by Paul Feeney
Television sets replaced the radio as the most popular form of home entertainment in working-class homes, and you saw the first TV adventure series, sitcoms and quiz shows. You had your first glimpse of the new British fashion revolution in 1955 when Mary Quant opened her first fashion boutique, Bazaar, on London’s King’s Road. The British pop music revolution was already well under way with pop stars like Cliff Richard, Adam Faith, Tommy Steele, Lonnie Donegan and Shirley Bassey having their first number one hit singles in the UK charts. It was back in 1958 that John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison first played together in ‘The Quarrymen’ skiffle group, little knowing the huge influence they would later have in worldwide popular music culture as The Beatles.
In 1959, the British Motor Corporation launched the Mini, which was later to become a big fashion icon. It was in that same year that you first heard music produced by the Tamla Record Company, which quickly changed its name to the now familiar ‘Motown’. The hula hoop and frisbee plastic toys arrived from America in 1958, and the hula hoop became a great keep-fit activity for young women looking to maintain the tiny waistline that was needed to conform to the figure-hugging flared and pencil skirt fashions of the era.
Expresso Bongo was Cliff Richard’s second film appearance during 1959, the first being Serious Charge. Both films featured music performed by Cliff Richard and the newly renamed Shadows, previously known as The Drifters.
It was in the 1950s that the term ‘teenager’ first came into use to describe young people of the ‘teen’ years. Prior to that, adolescents were simply called young people, boys and girls, or youths. It bridged the gap between kids and adults, and gave them their own identity.
Having experienced Britain’s years of post-war austerity, the 1950s baby-boomers had modest expectations of leisure and enjoyment. They revelled in every new experience of music and entertainment, and watched from a distance as teenage and adult fashions evolved. There was no computer-generated imagery, stadium-filled pop concerts, or chains of kids’ fashion shops to feast on. Instead, children growing up in the 1950s would be left with their memories of the simple pleasures of childhood.
Cinema (Going to the Pictures)
If you were lucky enough to live anywhere near a cinema then you must have experienced the great joy of going to Saturday Morning Pictures. Two or three hundred unruly children would descend upon unsuspecting cinema commissionaires every Saturday morning for two or three hours of film and live variety entertainment. There were no grown-ups, just kids up to the age of about twelve or thirteen, and it was the absolute highlight of any week. You will probably remember the cinema manager having to stop the film and threaten to send you all home if you didn’t behave, or booing when the screen went blank while the projectionist was changing reels. The solitary usherette would run for cover! It was controlled mayhem, with the stalls and circle areas filled with kids cheering for the goodies and booing the baddies. There were lots of short films, mainly westerns that seemed to consist of endless chases on horseback. The daring adventures of The Lone Ranger and Zorro, and the slapstick comedy of Mr Pastry would feature every week. And then there were the classic Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton films that had everyone in fits of laughter. And who can forget those wonderful old Shirley Temple films. During the film interval there would be all sorts of competitions, from yo-yo, hula hoop and juggling contests, to singing and dancing, and even competitions for the best skiffle group, with knock-out rounds each week leading to the grand final. Most cinemas had their own club, especially the large cinema chains, and you would have a club badge and be made to sing the club song each week. Whether you belonged to the ABC Minors, Empire Rangers or the Granadiers Club, you definitely will have enjoyed every minute you spent at Saturday Morning Pictures.
Going to the pictures was everyone’s favourite outing. It enabled the young and old to climb out of their normal humdrum lifestyles and step into a fantasy world of adventure, comedy and romance. There was a distinct difference between the British-made films, which were generally down-to-earth, and the glitzy Hollywood movies that often portrayed everyone in America to be living in the lap of luxury. There were some great British films around in the 1950s, and a host of wonderful ‘stiff-upper-lip’ British film stars, like John Mills, Jack Hawkins, Kenneth More and Dirk Bogarde. They had all been making films since the 1930s, and were already household names, but seeing those very old ‘silver screen’ movies replayed in the 1950s endeared those film stars to a whole new generation.
Even if you were restricted to only the very occasional treat, you will surely have gone to see some of the best British war films ever made, like The Cruel Sea (1953), The Dam Busters (1954), The Colditz Story (1955), Reach for the Sky (1956) and The Bridge Over the River Kwai (1957). You can probably still whistle the ‘Colonel Bogey March’ without any prompting, and after all these years! You will also remember all those Ealing Studios comedy films, like The Man in the White Suit (1951), starring Alec Guinness, Joan Greenwood and Cecil Parker. The Lavender Hill Mob (1951), starring Alec Guinness, Stanley Holloway, Sid James and Alfie Bass. The Titfield Thunderbolt (1952), starring Stanley Holloway, George Relph and John Gregson. And, The Ladykillers (1955), starring Alec Guinness, Herbert Lom and Peter Sellers. Other classic British comedy films included The Happiest Days of Your Life (1950), The Belles of St Trinian’s (1954), Doctor in the House (1954), Carry On Sergeant (1958) and I’m Alright Jack (1959).
There were loads of marvellous British film actresses in the 1950s, including Claire Bloom, Diana Dors (d.1984), Margaret Leighton (d.1976), Margaret Rutherford (d.1972), Anna Neagle (d.1986), Jean Simmons, Glynis Johns, Joan Greenwood (d.1987), Audrey Hepburn (born in Brussels and grew up in Holland, but we think of her as being English) (d.1993), Dinah Sheridan, Petula Clark, Virginia McKenna, Edith Evans (d.1976), Phyllis Calvert (d.2002), Dorothy Tutin (d.2001), Ann Todd (d.1993), Celia Johnson (d.1982), Joan Collins, Kay Kendall (d.1959), Elizabeth Allan (d.1990), Joyce Grenfell (d.1979), Fay Compton (d.1978), Elizabeth Sellars, Margaret Lockwood (d.1990), Deborah Kerr (d.2007), Peggy Mount (d.2001), Dorothy Tutin (d.2001), Elizabeth Taylor, and Joan Sims (d.2001) – to name but a few.
And of course, a myriad of splendid British film actors that included Harry Andrews (d.1989), Richard Attenborough, George Baker, Stanley Baker (d.1976), Alfie Bass (d.1987), Dirk Bogarde (d.1999), Richard Burton (d.1984), Ian Carmichael, George Cole, Peter Cushing (d.1994), Michael Denison (d.1998), Robert Donat (d.1958), Denholm Elliott (d.1992), Peter Finch (d.1977), John Gielgud (d.2000), Stewart Granger (d.1993), Cary Grant (d.1986), John Gregson (d.1975), Alec Guinness (d.2000), William Hartnell (d.1975), Laurence Harvey (d.1973), Jack Hawkins (d.1973), Richard Hearne (d.1979), Stanley Holloway (d.1982), Michael Hordern (d.1995), Trevor Howard (d.1988), Boris Karloff (d.1969), Charles Laughton (d.1962) Bernard Lee (d.1981), Christopher Lee, James Mason (d.1984), Michael Medwin, Bernard Miles (d.1991), Kenneth More (d.1982), Robert Morley (d.1992), David Niven (d.1983), Laurence Olivier (d.1989), Cecil Parker (d.1971), Nigel Patrick (d.1981), Dennis Price (d.1973), Anthony Quayle (d.1989), Michael Redgrave (d.1985), Michael Rennie (d.1971), Ralph Richardson (d.1983), James Robertson Justice (d.1975), Paul Scofield (d.2008), Peter Sellers (d.1980), Alistair Sim (d.1976), Donald Sinden, Anthony Steel (d.2001), Terry Thomas (d.1990), Richard Todd, David Tomlinson (d.2000), Bill Travers (d.1994), Jack Warner (d.1981), Michael Wilding (d.1979), and Kenneth Williams (d.1988).
However good and entertaining the British-made films were, it must be acknowledged that American films dominated our cinema screens with countless big-screen classics, and with some films they introduced us to newly developed widescreen technology, such as Cinemascope, Vista Vision and Cinerama, as well as new and improved techniques in the use of 3D colour film.
Epic films from American-owned studios included The Robe (1953), The Ten Commandments (1956), The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958) and Ben-Hur (1959). Hollywood enabled British-born filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock to make some of the best
mystery suspense thrillers ever made. Walt Disney Productions released dozens of captivating films in the ’50s, including Cinderella (1950), Treasure Island (1950), Alice in Wonderland (1951), Peter Pan (1953), Lady and the Tramp (1955), Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier (1955) and Sleeping Beauty (1959).
Who could ever forget going to the pictures as a child, and seeing the big red curtains fold back to expose that giant screen that suddenly burst into life with the MGM roaring lion, signalling the start of the film’s opening credits? Or, there was Columbia’s ‘Torch Lady’ logo of a lady stood on a pedestal carrying a torch and draped in a flag. All of the big production companies had their own unique, attention-grabbing symbols. You will remember the 20th Century Fox logo with the moving searchlights and dramatic fanfare. But, best of all, was the trademark ‘gongman’ of the British filmmaking company, the Rank Organisation. The ‘man with the gong’ was used as an introduction to all J. Arthur Rank films. It was not the most lavishly produced piece of film, but it is probably the best and most fondly remembered, and it was British!
Memorable films made in the USA during the 1950s included: Singin’ in the Rain (1952), From Here to Eternity (1953), Roman Holiday (1953), The Caine Mutiny (1954), On the Waterfront (1954), Rear Window (1954), Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954), East of Eden (1955), Guys and Dolls (1955), Rebel Without a Cause (1955) and 12 Angry Men (1957). However, you will just as easily recall some of those old 1930s and ’40s films that were shown again and again throughout the 1950s: films like the classic gangster film, Angels with Dirty Faces, with James Cagney, Pat O’Brien, Humphrey Bogart and the Dead End Kids.
All the kids loved Doris Day after seeing her star in Calamity Jane, with all those wonderful songs that you just couldn’t get out of your head. She made the film Love Me or Leave Me in 1955, and became the first actress to get star billing over James Cagney in thirty years, and he got her the part!
There were so many inspiring stars of American films around in the 1950s, far too numerous to mention. Here are just a few of those that kept the kids on the edge of their seats: Fred Astaire, Lauren Bacall, Ingrid Bergman, Humphrey Bogart, James Cagney, Charles Chaplin, Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, James Dean, Kirk Douglas, Henry Fonda, Cary Grant, Audrey Hepburn, Katherine Hepburn, William Holden, Gene Kelly, Grace Kelly, Burt Lancaster, Sophia Loren, Robert Mitchum, Marilyn Monroe, Gregory Peck, Edward G. Robinson, Ginger Rogers, James Stewart, Shirley Temple, Spencer Tracey, and the inimitable John Wayne.
Yes, the cinema was great escapism, and everyone’s favourite night out – choc-ice, popcorn … oh, and … A-u-r-o-r-a, don’t forget the Kia-Ora!
Popular Music
The 1950s are fondly remembered as the decade of ‘rock and roll’ music, but in reality, the record buyers were suckers for ballads, and, throughout the ’50s, home-grown heart-throb ballad singers like Dickie Valentine, Jimmy Young, Ronnie Hilton and Michael Holliday had British girls swooning in the aisles. American artists like Nat ‘King’ Cole, Bing Crosby, Tony Bennett and Perry Como also managed to retain their popularity in Britain, particularly Perry Como, who had seven top ten hits in the late ’50s and, after rock and roll had hit Britain, a number one in 1958 with Magic Moments. There were plenty of successful female artists around, like Ruby Murray and Connie Francis, but the 1950s was the age of the male ballad singers and the teen idols.
Music papers and songbooks weren’t just for teenagers. Kids of all ages pawed through them to learn whatever they could about popular artists and their music.
The big band music that dominated the 1930s and 1940s was much less favoured in the 1950s, but some of the established American big band singers like Frank Sinatra and Doris Day had already crossed over into films, and by the 1950s they were world famous. Singers such as these attracted a whole new set of ’50s teenage fans flocking to see their films and to buy their records. From 1952 (record charts were first published in November 1952) to 1959, Doris Day had eight top ten records in the British charts, including two number one hits, Secret Love in 1954, and Whatever Will Be Will Be in 1956. Frank Sinatra had six top ten records during the same period, including his number one hit, Three Coins in a Fountain in 1954.
Rock and roll arrived in Britain in December 1954 with Bill Haley and his Comets’ Shake Rattle and Roll, and Lonnie Donegan introduced us to skiffle music in 1955 with Rock Island Line. These two records added a significant new dimension to popular music, and subsequently influenced a host of British artists to launch pop music careers – artists like Cliff Richard, who had his first hit record in 1958 with Move It, which is credited as being the first rock and roll song produced outside the United States. In the late ’50s, Cliff Richard and the Drifters (who became the Shadows in 1959) had another four top ten records in the British charts, including two number ones, Living Doll and Travellin’ Light, both in 1959 – the rest is history! Lonnie Donegan, ‘King of Skiffle’, had eleven top ten hits in the late 1950s, including two number ones in 1957, Cumberland Gap and Gamblin’ Man/Putting on the Style. He also topped the charts in March 1960 with My Old Man’s a Dustman. Bill Haley and his Comets had nine top ten hits in Britain during the same period, including the number one hit single Rock Around the Clock in October 1955. It was the first record ever to sell over one million copies in Britain, but it didn’t make the top spot when it was first released in January of that year. It was the film Blackboard Jungle, which was released later in the year and featured the song in the opening and closing titles, that sparked renewed interest in Rock Around the Clock and made it a number one hit in Britain. Elvis Presley, the ‘King of Rock and Roll’, was ever present in the UK charts from May 1956 onwards, and he was particularly dominant in 1957–58, but it was Frankie Lane who was the biggest charting artist of the 1950s.
Tommy Steele had six UK top ten hits in the late ’50s, including the number one hit single Singing The Blues in 1956. Although he started out in 1956 as a rock and roller with his first record Rock with the Cavemen, by the end of the ’50s his musical style had changed somewhat, as indicated by his 1959 hit single, Little White Bull. Marty Wilde had five ‘moody teenager style’ top ten hits in the late ’50s, including a number two record with Teenager in Love in 1959, and he reached number three in the charts that same year with Sea of Love. Although Billy Fury had a couple of hit records in the ’50s with Maybe Tomorrow and Margo, he didn’t achieve top-ten chart success until the 1960s. Likewise, Adam Faith is sometimes thought of as a successful product of the 1950s, but he didn’t achieve his first hit single until November 1959 when What Do You Want reached number one in the UK charts. Again, his most successful pop music days were in the 1960s.
Tommy Steele is widely regarded as Britain’s first ‘teen idol’ and ‘rock ‘n’ roll’ star. By 1957, the cheeky Cockney had moved into films and The Duke Wore Blue Jeans was his second film of 1957.
Other British popular music artists that remained successful throughout the 1950s included: Winifred Atwell, pianist, who had eleven top ten hits, including Poor People of Paris, which reached number one in the UK charts in 1956; Shirley Bassey, who had three top ten hits, including As I Love You in 1959; Max Bygraves, who had six top ten hits, and a highest chart position of number two with Meet Me on the Corner in 1955; Alma Cogan with four top ten hits including the number one hit single Dreamboat in 1955; Russ Conway, pianist, who had six top ten hits including two number ones, Side Saddle and Roulette both in 1959; Ronnie Hilton, who had five top ten hits including one number one, No Other Love in 1956; Michael Holliday, who was very popular but only had two top ten hit records, including The Story of My Life, which reached number one in 1958, and Starry Eyed, which claimed the number one spot again in January 1960; Vera Lynn, who had five top ten hits, including My Son My Son, which reached number one in 1954; Ruby Murray, who had eight top ten hits, including Softly, Softly, which reached number one in 1955; Dickie Valentine who had eight top ten hits, including two number one hits, Finger of Suspicion in 1954 and Christmas Alphabe
t in 1955; Frankie Vaughan, who had eight top ten hits, including Garden of Eden, which reached number one in 1957; Malcolm Vaughan, who had four top ten hits, but although very popular never reached number one in the charts; David Whitfield, who had eleven top ten hit records, including two number ones, Answer Me in 1953 and Cara Mia in 1954; Jimmy Young (he of long-time Radio DJ Fame) who had five top ten hits, including two number ones, Unchained Melody in 1955 and The Man From Laramie in 1955.
Successful American artists included: Paul Anka, who had six top ten hits, including Diana, which went to number one in 1957; Tony Bennett, who had only one top ten hit, Stranger in Paradise, which went to number one in 1955; Pat Boone, who had ten UK top ten hits in the 1950s, including the number one hit single I’ll Be Home in 1956; Nat ‘King’ Cole, who had thirteen top ten hits, but surprisingly no number ones; Bing Crosby, who had six top ten hits, but no number ones; Bobbie Darin, who had two top ten hits, Dream Lover and Mack the Knife, and they both went to number one in 1959; The Everly Brothers, who had six top ten hits, including All I Have to Do is Dream/Claudette, a double A-side that reached number one in the British charts in 1958, but had to wait until 1960 to get their biggest-selling record and number one hit, Cathy’s Clown; Connie Francis, who had four top ten hits, including two number ones, Who’s Sorry Now and Carolina Moon/Stupid Cupid, both in 1958; Buddy Holly, who had three top ten hits, including It Doesn’t Matter Any More, which reached number one in 1959; Frankie Lane, who had nineteen top ten hits (including four duets) and four number ones, I Believe in 1953, Hey Joe in 1953, Answer Me in 1953 and A Woman In Love in 1956; Jerry Lee Lewis, who had three top ten hits, including Great Balls Of Fire, which reached number one in the British charts in December 1957; Little Richard, who had five top ten hits, but no number ones; Dean Martin, who had nine UK top ten hits in the 1950s, including the number one hit single Memories are Made of This in 1956; Al Martino, who had six UK top ten hits in the 1950s, including the number one hit single Here in My Heart in 1952; Guy Mitchell, who had thirteen top ten hits including four number ones, She Wears Red Feathers in 1953, Look at that Girl in 1953, Singing the Blues in 1956 and Rock-a-Billy in 1957; Ricky Nelson, who had three top ten hits in the late ’50s, but no number one hits; Elvis Presley, who had eighteen top ten hits, including four number ones, All Shook Up in 1957, Jailhouse Rock in 1958, One Night/I Got Stung in 1959 and A Fool Such as I/I Need Your Love Tonight in 1959; Johnnie Ray, who had ten top ten hits, including three number ones, Such A Night in 1954, Just Walkin’ in the Rain in 1956 and Yes Tonight Josephine in 1957; and Kay Starr, who had four top ten hits, including two number ones, Comes a-Long a-Love in 1952 and Rock and Roll Waltz in 1956.