The Reaction At The Locarno Ballroom, 1967 - Film 19819

Streatham Locarno teens and pre-teens disco in London.
Including a bicycle race for boys. Featuring the band "The Reaction"
Interior of traditional dance hall foyer. Soundtrack is of excited, chattering crowd. At the box office three teenage girls buy tickets. Doorman tears their tickets. They check in their coats. Young girl with short bobbed hair, wearing short grey dress, applies lipstick, looking in mirror. Observer magazine cover: "Pre Teens - The Young Pretenders". The girl spits on and applies eye shadow but she has dirty fingernails. Two other girls brush their long thick hair. In front of them a line of girls apply makeup before a row of illuminated wall mirrors. 01:00:00 Several girls run down steps above a large sign announcing the Locarno Ballroom - some are wearing children's long white socks. They cross the empty dance floor and head for side tables. Most are in short skirts.
01:17:15 A drum roll, then the sound of a 1960's vocal pop group starting to play. One or two girls start to gyrate, others awkwardly follow. Some of these pre-teenage girls look as young as four or five. A line of dancing feet in long white socks. On the sidelines are a few older teenage 'mod' boys, short-haired and some in suits or open-neck shirts. Only girls fill the floor, some dancing together. Their swaying dance movements and kicking legwork seem awkward and mechanical. Some are holding their handbags. Groups of boys are eyeing up the girls, and eventually one short boy meekly approaches a seated long-haired girl he's singled out. They dance nervously together. Amid the crowd a very young girl licks a sticky oversize ice cream wafer. Elsewhere three older girls dance together. Dancing legs come to a halt as the music finishes.
00:03:51 An excited MC in a check shirt announces "that fabulous group - The Reaction!" Suddenly the girls all scream and rush the dance floor. The guitarist is surrounded by adoring girls. The bass drum is crudely scribbled 'The Reaction'. The posturing purple-shirted vocalist sings "Nobody Knows Where I'm Going - Not Even Me…" Two other band members with guitars harmonise. On the dancefloor, a second boy takes his turn with the long-haired girl, who smiles. The guitarist is revealed to be quite young himself. The first dancing boy is back on the sidelines, looking envious. Two girls are eagerly dancing barefoot, having discarded their shoes on the dance floor. Amid the swaying feet, the second boy is ousted by the first short boy, and he dances with the long-haired girl again, more confident now and grinning. Some girls chat at the side tables. Two others, older and smartly dressed, one in a red trouser suit the other in purple, are both dancing with their hats on. The red hat bears a pin badge 'Votes For Women'! Another two girls look too young to be wearing silky flower-power dresses and flares. The band finish their number under the flashing coloured lights.
07:21:19 The two boys and two others line up pensively on bicycles for a race. The MC starts the race. The girls shout and scream, including the long-haired girl. The drummer is drumming in the background. The boys furiously pedal from one end of the dance floor to the other around chairs. Some skid and knock into one other, including the short boy who crashes into a chair. The long-haired girl smiles as one of the other boys wins the race.
FADE TO:
08:05:19 As a woman serves a young boy and girl with cola drinks, the group play a second song ("My Babe") and enthusiastic dancing resumes. The long-haired girl smiles as she dances with the second boy (who appears to focus on her chest!) and they poignantly join hands. The first boy is consoled by another boy. Girls and boys gather and chat on their respective tables. The song features a drum solo. Some of the girls are dancing while eating ice creams. A quartet of older girls who've been sitting down finally get up to dance together - joined by four somewhat reluctant boys - and amid the excitement and screams clusters of red balloons are released from the rafters.