Davy (film)

Plot

A young entertainer is conflicted over the chance of a big break. He has to decide whether to remain with his family's music hall act or to go solo. An audition scene at Covent Garden includes an especially fine rendition of Puccini's Nessun Dorma by Secombe, who, while known mainly as a comedian, had a fine tenor voice, and Mozart's Voi Che Sapete performend by Adele Leigh.

Man cast

Peter Frampton, who plays young Tim, was the son of Harry Frampton, makeup artist for many years at Ealing. He would eventually follow in his father's footsteps and worked as his assistant on several films, including Hitchcock's Frenzy (1972). In 1995, Peter Frampton won the Oscar for Best Makeup for Braveheart. He remembered his filming on Davy fondly, as "it meant time off school and (getting the) star treatment."

Reception

According to MGM records the film earned only $40,000 in the US and Canada and $265,000 elsewhere resulting in a loss of $279,000.

TV Guide called the film a "pleasant if unimpressive drama" ; Britmovie wrote, " stylistically the film is an awkward combination of broad farce, Secombe having made his name as one of the denizens of the celebrated Goon Show, and awkward, turgid scenes of moral conflict" ; while Allmovie noted, "a stellar supporting cast enables Davy to overcome its occasional banalities and cliches."