Year:  1968
Rating: 5.0

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Continuing my nostalgic look back at some of the movie-pop band tie-ins back in the 1960's. It was basically a genre of its time. In the States of course you had the Elvis films, Chubby Checkers, the beach movies, the Monkees on TV and in one film and over in England there were the two Beatles film (three if you include Magical Mystery Tour), one from the Dave Clark 5 (Having a Wild Weekend), Spencer-Davis in the dreadful Ghost in Gear, Gerry and the Pacemakers in Ferry Cross the Mersey, Cliff Richards in a few musical films and Herman Hermits with two films - this one and Hold On. And probably others I don't know. This sort of film has basically disappeared - hard to imagine any one making a film today in which a real rock band played themselves. It was a different time. It would not fit the bands of today.


Herman Hermits was another bit of the English invasion that had quite a bit of success for a few years. Unlike a lot of the English bands from the early 60's, they were not from the Mersey area but fared from up north in Manchester as did The Hollies. Formed in 1963, they surprising made it past all the major changes in rock music, continuing with their inoffensive mild form of pop until 1971. My family moved to Ankara in 1964 and I used to go to the American club pool that had a jukebox - in the summer of 1965 every other song that someone chose was Henry the VIII I am I am. It was drilled into my head and remains there today moldering away. It was a huge hit and was actually based on an old British music hall tune. And in fact they wrote none of their songs which was certainly a limitation- but they had a good ear for melody and chose some songs that did very well - Henry the VIII, Mrs. Brown you've Got a Lovely Daughter, The End of the World, There's a Kind of Hush All Over the World and I'm Into Something Good. Very mellow poppy music that I don't think holds up that well today like some of the other Brit Invasion bands do.


The band was in a film before this - Hold On! - which I guess did well enough for MGM to make another. The problem with this film is that it has a plot - which may sound ludicrous - but the plot takes up most of the film leaving not nearly enough time for their music. A few songs are played over scenes but we only see them performing one song. We see the great Stanley Holloway (My Fair Lady) sing two songs. It just seems rather odd. Isn't that what people wanted to see? Instead the boys - five in the band - are owners of a racing greyhound who are trying to form a band. But all the time goes to the damn greyhound.


The main player was the head of the group - Peter Noone and the film follows him for the most part with the other member being used from time to time as comic relief. He falls for the daughter (Sarah Caldwell in her only credit) of Holloway who is this enormously rich cockney whose name is Mr. Brown. Their dog's name is Mrs. Brown. When they sing the song it isn't to Mr. Brown's wife about her daughter but to the greyhound after she gave birth to a female puppy! Eh. Very romantic. In the end Peter realizes that the girl for him is the one who has been right next to him all the time - played by Sheila White, who had been in Ghost Goes Gear. And in fact not only does Peter fail in his romantic pursuit but also in their music career! They get nowhere. And they don't even play Henry the VIII! The film is produced by Allen Klein, who at one point managed both the Stones and The Beatles and ripped them both off. One of the great villains of the music business.