Johnny Jackson, a sleazy talent agent, discovers teenager Bert Rudge singing in a coffee house, but their exploitative deal leads to a bad relationship.Johnny Jackson, a sleazy talent agent, discovers teenager Bert Rudge singing in a coffee house, but their exploitative deal leads to a bad relationship.Johnny Jackson, a sleazy talent agent, discovers teenager Bert Rudge singing in a coffee house, but their exploitative deal leads to a bad relationship.
- Nominated for 2 BAFTA Awards
- 2 nominations total
Eric Pohlmann
- Leon
- (as Eric Pohlman)
Paula Barry
- Intime Girl - Dancer
- (uncredited)
Jack 'Kid' Berg
- Slam Dance Crowd
- (uncredited)
Eddie Boyce
- Autograph Seeker
- (uncredited)
Avis Bunnage
- Mrs. Rudge
- (uncredited)
Rita Burke
- Intime Girl - Dancer
- (uncredited)
Susan Burnet
- Edna Rudge
- (uncredited)
Esma Cannon
- Night Club Cleaner
- (uncredited)
Patrick Cargill
- A Psychiatrist
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe credit titles for writer, producer and director are written on sandwich boards carried by writer Wolf Mankowitz as he walks around Soho.
- Quotes
Johnny Jackson: But you can be frank with me, mister Mayer ! What's your feeling about the boy?
Mayer: Nausea!
- Crazy creditsOpening credits are shown on a neon sign outside a theatre, a jukebox, a pinball machine, a barrel organ, a restaurant menu, a pin-board, ending with a sandwich-board man.
- Alternate versionsReissued in 1962 at 106 minutes. This shorter version omitted a number of songs, including "Nausea." About 2 minutes of alternate scenes were used to fill in some of the cut musical scenes.
- ConnectionsFeatured in The Love Goddesses (1965)
- SoundtracksNausea
(uncredited)
Music by David Heneker (as David Henneker) and Monty Norman
Lyrics by Julian More and Wolf Mankowitz
From original stage show
Featured review
Ignore anything or anybody that denigrates Espresso Bongo. It is loaded with period detail and attitude, is singularly risqué for it's time and sports great music and one of the best scripts about England's Tin Pan Alley, wisecracking and inside, besides an unprecedented performance by Laurence Harvey as you've never seen him, a hustler who recalls Sidney Falco in the "Sweet Smell of Success". Maier Tzelnicker is tremendous as the record company executive who calls it "rock dreck". Yolanda Donlan, Val Guest's wife, plays a "Sweet Bird of Youth" like aging diva Alexandra Del Lago who seduces Cliff Richard, whom many called the Pat Boone of England. See the opening strip number when the girls perform a burlesque version of the "Bonnie, Bonnie Banks of Loch Lomond". It sets the tone for an overlooked gem. A "B" Movie Classic. Enjoy.
- How long is Expresso Bongo?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Runtime1 hour 51 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
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