If you watch A Boy, a Girl, and a Bike (1949), you want to watch it for its portrayal of small town Yorkshire life in the late 1940s, to see Diana Dors and Anthony Newley as adolescents, and to relish the performance of some actors. As a movie, however, I would not recommend it. It is handicapped by being a tad too long and having too many plots.
As several reviewers mention, given the time and place, being outdoors seems to have been much more desirable than the cramped and dreary homes most workers lived in. And lacking TV, the internet, and cell phones, social activities were more prominent than they are today. In fact, as a longtime college professor, I witnessed, within ten years, cell phones virtually wipe out all student interactions before and after class. No longer was there talking, just texting. Here the community activities focused on are biking clubs and races: activities which took off in the 1880s. Indeed, in the United States, the Wheelman, a magazine devoted to cycling--which can be found online--began in 1882. (Later after morphing into The Outing Magazine, it covered, and published stories about, numerous sporting activities.)
Both Dors and Newley who were in Oliver Twist the year before, appear as teens. Dors, carrying baby fat, performs well as a plumpish, oversexed young girl. I don't see her as the siren other reviewers do, but to me, at least, she appears more wholesome at this age, then as the adult, rather hard-looking, Marilyn Monroe clone she became. Newly is much taller and closer to adulthood, than as the Artful Dodger. However, his performance in this film is, in my opinion, far weaker.
All others do a good job--setting aside the Yorkshire accent, which I know nothing about. But two actors stood out for me in particular: Leslie Dwyer, as a wise and level-headed cafe owner in love with Meg Jenkins, playing Newley's mother, and Maggie Hanley, as Newley's loyal girlfriend.
Finally, the movie could have been cut and clarified by reducing its plots. There is Newley being driven into crime to pay off his gambling debts; McCallum's attempt to woo Blackman away from her boyfriend, Patrick Holt; Dwyer's desire to marry Jenkins; the club's pursuit of the cycling trophy; and Cyril Chamberlain's attempt to avoid discovery as an army deserter. Indeed, several reviewers complained the ending was too abrupt, not all plots were wrapped up, and there was little reason for McCallum handing Blackman back to Holt.
All could have been resolved by dropping the deserter plot. It was the least interesting, and Chamberlain's disqualification from racing could have been explained by leg cramps, which he had previously experienced. Not only would this have saved time, but it would have helped explain McCallum's action, which is only hinted at. Though he and Blackman love each other, he is upper-class and rich, and she is working class. At that time in England, that was an enormous barrier. After the cycling race, when McCallum introduces Blackman to his family you can see their frostiness. At the end of the film McCallum tells Dwyer he is giving Blackman to Holt because he's not the marrying kind. But that is obviously baloney. When he took her back with his family to see his home (a scene which should have been portrayed), he must have realized his kind would never treat her well. And loving her as much as he did, he stepped aside to protect her.
Had those two changes been made, my rating would have jumped from a 5.5 to a 6.5. What a shame they were not.
As several reviewers mention, given the time and place, being outdoors seems to have been much more desirable than the cramped and dreary homes most workers lived in. And lacking TV, the internet, and cell phones, social activities were more prominent than they are today. In fact, as a longtime college professor, I witnessed, within ten years, cell phones virtually wipe out all student interactions before and after class. No longer was there talking, just texting. Here the community activities focused on are biking clubs and races: activities which took off in the 1880s. Indeed, in the United States, the Wheelman, a magazine devoted to cycling--which can be found online--began in 1882. (Later after morphing into The Outing Magazine, it covered, and published stories about, numerous sporting activities.)
Both Dors and Newley who were in Oliver Twist the year before, appear as teens. Dors, carrying baby fat, performs well as a plumpish, oversexed young girl. I don't see her as the siren other reviewers do, but to me, at least, she appears more wholesome at this age, then as the adult, rather hard-looking, Marilyn Monroe clone she became. Newly is much taller and closer to adulthood, than as the Artful Dodger. However, his performance in this film is, in my opinion, far weaker.
All others do a good job--setting aside the Yorkshire accent, which I know nothing about. But two actors stood out for me in particular: Leslie Dwyer, as a wise and level-headed cafe owner in love with Meg Jenkins, playing Newley's mother, and Maggie Hanley, as Newley's loyal girlfriend.
Finally, the movie could have been cut and clarified by reducing its plots. There is Newley being driven into crime to pay off his gambling debts; McCallum's attempt to woo Blackman away from her boyfriend, Patrick Holt; Dwyer's desire to marry Jenkins; the club's pursuit of the cycling trophy; and Cyril Chamberlain's attempt to avoid discovery as an army deserter. Indeed, several reviewers complained the ending was too abrupt, not all plots were wrapped up, and there was little reason for McCallum handing Blackman back to Holt.
All could have been resolved by dropping the deserter plot. It was the least interesting, and Chamberlain's disqualification from racing could have been explained by leg cramps, which he had previously experienced. Not only would this have saved time, but it would have helped explain McCallum's action, which is only hinted at. Though he and Blackman love each other, he is upper-class and rich, and she is working class. At that time in England, that was an enormous barrier. After the cycling race, when McCallum introduces Blackman to his family you can see their frostiness. At the end of the film McCallum tells Dwyer he is giving Blackman to Holt because he's not the marrying kind. But that is obviously baloney. When he took her back with his family to see his home (a scene which should have been portrayed), he must have realized his kind would never treat her well. And loving her as much as he did, he stepped aside to protect her.
Had those two changes been made, my rating would have jumped from a 5.5 to a 6.5. What a shame they were not.