Seven Up!
ITV
5 May 1964
Documentary
DVD
B-
This is the first in the Up series of documentaries, although my impression is it wasn't originally meant to be a series. I've seen one or two that I really enjoyed, although I don't remember which. There's a certain poignancy to watching this first one, with its dramatic yet jazzy theme tune and "real" black & white footage, as well as those expressive little faces who seem so sure of the future and haven't a clue what they're in for. (However, if I recall correctly, the little boy who wanted to be a jockey got his wish.) This installment is relatively short, just under 40 minutes, but later "episodes" would incorporate previous footage. If I have quibbles, why this isn't a B or higher, I'd like to see such now common documentary features as names on the screen so we can sort out the children (hearing the narrator isn't as effective) and maybe even subtitles for viewers abroad like me who can't parse every British regional accent.
Paul Almond directed this one but Michael Apted would take over all the revisits, including 63 Up, which was released a month ago. The children are as follows:
- Bruce Balden
- Jacqueline Bassett
- Symon Basterfield
- John Brisby
- Peter Davies
- Suzanne Dewey
- Charles Furneaux
- Nicholas Hitchon
- Neil Hughes
- Lynn Johnson
- Paul Kligerman
- Michelle Murphy
- Susan Sullivan
- Tony Walker
Note that there are only four girls, and only one kid who isn't white, but diversity was only starting to be a mainstream concern in the mid-'60s.
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