Leofwine_draca IT'S TRAD, DAD! is a curio and a musical from 1962 which looks at the phenomenon of 'traditional jazz' as opposed to the more popular rock and roll that was doing the rounds back in the day. It's a first for both director Richard Lester, who of course would later make IT'S A HARD DAY'S NIGHT with The Beatles, no less, and also for British film studio Amicus Productions, who would later become famous for their classic selection of horror anthologies. It was written by Milton Subotsky, too. The film itself is a plotless affair of some lame, dated jokes and endless cameos from various comedy and musical stars of the day. The biggest attraction is a number of songs played in a brightly-lit white studio from luminaries including Acker Bilk, Del Shannon, Chubby Checker, and many others.

kidjus999 If anyone is curious to look at 1961/62 U.K. just before The Beatles would make their way to American shores, then this is an excellent look at that moment of the British musical landscape. More then anything this film is about Art Direction. This is the kind of film that would show off Lester's amazing visual sense & get him hired to direct one of the great musicals of the 60's, "A Hard Days Night". The other quality I love about this film is the strange mixture of Folk, Dixie Jazz, R&B & Rock & Roll. I love how just 2 years before the Rock & Roll revolution would take hold that there seems to be such a wild mix of styles all floating around & waiting to take shape. Please see this film simply to get a peek at Lester's wonderful sense of visual delights. It very much has the feel of a magazine article come to life. Bravo!

movingpicturegal Fun, music-filled film about a teenage boy and girl from a small, nameless UK village who want to bring a jazz show to their town. But one problem - they must go up against town mayor, a guy who thinks the local teenagers are disrupting the peace with their WILD music. The two youths head out to the big city in search of a disc jockey who can bring some great bands to their town for the show.This is an enjoyable, funny film fully loaded with great musical acts performed by a variety of performers. Though this film does drag a bit in the second half, it is still a treat to see, full of innovative photography in the musical segments, amusing voice-over narration and British humor throughout the film in a style that reminded me of "Monty Python". The version I saw of this film, as shown on TCM, featured a very clear print. Good fun.

jimddddd I first saw this movie as "Ring-A-Ding Rhythm" in 1963 and have revisited it several times since. "It's Trad Dad" was Richard Lester's first film, and many of the humorous and surreal touches he later brought to the Beatles' "A Hard Day's Night" are clearly in evidence here. This British film essentially borrows the basic plot of all those terrible 1950s American rock 'n' roll movies: The mayor and town council try to banish the music that young people are listening to, so the kids try to get major disk jockeys and musical artists to come to town for a liberating concert. But Lester and writer Milton Subotsky (who wrote the earlier U.S. film "Rock, Rock, Rock") spoof the plot throughout and acknowledge that the main appeal of this type of film was that it presented musical performances by charting artists in the days before MTV. The only drawback is that when "It's Trad Dad" was shot in late 1961, trad jazz (known as Dixieland in the U.S.) was sweeping England, which means we're treated to a seemingly endless series of British retro-jazz cats like Acker Bilk and Chris Barber. Fortunately, a couple of Yank expatriates, Del Shannon and the great Gene Vincent, were having second careers in the U.K. at the time, so Lester worked them into the story. (Gene Vincent's performance of "Spaceship to Mars" itself recommends this movie.) Lester also had the presence of mind to fly to America to shoot several cutaways of U.S. artists like Chubby Checker (who was on the verge of storming the U.K. with the Twist), Gary "U.S." Bonds, the Paris Sisters (with soft-focus attention paid to enchanting lead singer Priscilla Paris) and Gene McDaniels, although their material is not up to par with their earlier hits. But the real star of the show is the sense of fun that Lester brings to the proceedings. The scenes literally crackle with wit and energy totally lacking in the earlier Alan Freed/Sam Katzman-style rock films. Topping it all off is the amateurish but utterly charming leading lady,15-year-old Helen Shapiro, whose foghorn singing voice and giant beehive hairdo easily steal the show. Though Shapiro was a big pop star in England at the time, she never clicked in America, which is too bad because she made some very effective records. (After starring in a second film, "Play It Cool," with Bobby Vee and Billy Fury, her singing career went into decline.) "It's Trad Dad" is ultimately an interesting museum piece that captures the British entertainment industry in its last innocence before the Beatles arrived. Not only would Richard Lester go on to direct their two films, but Helen Shapiro would headline their first big tour--during which Lennon and McCartney wrote "Misery" for her. "It's Trad Dad" is highly recommended despite all the Dixieland music.