The Sky Bike

62 minCountryUnited KingdomLanguageEnglish

The Sky-Bike is a 1967 colour British children's film written and directed by Charles Frend (his last feature as director).^[1][2] It was produced by Harol Orton for the Children's Film Foundation. A novel based on the script was later published.^[3]

Tom Smith, living in English suburbia, is an only child who dreams of flying. He spends a lot of time at an abandoned airfield and there he meets a man who has invented a flying bicycle, but it will not stay in the air. They decide to adapt it for two cyclists, to give greater power. Their aim is to win £5000 in a competition for the first man-powered flight. They have a rival team, also based at the airfield, and both are troubled by the security guard and his two Alsatians. Tom is aided by his friend Porker and his sister Daphne.^[4]

• Liam Redmond as Mr. Lovejoy (Graves for business)
• William Lucas as Mr. Smith
• Ellen McIntosh as Mrs. Smith
• Spencer Shires as Tom Smith
• Ian Ellis as Bill (Porker)
• Della Rands as Daphne
• John Howard as Jack
• Bill Shine as Wingco
• David Lodge as airfield guard
• Guy Standeven as Squadron Leader
• Andrew Venn as Bert
• Harold Bennett as old man (Drophead Charlie)
• Harry Locke as cycle shop owner

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "An agreeable and often imaginative children's film, a little weak on plot but making up for it with the splendid central idea of a competition for man-powered flying machines. The Sky Bike itself is a charming flight of fantasy, and it is to the credit of the producers that on what must have been a very low budget they have managed to get the machines into the air for quite long periods. Mechanically minded youngsters should find the whole thing very intriguing."^[5]

TV Guide called it an "Imaginative children's adventure film ... not always believable, but this flaw can easily be overlooked given the high energy of the production."^[6]

• The Sky-Bike at IMDb
• The Sky-Bike at Spinning Image