Review – Take Me High (1973)

Anyone fancy a Brumburger ??? I went into this movie, knowing absolutely nothing about it, other than it starred Cliff Richard, and it was a musical of some sort. I certainly wasn’t expecting to enjoy it as much as i did. I wasn’t even sure wether Cliff was still making movies in 1973. As it happens, this was his final film role.

Cliff plays Tim Matthews, a very successful, high flying Merchant Banker. He lives with his girlfriend, played by Madeline Smith, but spends most of his time at home engaged in petty arguments with her, about the long working hours, and the lack of attention he pays her. He also proves to be a bit of a neanderthal, buying her a Kenwood Chef food mixer for her birthday, which doesn’t amuse her one little bit. Bad move Cliff.

He’s expecting to be sent to New York on a business trip, but at the 11th hour he’s asked to go to Birmingham instead, to pressure a local restaurant owner to sell up and move on, due to the place losing money. He finds when he gets there, that he’s also to do battle with Hugo Flaxman, for the job of branch manager. Throw into the mix, a local businessman, Sir Harry Cunningham, played by Hugh Griffith, who owns half of Birmingham and a local politician, Burt Jackson played by the ever reliable George Cole, whos contstantly locking horns with Cunningham, and and you have the basic plot of Take Me High.

A romance slowly develops between Matthews, and the restaurant owner, Sarah, played by Deborah Watling, and to save the business, they come up with the idea of inventing a burger, unique to the area, which they name the Brumburger.

Take Me High is a bright, breezy, musical comedy with a brilliant soundtrack of songs performed by Cliff. Standout tracks would have to be It’s Only Money and the title track, which is a total earworm. I heard it for the first time while watching the film, and it’s still rattling around inside my head, nearly a week later.

For lovers of nostalgia, there are quite a few scenes shot on location in 1970s Birmingham, featuring such landmarks as Gas Street Basin, Alpha Tower, Spaghetti Junction, New Street, Corporation Street and Memory Hall.

As i said earlier “Take Me High” was to be Cliff’s final proper movie and to be honest, whilst he comes across as incredibly likeable, and a bit cheesy, Cliff could actually act.

To sum up, if your a Cliff Richard fan you will absolutely love this film. It does look a bit dated now, and it’s not one of his better films, but if you have 90 minutes going spare, you could do much worse than spend it watching this delighful slice of 1970s nostalgia.

“Take Me High” is not even close to being in the same ball park as “Summer Holiday”, but give it a go. I promise you this charming little film will win you over within the first half hour, and keep you watching until the end credits roll.