It has never been clearly determined why Anthony Newley chose not to recreate his West End and Broadway triumph for the film version of \u201cStop the World: I Want to Get Off.\u201d Perhaps Newley realized that the show\u2019s distinctive theatrical nature could not be expanded for a big screen treatment. Or maybe he was just afraid that his hit show, which he co-wrote with Leslie Bricusse, would be a movie flop?
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In lieu of the larger-than-life Newley, London stage star Tony Tanner had his first (and only) starring film role as Littlechap, whose rise from Brixton school boy to Member of Parliament is played out in a circus environment. While Tanner is more than capable of capturing the insouciance of Littlechap\u2019s personality in the show\u2019s amusing pantomime sequences and harsh comic songs (especially \u201cLumbered\u201d), he never resonates when the time comes to perform the show\u2019s classic dramatic tunes. Indeed, his interpretations of \u201cGonna Build a Mountain,\u201d \u201cOnce in a Lifetime\u201d and \u201cWhat Kind of Fool Am I?\u201d comes across as recital numbers rather than gut-punched performances \u2013 the range and pitch of his singing is prime, but there\u2019s no soul in the lyrical delivery. As a result, the show\u2019s emotional balance is frequently off-kilter \u2013 wonderful comic moments are interrupted with benign serious turns.<\/p>\n
But that\u2019s not to say this film is a mess. Director Philip Saville daringly keeps the film adaptation in a theatrical setting \u2013 complete with a full orchestra and conductor below the stage level and a well-dressed opening night crowd applauding the musical numbers from the audience. But Saville\u2019s clever scene set-ups and Oswald Morris\u2019 crisp cinematography never allows the viewer to feel that they\u2019re watching a filmed play.<\/p>\n
The film also gets much of its fuel with the ebullient Millicent Martin playing the multiple roles of Littlechap\u2019s different loves: his beleaguered wife, a Soviet trade official, a Japanese domestic servant and a New York showgirl. Martin\u2019s performance of the bitingly sarcastic \u201cTypically English\u201d and the soothing Russian-style lullaby \u201cMeilinki, Meilchick\u201d captures the depth of intellectual and emotional strength that the Newley-Bricusse score empowered. When she is on the screen, you do not want this world to stop.<\/p>\n