibitionist; its exponents usually noisy, vital, eccentric, often larger than life. With an immense following both here and in the States, this interesting phenomenon deserves a more full-blooded investigation or exposition than The Golden Disc manages. In fact the performances which the film wraps in its somewhat vapid plot are all genteel and disappointingly inhibited."[6]

In the same year Variety wrote: "The pic would have been more acceptable had the screenplay by Don Nicholl and Don Sharp not been completely devoid of wit and suspense, and also had Sharp's direction not been so ploding."[7]

The Radio Times Guide to Films (2017) gave the film 1/5 stars, writing: "The coffee bar was the only place to be seen in the early rock 'n' roll years, but it is almost impossible to see how they became teen meccas from this risible British pop picture. In the very worst "it's trad, dad" manner, it shows how Lee Patterson and Mary Steele jazz up her aunt's coffee shop with a record booth and the singing talents of odd-jobman Terry Dene. "[8]

In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan rated the film as "mediocre", writing: "Halting pop musical with a lot of inhibited acting."[9]

Home media

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It was re-released on DVD by Renown Pictures Ltd in 2010.[10]

References

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  1. ^ "The Golden Disc". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
  2. ^ a b Evans, Mike (28 March 2014). Rock'n'Roll's Strangest Moments: Extraordinary But True Tales from 45 Years ... Pavilion Books. ISBN 9781849941815.
  3. ^ Donnelly, K.J. (1998). "The Perpetual Busman's Holiday: Sir Cliff Richard and British pop musicals". Journal of Popular Film & Television. 25 (4): 146–154. doi:10.1080/01956059809602761.
  4. ^ Sharp, Don (2 November 1993). "Don Sharp Side 3" (Interview). Interviewed by Teddy Darvas and Alan Lawson. London: History Project. Retrieved 14 July 2021.
  5. ^ Evans, Peter (19 September 1957). "Studio Round-Up". Kinematograph Weekly. p. 32. (subscription required to access article)
  6. ^ "The Golden Disc". The Monthly Film Bulletin. 25 (288): 46. 1 January 1958. ProQuest 1305824785 – via ProQuest.
  7. ^ "The Golden Disk". Variety. 210: 6. 12 March 1958.
  8. ^ Radio Times Guide to Films (18th ed.). London: Immediate Media Company. 2017. p. 374. ISBN 9780992936440.
  9. ^ Quinlan, David (1984). British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959. London: B.T. Batsford Ltd. p. 315. ISBN 0-7134-1874-5.
  10. ^ [1] Renown Pictures Ltd, PO Box 592, Kings Langley, Herts WD4 4DB
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