Watch Play It Cool For Free

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

In 2003, I was responsible for having the one remaining print of this film repaired and shown in a full-scale, traditional cinema for the first time in about 35 years - appropriately the screen backed a stage on which Billy Fury actually performed twice. It is true that many very poor pop music films were produced in Britain in the early 1960s. Play It Cool is not, however, a poor film. It has a charm, drive and integrity that singles it out from the dross. Billy Fury never claimed to be a natural actor. In interviews, he said repeatedly that he was keen to take cameo roles that gave him the opportunity to focus with intensity on his character. However, Play It Cool placed on his shoulders the responsibility of accepting the entire focus of the plot, and he brought energy and imagination to the role. Michael Winner has often remarked on the respect he felt for Billy Fury in accepting a star role in a medium that was so foreign to him, and in delivering such an authoritative performance. I am more than happy to simply endorse Mr Winner's verdict.

one of if not the best music movie's to come out of 60s Britain, staring billy fury who's amazing good looks made the film even more worth watching, billy's acting is on top form and his voice is better then ever.in fact i give it 10 out of 10, a must watch film for any fan of 60s music.the story is non stop action and songs that keep the viewer glued to the screen, nice cameo roles from bobby Vee and helen shapiro. and also shane fenton who later became alvin stardust, well worth viewing is billy's other movie I've gotta horse which was made in 1965 and also that'll be the day where billy has a cameo role as stormy tempest a singer at a holiday camp.all in all i think the music industry would have been a lot worse off without the talents of billy fury

This early effort from Michael Winner should have been much better than it is. Like other films from the period it showcases popular music artistes and tries to give them something more to do than just sing their songs. So here, Billy Fury as 'Billy Universe' is supposed to be acting, and he's hopeless. I'm not saying he was a poor singer but he was certainly a poor actor.The guest appearances range from the curious (Bobby Vee, the man with a totally square-shaped head!), to the out-of-place (Helen Shapiro, far too good even as a kid for this rubbish), to the seriously scary (was there ever really a reason to inflict Lionel Blair on the cinema-going public?). Watching it all the way through takes some patience and there isn't really enough to it to interest a wider audience.

With 1962 being a strange time for rock 'n' roll in both America and England, it's a wonder that "Play It Cool" is as entertaining as it is. British rock star Billy Fury plays an Elvis wannabee named Billy Universe who curls his lip and moans just like his hero, but exaggerates his hand movements to the point where he looks like a spastic Bobby Darin. When Billy and his wacky band members get stranded in London with an heiress who's looking for her no-good boyfriend, they make the rounds of the city's pubs and clubs, stumbling upon a place where a trio is singing the squarest music imaginable, then heading on to a spot called The Twist where everybody's twisting (the latest dance craze when "Play It Cool" was being filmed, but stone dead by the time the film was released), then dropping in on a Chinese-themed restaurant called the Lotus Club where pop star Helen Shapiro is crooning in front of a phalanx of violinists. A visit to another club finds American teen idol Bobby Vee (who began his career as a Buddy Holly sound-alike) spooning drivel in front of another bank of violins. Through it all, Billy Fury gets to sing a handful of songs, including a sappy ballad, a twist, an uptempo number called "I Think You're Swell" and a fairly good rocker called "Play It Cool." In other words, this movie is musically all over the place, because the producers were trying to please everybody at a time when the music was rapidly changing. To bind all the musical interludes together, there are lots of little subplots and shots of Billy and his boys running through Gatwick Airport and Houston Station (more than a year before the Beatles did the same thing in "A Hard Day's Night"), but in the end it doesn't add up to much simply because the music is so uniformly unmemorable. Billy Fury is a sympathetic presence, but perhaps the most intriguing artist in "Play It Cool," at least for Americans, is teenage star Helen Shapiro, who sings two numbers, including one of her singles, "I Don't Care." America never really had anything like this bouffant contralto, unless you combine Annette Funicello with the foghorn voice of Timi Yuro. Helen is one of the most awkward performers I've ever seen (more so here than in her film debut, "It's Trad, Dad"), and yet I couldn't take my eyes off her strange beauty. Her career was fading fast by the time she appeared in "Play It Cool," but she's probably the best reason to watch it.