Now excruciatingly hard to find, this gem of a film anticipated all the X-Factors and Pop Idols by many years. You'll never see a talent show like it, nor a finer representation of the seamy side of 1950s pop. David Cumming stars as a pop wanabee who makes it big, guided by his shady agent. We see all the problems that come with a meteoric showbiz rise (and, ultimately, fall). The screaming girls, the fan-mail, the touring, it's all here. Shot entirely in moody black and white, Elroy Flicker anticipates Dudley Moore's performance of "Love Me" in Bedazzled with the number "Gone, gone, gone". The leading man David Cumming is very handsome and supported by a fine cast of English comedy greats whose names escape me. The film even spawned a short-lived tribute band in Australia, "Elroy Flicker and the Fitzroy Gutterslugs" who recorded some of the songs seen in the film.