Melody (1971 film)

Plot

This romantic story is told through the viewpoint of the children in the story, the adults playing only supporting roles. Daniel Latimer (Mark Lester) befriends the troublesome Ornshaw (Jack Wild). However, when Daniel falls in love with Melody Perkins (Tracy Hyde), the boys' friendship becomes jeopardized, as Ornshaw grows jealous of the amount of time that Daniel gives her. Initially embarrassed by the attention, Melody comes to return Daniel's feelings, and the couple announce to their parents that they want to get married. Not sometime in the future, but now. The adults attempt to dissuade them, but Daniel and Melody's determination leads Ornshaw to have a change of heart. Their classmates gather together at one of the children's hideouts to 'marry' the couple, with their discovery leading to a final showdown between children and teachers.

Production

Film production began in the Spring of 1970 shooting on location in Hammersmith, and Lambeth in the greater London area. Post-production was completed at the Twickenham Studios. The graveyard scenes of the film were shot on location at Brompton Cemetery and Nunhead Cemetery.. The seaside scenes in the latter part of the film were shot in Weymouth, Dorset.

Mark Lester (Daniel Latimer) and Jack Wild (Ornshaw) had previously appeared together in the 1968 musical film adaptation of Oliver!. They were joined by the child model Tracy Hyde in the title role. Other cast members included Kate Williams as Melody's mother, Roy Kinnear as her father, Sheila Steafel as Daniel's mother, with Ken Jones and James Cossins.

The film's musical soundtrack included songs by the Bee Gees ("In the Morning", "Melody Fair", "Give Your Best", and the hit singles "To Love Somebody" and "First of May"), and the Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young hit "Teach Your Children".

This was the first screenplay by film director Alan Parker. Parker did some second-unit direction for the film, shooting the montage sequences of the school children at break-time and at the track meet. This was the feature film debut of then child model and commercial actress Tracy Hyde at the age of 11. Writer/Director Andrew Birkin recommended Tracy Hyde for the title role of Melody Perkins to director Waris Hussein, after screening and auditioning over 100 girls. Actor Jack Wild, who played Ornshaw, was actually 17 at the time of the production.

Video Release

Melody was mastered in Region 2 format on DVD by Kadokawa Pictures in Japan. Kadokawa released it on Region A Blu-ray in Japan on December 22, 2015 andStudiocanal released it on Region B Blu-ray on May 8, 2017.