What a lovely lovely film this is. It takes us all back to a much simpler age – now gone – and enables us to enjoy a wonderful, colourful 90 minutes or so – punctuated throughout by a haunting theme played on the Golden Trumpet by Eddie Calvert – it is a theme that I think fits the film perfectly.
This charming and timeless film follows the adventures of two small children who run off from home to watch the coronation in London in1953 and along the way meet up with many characters who are played by a lot of British stars of the period and later come to that. The film is fascinating for anyone who likes recent British history and it gives a snapshot of the fun and excitement of the coronation in a county that only 8 years earlier had seen the end of the Second World War
John and Julie is that rare thing, a self-contained trip into a very different time and place.
Such actors as Megs Jenkins, Peter Sellers, Andrew Cruikshank ( later to be famous as Dr.Cameron on TV ) Moira Lister, Wilfrid Hyde White, Sid James and that wonderful character actor Colin Gordon all appear to add to the fun.
Neither Colin Gibson nor Lesley Dudley the child stars of this film, continues in the acting profession as far as I can see – and yet they were both so good and convincing in their respective title roles.
I really love this film and watched it years ago with my daughters and we still look at it from time to time – nowadays though with our grandaughters.
The Man with the Golden Trumpet” as he was called, Eddie Calvert came up through the Brass bands of Northern England to top the bill at Variety theatres throughout the U.K and overseas. He had major hits such as “Oh mein Papa”,”Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White” and this one “John and Julie” as well as “Zambezi” “Mandy” and another film theme from “The Man with the Golden Arm”
I just watched this film for the first time. Does any one know what happen to Colin Gibson (John) or Lesley Dudley (Julie) I would love to know what happened to them.
Annie, Thanks for your comment. I am surprised you have not seen this film before – we have had the DVD for some years and my daughter and granddaughters love it as we do.
I have found a snippet on Lesley Dudley that might interest you which says :-
Lesley was born in Camberwell, South London in 1946. Her older brother Raymond was also a child actor:
Lesley dated actor Dennis Waterman in the mid-1960s. He talks about her in his autobiography ReMinder. He says that she was two years old than him – he was born in 1948. She attended the Corona Stage School. Her family lived in Chiswick and her father ran a haulage business – Dennis sometimes worked for him. Dennis says that she was for a time a presenter on TV show Crackerjack. They split up when she decided to go America as an au pair.
Lesley did return to the UK and married twice. She has two sons. She lived in Kent for many years but now resides in Los Angeles. Her brother Raymond also attended the Corona Stage School. He currently lives in London.
Thanks again, Neil
Colin Gibson, I worked with at Austin Reed, Regent Street in 1992/93, he told me about him starting in John and Julie Film iam watching it as write this message first time watching, plus how appropriate to be watching on the Day of the Queens Elizabeth Platinum Jubilee.
Thanks John. Very interesting to hear that you worked with Colin Gibson quite a few years after this lovely film was made – and it seems that he must have talked to you about it. I am surprised that you have not seen it before – certainly the wonderful ‘Talking Pictures’ Channel has opened so much up for us all. The Technicolor was breath taking as it always was in that era – and I do think that the haunting theme played by Eddie Calvert on his Golden Trumpet just made the film – when in the final frames Julie opens her eyes and see The Queen on the balcony and the camera closes on her face, Eddie’s wonderful theme brings tears of joy to your eyes. Thank You