Nevertheless, Melody the movie made a big impression on teens of both sexes who watched the movie (for me, in Rex cinema, Kuching). With a soundtrack of songs by the Bee Gees, it is a movie remembered to this day what with its lovable main characters of Mark Lester and Jack Wild who were last seen in the 1968 blockbuster movie version of Lionel Bart's musical Oliver! This was their second pairing in a movie.

Jack Wild (as Tom Ornshaw) and Mark Lester (as Daniel Latimer)

And then there was Tracy Hyde (at age 12) in the titular role of Melody Perkins.
This is Melody - say no more ....

In the movie, we are first introduced to Melody thus: https://youtu.be/hfqL1GTbdW4 (see footnote)

Knowing that I would be dropping by London this July, I planned ahead  to visit a few of the filming locations for the movie. I finally stood on three film locations on 9 July 2022.

This the scene below was where we first see Melody when she comes out from her home and walks along Kennington and Lambeth Roads. She eventually stops by a water trough to let the goldfish which she had just purchased have a swim:

Note the street sign in the background and the inscription carved on the water trough. These troughs were erected in the 1800s for the use of the public and the animals which would pass by (cattle on their way to be marketed). This Melody film location is at the junction of Lambeth and Kennington Roads (a short walk from Lambeth North Tube Station). The landmark today at this road junction is the Waterloo Hub Hotel and Suites.

Today:


The water trough has been used as a flower bed although the plants are dead and shrivelled.
 

After the failed testing of a cracker made by one of the boys in a railway yard, Tom, Daniel  and others run past railway arches along Hercules Street to go find a bus to take them to Trafalgar Square and Soho. 

Today:

The spaces under the railway arches at Hercules Street have been converted to commercial use.

This is the bus stop outside The Pineapple Pub, a stone's throw from the railway arches in the scene above, where they all wait for a bus:

Today:

A tree in summer bloom blocked the same direct frontal shot as above (which includes the name of the pub). There is also now a tree at the same spot in front of the pub as in the movie but I doubt that it is the same tree as in my photo because that original tree would have grown much bigger in 51 years. I had "half o'Guinness" (half a pint of Guinness) in the pub after taking this photo.

While visiting the film locations was a fulfilling little fan "pilgrimage", it was melancholy in that while smiling at the recollections that the movie evoked, there was a feeling of regret of lost youth, lost innocence, and lost loves. 

Tracy Hyde is 63 this year and Mark Lester is 64.
Jack Wild died from cancer at age 53 in 2006.
 

This is my homage to "Melody", all who brought it to the screen, and of course all who remember it.



Footnote:
The other billed star who appears in the "Melody" clip linked above, was Roy Kinnear in the role of Melody's Dad.
Melody has been sent by her Mum to go find her Dad to ask for some money to buy ice cream for the dessert that night.
Roy died tragically in 1974 from injuries sustained on set of the "Four Musketeers" when he fell off a horse while filming.