Roger Mellor (roger@mellor48.freeserve.co.uk)
I've Gotta Horse (1965) (UK)
Billy (Fury) is mad about animals. Already the proud possesser of a Great Dane (Rusty),an Alsatian,(Sheba), a Doberman Pinscher(Dibby), and a Chihuahua (Speedy), he goes to a country auction with his dresser Bert to buy a sheep dog. Instead he returns to the theatre in Great Yarmouth where he is rehearsing his summer show singing, for all the world to hear , 'I've gotta horse'. For behind the Landrover, spilling over with dogs, he is towing a horse box containing Armitage, a horse with a bleak future, which Billy considers a bargain 40 Guineas. In the stalls of the theatre, Billy's manager (Hymie, played by Michael Medwin),his secretary (Jo, Amanda Barrie) and the producer(Bartholomew, Bill Fraser) watch Billy singing a tender love song with mixed feelings. Bartholomew is simmering with rage over Billy's unpunctuality; Hymie is anxious for his client - and as for Jo - she is lost in world of dreams in which the words of love are being sung only for her.
Meanwhile Billy has vanished from the theatre to arrange for the beach donkey man and his grandson to stable and feed Armitage at his farm. Hymie's warning to Billy that his preoccupation with his dogs and now with his horse could have a dramatic effect on his contract with Bartholomew falls on stony ground. For,on the the same day, in spite of the protest of the stage manager Jock, Billy brings Armitage backstage to shelter from the rain. Chaos rensues when the horse becomes entangled with the lighting system to which his rein had been tied. Hymie, a racing man at heart, takes a new interest in Armitage, when, after being groomed and properly cared for, the horse is pronounced good enough to enter for the Yarmouth races. When Armitage comes in 3rd at tremendous odds, Jo, loyal to the core wins a small fortune from Hymie, who has backed the winner but taken her bet.
Billy invites the whole company of the show to a barbeque to celebrate Armitag's success. Jo is mortified when Billy fails to notice the eye catching gown she had brought with her winnings for his benefit. She relents later when he tells her in a quiet corner of the barn how his early life has led to his attachment to animals. Bert breaks the news that Armitage has caught pneumonia, and depressed, Billy loses all interest in his work. To lift his spirits, Hymie buys a Derby runner called 'Anselmo' with the proceeds of Billy's recording royalties. Billy announces that he intends to go to Epsom to see Anselmo run, even though the date coincides with the opening night of the show. Hymie's misgivings are matched by the prospect of having a front seat at the Derby as an owner's friend, and finally the whole company turns up at Epsom in a vintage coach, having stopped en route in London to be fitted out for the occasion. Bartholomew almost has a fit when he sees on tv his entire cast playing truant, so many miles away. Billy is a proud owner indeed when Anselmo, a complete outsider, comes 4th. On the return to Yarmouth, it is touch and go whether they will make it to the theatre on time. But they do, and Bartholomew is too relieved to see them to raise any objection. They open the show, still in their Derby suits, with Billy triumphantly singing "I'VE GOTTA HORSE"..............
Directed by Kenneth Hume, 'I've Gotta Horse'' is simply designed as a vehicle for early sixties pop singer BuIlly Fury and produced by his manager Larry Parnes, and whether you like it or not depends entirely on whether you like Fury or not. At the peak of his fame, Billy Fury used to play a summer season at the Windmill Theatre, Great Yarmouth in a Rock and Roll Revue with Marty Wilde and other Larry Parnes acts. Much of 'I've Gotta Horse' was actually shot in Great Yarmouth while Billy was appearing in the stage show during the evenings. The theatre used in the movie is the 'Royal Aquarium', a larger venue than the Windmill , and hence more suited to filming. Billy Fury's Stage show was much more rock and roll orientated than the movie, which is clearly designed to follow the precedent of the ABPC Cliff Richard musicals, and move Billy Fury more into the 'family entertainer' field. (see also Joe Brown in "Three Hats For Lisa" another British musical movie of this period, with songs by Leslie Bricusse). The songs (with music and lyrics mainly by David Heneker and John Taylor) include: "I've Gotta Horse" (Billy Fury), Stand by Me (BF), Do the Old Soft Shoe (BF, Sheila O'Neill ), I Cried All Night (The Gamblers),Far Far Away (The Bachelors), I Like Animals (BF), Find Your Dream (BF) (by John Taylor), Dressed Up for a Man (Amanda Barrie, Sheila O'Neill), He's Got The Whole World In His Hands (The Bachelors), Won't Somebody Tell Me Why? (BF) , Problems (Michael Medwin and Amanda Barrie), You've Got To Look Right For The Part (Billy Fury, Jon Pertwee, Amanda Barrie, Michael Medwin) and Wonderful Day (Song By Michael Leander). The pop material is blended with some attractive musical comedy songs by David Heneker and John Taylor, of which for me the standout number is "You've Got To Look Right For The Part" set in a studio fashion store, with a nifty bit of product placement for 'Cecil Gee' of Shaftesbury Avenue (a store where the really trendy young men of the sixties obtained their kit). Choreography is by Ross Taylor. It is an enjoyable mix of 60's pop and musical comedy mumbers, well photographed in attractive colour. As for Billy Fury: well, he does not always look entirely comfortable in the musical comedy numbers, as he always has the lean and hungry look of the rock and roller about him! Not charismatic outside of the pop numbers, he comes across as quite natural (he cannot act at all!) and shy, and this, together with handsome boyish looks, clearly accounted for the large number of teenage girls who wanted to mother him in the early 1960's. He receives excellent support from such reliable actors as Michael Medwin and Bill Fraser, both on excellent form, And Amanda Barrie performs well in an underwritten part - it is surely no co-incidence that Amanda Barrie resembles Una Stubbs (in Summer Holiday) hairstyle and everything! It was filmed on location in and near Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, at the Royal Aquarium Theatre Great Yarmouth, Great Yarmouth racecourse, Epsom racecourse (Derby Scenes) and at Shepperton Studios.
Roger Mellor (roger@mellor48.freeserve.co.uk) Check out the British Musical Movies website at: http://britmusicalfilm.webjump.com
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