[Dixielandjazz] Move: It's Trad, Dad

[Dave Stoddard]

Dear Listers:

It's Trad, Dad is not a film classic by any means, but it offers some good 
music and goofy fun.  The plot is very thin, and serves mostly as a platform 
to offer up a series of music performances.  Some of these are dixieland and 
some are rhythm and blues.  Performers include Acker Bilk, Kenny Ball, the 
Temperance 7, Dukes of Dixieland, Gary "US" Bonds, Chubby Checker and John 
Leyton (later a British film star).  In brief, the stuffy mayor of a 
nameless British town bans the playing of dixieland in public places, 
disappointing teenagers who like to dance to it.  A Boy and a Girl go to 
London to find dixieland players who will come to the town and put on a 
variety show.  They are helped by the Narrator.  The show is a success and 
the mayor agrees to further shows like it.

The movie was directed by Richard Lester, who later did the Beatles movies. 
He was known for directing and editing tricks, and tries some of them out 
here.   The Temperance 7 sequence is not to be missed!

When the mayor delays the arrival of the band, the Boy and the Girl use some 
local talent to fill in and perform themselves.  The Girl is played by Helen 
Shapiro, and she turns out to have a disconcerting deep baritone voice.  You 
will never find this movie on anyone's list of 100 Greatest Films, but it's 
good fun and I recommend it.

The TCM schedule confirms that It's Trad, Dad will be shown at 4:45 EDT on 
the afternoon of April 15.

Regards,
Dave Stoddard
Round Rock, TX