CLIMB UP THE WALL is very much a second-rate production seemingly designed to fill space more than anything. It's notable only for being an early film in the career of the notorious Michael Winner, not that it contains any of his trademark style. Instead this is a B-rate variety show put on film, with comedy routines and musical numbers from bands and singers you generally haven't heard of. Peter Sellers appears briefly alongside a news clip of Elvis Presley. The music is okay but the jokes are really cringeworthy and the repeated cuts to the buffoons in their laboratory quickly become tiresome.

I caught this on TV recently and I cannot remember it when it was released (thank goodness). I was 15 in 1960 and very much into pop music but this film was even dated by then. Middle of the road lesser artists of the day. Sure, Russ Conway and Craig Douglas had a number of top ten hits but they appealed more to parents rather then teenagers. Jack Jackson was a reasonably good disc jockey but his humour was both corny and unfunny. I cringed rather than laughed at his so-called jokes. The only saving grace was the excellent version of "Frankie and Johnny"although I do not know the name of the band.

I remember the Jack Jackson show very well and this film reflects his surreal sense of humour.Pre war Jackson led the dance band at the Dorchester Hotel.In the fifties he became a dj with his own innovative style.Glenn Mason was a singer and actor,who occasionally sat near me at The Arsenal.He played,as can be seen,for the very popular Show Biz XI,which once played at my local club.Craig Douglas had a brief period of success,and I still have one of his 45 rpm discs issued on the Top Rank label.Russ Conway was a pianist discovered by Billy Cotton and Libby Morris,a Canadian singer who used to live in Finchley.For me this was a very nostalgic film.

This early Michael Winner film is not so much a movie, more a collage of light and not so time relevant musical comedy interludes and sketches. Most of the cameos are from people I don't recognise or have never heard of given I was born 18 years after the film's release date, but the plethora of names appearing as themselves would probably be more relevant to someone a generation above me, or to someone viewing this at its time of release. It's a curious film given its a musical of sorts, without a clear plot, but different, and arguably unique for its time, however never that entertaining. Fans of Peter Sellers may want to watch his short contribution, which is not more than a couple of minutes long, but it does offer something of relevance to a modern audience.