The Cool Ones (1967) User Reviews

The Uncool Ones promises much, delivers little

[jivers01 · 5/10 · 17 August 2016]

As a fan of 60s pop culture, I wanted to like this movie. Sadly, this wasted opportunity of a film feels like a rejected script for a proposed Elvis/Beach Party movie. (The director did two Elvis vehicles prior to this.) The muddled, meandering screenplay is by a failed, one-time writer and a studio hack who penned "Ski Party" and both "Dr. Goldfoot" flicks. This film doesn't know what it wants to be. It's a little of this, a bit of that, and a whole lot of bland filler in between. At least we have some pretty people, including a young Teri Garr, in colorful mod outfits doing Toni Basil dance numbers now and then.

The promising opener is a take-off on pop music programs like Hullabaloo and Shindig. A cute blonde go-go dancer (Debbie Watson) yearns to be the next Nancy Sinatra (supposedly, Sinatra passed on the lead role but her singing is heard in some songs). Enter scene-chewing Roddy McDowall. He has a few amusing scenes as wildly eccentric music producer Tony Krum -- a likely parody of legendary whack-job Phil Spector. His fawning assistant, played by the wonderful, sadly neglected Nita Talbot, almost steals the film in her one big seduction scene with lunkhead Gil Peterson. She has comic timing and a sophisticated sex appeal that blows everyone else off the screen. Debbie Watson is fine, but she's one of those generic, wholesome starlets who -- like Deborah Walley, Susan Hart, Pat Priest, Chris Noel, et al. -- provided charming eye-candy in countless '60s comedy/musicals but left no lasting impression.

After McDowall's grand entrance, the film almost becomes a zany spoof of absurd pop-music fads and instant stardom. But this only lasts about five minutes. The gutless, aimless script has nothing more to say about the music business and shifts to the sappy romance between Watson and human Ken doll Gil Peterson. They meet cute and cavort about, performing several song-and-dance numbers for the rest of the near-plot less story. Then it just abruptly ends due to a lack of ideas. Or maybe they ran out of film stock. No tension, no drama, no witty parody, and no resolution to speak of.

The hackneyed romance, cornball dialog, and groan-inducing attempts at humor are, as said before, on par with a Beach Party flick or a standard Elvis musical. (Bit players Talbot, Garr, and Angelique Pettyjohn all did Elvis films, by the way.) There's a couple decent rock songs with twangy, Byrds-like guitar riffs and some vocals by Nancy Sinatra. Also surprising to see a segment playing "This Town" while Watson wanders about in her trendy vinyl cap. Sinatra did a near-identical music video for this song in her "Movin' with Nancy" TV special that same year.

Recommendation: The only entertainment value is for lovers of campy 60s fashions. The mod outfits, mostly Mary Quant-style knock-offs, already seem a bit dated for 1967. The Palm Springs dance number that begins in a tram-car and continues on a mountaintop is great fun (and shows off Teri Garr). McDowall and Talbot elevate the weak material they're given. If the film had focused on them and the music industry this could have been a decent comedy instead of a watered-down, girl-meets-boy musical. If you like this genre, you'd be better off watching "Speedway" (with Elvis and Sinatra) or "Movin' with Nancy".

More Corny Than Cool

[atlasmb · 5/10 · 29 June 2014]

You hear that "The Cool Ones" is "The groovy movie with the hip hit tunes" (an official tagline), so you want to dig the scene, right? Not really. The scene is a confusing mixture of pop cultural references as written by a committee of older businessmen. If you were not around in 1967, when the movie was released, you will probably have difficulty knowing what references really were "cool" in 1967 and which were manufactured, or warmed over fare from years before. If you were around in 1967, the movie is somewhat fun--despite being bad--to pick apart and reminisce about.

In my opinion, this film is a musical. Musical numbers are staged in the middle of scenes, and the characters break out in song when not on a stage. Trying to create a teen movie musical is a bold undertaking, but this is no "Bye Bye Birdie". It features a young go-go dancer(Debbie Watson playing Hallie Rogers) and a former singing idol (Gil Peterson playing Cliff Donner) who meet in a supposedly hip club called "Stan's Cellar" and are persuaded by a young pop music guru (Roddy McDowall) to combine forces to capture the imagination of gullible teen fans. They even create what they hope will be a new dance craze: The Tantrum.

Donner is supposed to be a jaded singer who once had screaming fans. He performs in the "Cellar" with a group called The Leaves. Some of the numbers performed by musical groups in this film are not bad and are authentic to the theme of the movie. But Donner is often stuck singing old tunes that are arranged in a (not so) cool way: "What is This Thing Called Love", "Secret Love", and--incredibly--"The Birth of the Blues". There is one scene where Glen Campbell sings "Just One of Those Things". Not cool. No teen with an edgy persona in 1967 would be embracing those gems. This is three years after the Beatles conquered America!

Surprisingly, the choreography is often of good quality and on a par with other musicals.

Things to look for, even if some seem out of place in a movie about "cool ones":

*The Petula Clark poster on the wall.

*The dance performed to music reminiscent of "The Hand Jive".

*The kids snapping their fingers like the cast of "West Side Story"--cool man!

*The red Mustang. Now that was a cool car!

*The mod look--the colorful London-based chic that some of the kids dress in.

*Small smatterings of psychedelia.

*The "dirty old man" who looks all of 27.

*The "draft board" reference.

*The unexpected occasional lapses into slapstick.

*The laughable computer reference. The public had so little knowledge of computers that anything will flashing lights and beeping sounds could pass. And they often performed feats that are nothing short of mystical.

*Actor Phil Harris who seems to be playing the part of "obligatory adult whose purpose is to thwart the coolness of teens".

*Actress Nita Talbot, who plays Dee Dee Howitzer and somehow manages to have screen presence despite a limited role.

*The proposal scene in the back of a bus. One might be reminded of the iconic back-of-the-bus scene in "The Graduate", also released in 1967.

This is no time capsule of 1967 in particular, but as a reminder of many disparate cultural references from the previous decade or more, it could be a fun watch.

Well whaddaya know....one of them worked!

[mark.waltz · 5/10 · 26 March 2019]

After watching a plethora of teen 60's musicals (most of which were wretched), I come across one that is delightfully camp and filled with a pep that the three others in my rock musical festival simply lacked. So it's not "42nd Street" or even the Broadway version of "Bye Bye Birdie", but it's a delightfully camp and energetic example of how to put on a crowd pleasing musical, 60's Broadway style, directed by 1950's supporting player in a number of movie musicals, Gene Nelson.

Debbie Watson gives an energetic performance as an impetuous singer who gets into all sorts of trouble because of her temperament but in spite of that it's actually quite likeable. She's fired from the "Shindig!" like rock TV show for honing in on the main act, and somehow becomes involved with male heartthrob Gil Peterson, gaining a meeting with hotshot agent Roddy McDowall whom we're supposed to believe is a ladies man. The always scene stealing Nita Talbot is quite a looker as his wise-cracking flame who recalls spending her wedding night in San Francisco which pretty much was the end of that marriage.

The songs are mixed bag, with several standards sung to a rock beat, and Mrs. Miller appearing to sing her campy version of "It's Magic". A musical number set on a movong mountain tram and the observatory above, and another on Olivera Street are nicely staged in a campy 60's manner. McDowall is reunited with his Broadway "Camelot" co-star Robert Coote, probably a consolation prize for not being offered the chance to repeat their stage roles in the Warner Brothers movie. Another old favorite, Phil Harris, is featured as the TV rock show producer. It's fun, fun, fun for the most part with vintage Los Angeles location footage taking the film outside of the movie studio.

Amazingly bad relic of the swinging sixties

[otter · 1/10 · 3 March 1999]

Enjoyably bad: This supposed satire of the pop music scene could never have been good, the main character is intrinsically unlikeable. An ambitious and mean pop-singer wannabe gets her big break by brawling on a TV dance show and marries solely to further her career (of course she falls for him, otherwise there would be no plot).

What separates this from all the merely boring flicks out there are the performances.

The combination of the unbelievably horrid lead, the lively, cheesy music, the unbelievable costumes (seemingly designed to show off Ms. Watson's heavy thighs), and Mr. MacDowell make this as watchably bad as an Ed Wood movie.

Gil Peterson's Career after "The Cool Ones"

[jaymckenna · 5 March 2009]

Blonde, impossibly handsome Gil Peterson was one of the stars of "The Cool Ones" (1967), a wacky teen movie that poked fun at the music industry and spoofed TV shows like "Hullabaloo" and "Shindig". Peterson, who plays a washed up singing idol in the film, actually began his own career as a singer. Born and raised in Winona, Mississippi, Gil was an outstanding high school athlete who lettered in four different varsity sports. He was voted Best All Around Athlete, Most Valuable Football Player and received the Winona Sportsmanship Award. After graduation, Gil accepted a football scholarship to Mississippi State University and became star halfback for the Mississippi State Bulldogs. It was during Gil's college days that he started singing professionally. Each summer, he would tour the nightclub circuit in the deep South, doing floor shows and working with combos. Gil has said that one of his most enjoyable experiences was working one summer with a modern vocal-instrumental quintet composed of himself and four other college students. Come fall , he would find himself back on the gridiron, but he'd gotten enough of the show biz lifestyle to decide upon it as his future career. After college, Gil headed straight for Hollywood to give it his best shot. He got some bit parts on TV and made guest appearances in night clubs around the Hollywood and Los Angeles area. His singing gigs were impressive enough that Gil was tapped by Ace Label to record his first LP album, "Gil Peterson Sings Our Last Goodbye" (LP1024).

Then came Gil's big break. He was plucked from relative obscurity and given what amounted to the starring role in "The Cool Ones". Roddy McDowell may be first billed, but his thinly disguised take-off on Phil Spector is more a supporting character. Even the tag line for the film reads: "It's the story of Cliff Donner (Peterson)….a teen-age singing idol who had it all….lost it…..and had to find it all over again".

"The Cool Ones" was originally developed as a showcase for Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazelwood to capitalize on their recording success as a duo. Nancy even pre-recorded some songs, two of which are used in the film, before backing out of the project. Her instincts were right. For every bright, zany scene that would inspire future films like Tom Hank's "That Thing You Do!" (1996), there were awkward, embarrassing ones, and the end result is a mixed bag at best. The movie bombed big time at the box office. The era of the lightweight beach party movies was over, and a new wave of edgy, psychedelic films about hippies, LSD and motorcycle gangs was emerging. It didn't help Gil Peterson that he looked more like a member of The Four Freshman than the Grateful Dead. Reviewers were harsh and merciless, and Peterson was dismissed as the living, breathing prototype for the Ken doll.

After "The Cool Ones" flopped at the box office, Peterson essentially dropped out of sight and has become something of an enigma. He showed up every so often on television, but in small, bit parts. He did make two other movies, a very low-budget independent feature entitled "The Brain Machine" (1977) and, intriguingly, a Japanese film shot in New Caledonia, "The Island Closest to Heaven" (1984). It is known that he became a high school teacher and taught at Hollywood High in the 70's. I personally saw him around this time in a little theater play in Hollywood. I was stunned because I immediately recognized him from "The Cool Ones". I wanted to go backstage afterwards and talk to him about his career, but the actress I was with said he'd think I was making fun of him. The play wasn't very good, but Gil Peterson was. It was just a two-character play and the other actor's name, I think, was Frank Stell and he had some buzz going at the time, but Peterson was the better actor. Regrettably, I never went backstage, but saw the play again a second time, alone. A young actor myself back then, I was completely baffled that someone who had "absolute movie star" written all over him, hadn't made it big after "The Cool Ones", and was doing some dumb little showcase still trying to get noticed like the rest of us wannabes. It gave me some pause then, because he really was such movie star material, and it's still curious today that he had no substantial career after the film. Perhaps like Cliff Donner, the character he played in "The Cool Ones", Gil's brief brush with celebrity left him with a feeling of contempt for the business. "The Cool Ones" continues to attract new audiences today despite no official DVD release. IMDb Users are still commenting on it. You Tube is still playing video clips of it. The one consistent comment seems to be from older women who saw the film when they were young and have never forgotten Gil Peterson's remarkable, impossibly handsome, blonde Ken doll looks.

Jay/James McKenna best role, Policewoman "Merry Christmas, Waldo"

Cool Ones fools no one.

[st-shot · 1/10 · 19 July 2011]

If anyone is interested in seeing why there was such a generation gap back in 67 The Cool Ones offers a grand view of the abyss as writers and producers try to feed the Pepsi generation the premise and execution of this mindless travesty. Part of the low end genre of films that showcased rock personalities in keystone comedy situations The Cool Ones goes radical by offering up the female Tiny Tim of her era Mrs. Miller as the musical headliner.

Go Go dancer Hallie Rogers becomes an overnight sensation on the pop scene by crashing a Glenn Campbell solo. Phil Spector like mogul Tony Krum sees an opportunity not only to capitalize on the new talent but also revive has been popper Cliff Donner's career by teaming them up. They turn out to be oil and water however and it is left up to diva Miller with a measuring tape boa around her shoulders to save the day by belting out It's Magic.

This kind of garbage used to go straight to Drive Ins and local community theatres after a week of television coming attractions featuring gyrating go go dancers and sybaritic teens promising all sought of wild mayhem. It didn't really matter since it did buy you 90 extra minutes at the DI with your date.

There's some pros in this like Phil Harris, Robert Coote looking lost and the absolutely insulting presence of Roddy Mac Dowell as Krum adding insult to insult. Miller time is an uncomfortable Dada/goof hybrid that fails to register though she did sell a ton of albums one week which is more than you can say for the abysmal Bantams.

A bland dorkfest

[mls4182 · 1/10 · 20 December 2021]

Good lord. This was like Donnie and Marie do Whiskey A Go Go. I mean this dull film makes beach party movies seem cool. I wasn't around in 1967 but I know the music scene from the era and it wasn't thus uncool. This is almost Lawrence Welk.

If it had some camp value or at least one good song I could recommend it. This is like Jack Webb's fantasy of what the Sunset Strip should have been like in the late 60s.

camp

[SnoopyStyle · 4/10 · 24 September 2021]

Hallie Rodgers (Debbie Watson) is a go-go dancer on the dance show WhizBam. The producers keep making empty promises and she goes crazy on the live show. She's fired but inadvertently creates a new dance sensation. Cliff Donner (Gil Peterson) is a singer who never gets the big break. In comes wealthy Tony Krum (Roddy McDowall) who brings the two together into a new musical duo.

This is 60's hipsters, beach blanket blanks, and unintentional camp. The dancing, by itself, is enough to define this as camp. Even as a cult flick, it still wears out its welcome. I never like Cliff and the pairing is awkwardly melodrama. Roddy McDowall can try to add as much goofiness as he can but he can't overcome the movie's inherent badness. If only this is his movie.

Wacky and Harmless

[silverandgold89 · 5/10 · 5 October 2021]

I enjoyed this hilariously uncool attempt to be cool. I was left with the impression that the actors knew this was bad and decided to have as much fun as possible with it. I think I've also developed a crush on Nita Talbot.

Roddy McDowall as Simon Cowell?

[ccmiller1492 · 6/10 · 3 July 2006]

"The Cool Ones" is definitely a second-string musical but it's more entertaining than many of the A-list musicals of the decade and doesn't deserve the obscurity to which it's consigned. It's well-paced, with lots of song and dance numbers, directed by Gene Nelson, who has a great feel for these elements. The real standout in this film is Gil Peterson who greatly resembles Grant Williams. He has enough charisma and talent to pull the whole thing together with a convincing performance and wonderful vocals. If his songs were dubbed, it is incredible how synchronized they were and how appropriately they matched his speaking voice. It's a mystery why this talented, handsome and energetic performer didn't achieve a more successful career.

Unfortunately there is far too much screen time and energy devoted to Roddy McDowall's annoying and overly fey portrayal of the promoter. Could this be an earlier incarnation of Simon Cowell?

Really stupid but also fun to watch!

[planktonrules · 2/10 · 1 April 2021]

"The Cool Ones" is a very bad film. Yet it's an unusual bad film because it's unintentionally funny and offers an odd little window into the strange and exciting late 60s.

The story begins on the set of a show much like "American Bandstand" or "Hullabaloo". A young obnoxious lady, Hallie, is tired of just being one of the professional dancers on the show and she tries (in the worst possible way) to get the producers to listen to her sing, as she has a VERY high opinion of her skills. The worst of it is she insists on all this moments before the show goes on the air. When she doesn't get their attention, she decides to do something insane...she attacks the guy singing on the show (Glen Campbell...before he became famous as a country music singer...when he was a member of the famed 'Wrecking Crew'). She steals his microphone away from him and begins singing...and the two struggle and shake and make fools of themselves. Oddly enough, after she is fired, the producers are shocked to find the audience watching this live LOVED the interlude and thought it was planned! Soon, Hallie is a pop star singing with the talented Cliff and they are being managed by the strange and charismatic Mr. Krum (Roddy McDowell). What's next?

The film is funny because it tries very hard to be young and hip...and fails miserably at every turn. The hip modern music sung by Hallie and Cliff is pretty bland and the sort of stuff old people thought was hip...and which wasn't. Additionally, several old squares (such as Phil Harris) played hip folks...and their trying to be cool was hilariously uncool. Also really uncool was Mr. Krum...who just came off as silly and a parody of the Phil Spector-type producers. Overall, tragically unhip...the sort of thing oldsters thought hippies and other teens would love...but they clearly didn't!

A true undiscovered gem!

[victrader · 9/10 · 9 July 2000]

This is a great movie - yes it is a bad movie, but it is great. A stellar cast, a great score and wonderful location shots all over Los Angeles and Palm Springs, circa 1966. Any movie that boasts a musical dance number in the Palm Springs Tramway can't be all bad.

The cast: Debbie Watson and Gil Peterson are perfect. Don't know where they came from, except that Debbie had her own TV series briefly, "Karen". And Gil has a great bod! Roddy McDowell - great as always. Phil Harris is wonderful. Nita Talbot all but steals the show as Roddy's Girl Friday. I mean, this woman is fierce! She shamelessly tries to steal every scene she is in - and does too. She should have been used much more in films. And you even get Terri Garr as one of the dancers. And I didn't even mention Mrs. Miller. This must be her only big screen appearance, so that alone is worth the price of admission.

The plot is a little hackneyed, but who cares. The original songs by Lee Hazelwood are fantastic. Hey, both Frank and Nancy covered "This Town" on their albums. As a spoof of the Hullaballo-type dance programs of the era as well as Roddys apeing of Phil Spector - this movie does try to say something. But that is not what it is about - it is just plain fun!!!

If you get the chance to watch this movie-just relax and enjoy-don't have to think hard here-just good clean fun! As you can see I LOVE THIS MOVIE.

Debbie Watson!

[statman122 · 6/10 · 10 March 2020]

I'm still puzzled as to why Debbie Watson was not a HUGE star. She always had a larger than life energy that just jumps off the screen!

Hip adults and old-fashioned teenagers...

[moonspinner55 · 4/10 · 12 July 2011]

Would-be pop singer Debbie Watson inadvertently creates a dance craze on television, quickly dubbed "The Tantrum"; she pairs up with a has-been rock-and-roll star to form a new act that's sure to wow the teenagers! Gene Nelson directed this instantly-dated piece of overripe nostalgia from writer Joyce Geller, whose pale script was also worked on by Robert Kaufman and by Nelson. Eternally-girlish Watson and Gil Peterson (outfitted like a Ken doll) are a laughably tone-deaf pair. If you can believe them as teen-sensations, you may buy Roddy McDowall as a superstar music producer who has his own jet, sits on a purple throne, and has a lackey pick the dirt off his boots. The most bizarre aspect of the movie may be the depiction of young adults acting as direct copies of their own grandparents: they dance and sing, but what they're really pining for is love and the institution of marriage. ** from ****

I'm not going to lie; I saw it mainly for Teri Garr.

[Ddey65 · 11 October 2019]

Despite the title, there are other aspects of this movie that got me interested in it. One main reason the movie didn't do so well at the box office was because they were making a 1965 movie in 1967. By the time this movie was released, The Beatles had finished doing official concerts in under a year, the hippies were beginning to organize the "Summer of Love" in San Francisco, "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" had pushed sleaze into Oscar territory, and "The Graduate" did more to speak for the kids than any leftover wannabe beach party movie.

Cliff Donner (Gil Peterson) was an early '60's swinging sixties pop singer whose career went into the toilet when some managers suggest he performs some old 1940's music. Think Ricky Nelson going Bing Crosby, and you'll get the idea. Years later Cliff is driving to Palm Springs and stops at a night club owned by Stanley Krumley (Robert Coote), a man he knew from England who ran a club there, and talks him into singing along with The Leaves.

Would-be pop singer Hallie Rodgers (played by the uber-cute Debbie Watson), is struggling to make it big in the music business but has to settle for being a go-go dancer on "Whiz-Bam," an obvious imitation of "Hullaballoo." Frustrated with having the powers that be stall her career, she breaks out of her cage and has an unauthorized duet with the lead signer of Patrick and the East Enders (played by Glen Campbell). The producers are pissed at her, but the kids dig it, and the Whiz-Bam dancers noticed this. Even Patrick notices it, and when a stagehand insults their audience, and the girl is fired, both the Whiz-Bam dancers and the band threaten them "West Side Story-"style (I wish I were kidding!).

Though despondent over being fired, some of her fellow Whiz-Bammers take her to that bar in Palm Springs where Cliff and The Leaves are performing. Suddenly, a guy in his late-20's who looks a lot like Iggy Pop (No, really!) decides he wants to put the moves on her, and he won't take no for an answer. The commotion this guy causes stops the show, Cliff comes to the rescue and throws everybody out, until he recognizes her from the show. He decides he wants get her foot in the door with the dance that everyone on in the audience was doing which he dubbed "The Tantrum." However she wants him to make a comeback in return for his promotion of her.

Then there this whole elaborate number where Gil, Debbie and the Whiz-Bam dancers perform the song "High" in the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway. Leave it to a non-Californian such as myself to be flabergasted over the fact that such a transit system can exist in Southern California, and with a ski lodge too. After it's all over, Krumley tells them that he's about to give the two of them a big break through his brother Tony Krum, a wannabe Phil Spector played by Roddy McDowall. Naturally as expected from these movies, the two fall in love, but Tony Krum wants to be the one who decides when and how they do so. This creates a major kink in their relationship, but Krum doesn't care, and Donner sees what's going on, and poor Miss Rodgers wants to keep both her man and her career. He even goes so far into getting Gil to get involved in a demoltion derby as part of his promotion. One might think this might be more of an attempt to capitalize on movies such as "Fireball 500."

So who else among the dancers are in this movie besides the lovely Ms. Garr? Well, you have a short guy with a goatee, a guy who looks like Howdy-Doody, another guy with a Peter Tork haircut, an Asian-American woman, one token black guy, some other blondes, including one with roots, and a lot of other extras. Sadly I don't recognize them all, although I've heard some names of a few of those people, so maybe I should.

There's a line from the docudrama on the making of "Sweet Sweetback's Badassssss Song" where Mario Van Peebles (playing his father) claimed that in the late-1960's the times were changing, and Hollywood wasn't. Actually there were movies that reflected what was going on (or what people thought was going on), and how people felt about it, and even if this wasn't one of them, it was still farily enjoyable. Let's be honest though; this movie is not only not cool, it's corny, and doesn't know it's corny, unlike, say for instance, "Enchanted." Incidentally, Garr's career started to take off after this movie when she went from being a nobody dancer to roles in a certain episode of "Star Trek," and the 1968 Monkees movie "Head," and the rest is history. So a little art imitating life gives this movie a couple of extra points.

That big break on Whiz Bang

[bkoganbing · 5/10 · 20 March 2021]

The Cool Ones is about a pair of singers, Gil Peterson and Debbie Watson who are looking for different things from the music business. Peterson is an already passe rock and roll idol and Watson is a young hopeful. Some elements of A Star Is Born are present as you see.

An egotistical promoter Roddy McDowall gets a hold of them and decides to team them. McDowall's own manipulation cause the road to success and romance to be a bit bumpier than normal.

But McDowall gives a Whiz Bang performance and the goal for both is a debut as a duo on the rock and roll variety show Whiz Bang. Back in the 60s there were such shows as Shindig, Hullabaloo, and Where The Action Is on TV. The culture changed after Woodstock.

Some original rock and roll numbers are about half the soundtrack. But it also includes such standards like Cole Porter's Just One Of Those Things and What Is This Thing Called Love? are there too done in rock and roll style. What Cole Porter might have thought of it we won't know without a seance. But I'm of the opinion that any exposure to Cole Porter is good.

Peterson and Watson are an attractive couple and such other Hollywood veterans like Phil Harris, Robert Coote, Nita Talbot and Phil Arnold give good support. But this is Roddy McDowall's picture like no other.

A waste of film

[JBThackery · 1/10 · 12 July 2011]

Perhaps the only good thing about this movie is the clear and consistent photography and color. The go-go style music is so bad it will make you reach for the Off knob. It's loaded with that kind of icky, artificial music they always played at party scenes in movies and sitcoms from the early-1960's era, the kind that was never heard in real life, and yet here it is being blared at you in 1967, and faker than ever. The score is composed by Lee Hazelwood, which is surprising since he is known for more acceptable work. The satellite TV blurb says the film has a loose story line about a has-been pop star being paired with a hopeful new singer for a bit TV show, but I could not stand to watch it long enough to find out. There are some talented performers in the film, but this sort of material probably contributed to their short careers.

Hideously terrible

[simon_sparrow · 1/10 · 16 August 2001]

All attempts to be cool fall horribly flat in this showcase for some of the weaker musical talents of the 1960's. Roddy McDowell delivers the worst performance of his career in a character as shrill as he is inconsistent. It then proceeds in tortoise-like fashion to an obvious conclusion. This is a worthy candidate for the worst big budget film in the history of the cinema.

Real Pop Star Cameo...Spot It ?

[kleindorf · 5/10 · 18 June 2018]

The reviews by previous posters pretty well describe this period cash-in pic. I just watched it on TCM and at the very end spotted a real-life pop star. In actuality the car he was driving ( Excalibur) was the same as Gil Peterson's. The uncredited cameo was Paul Revere,leader of Paul Revere and the Raiders. In real life Paul owned an Excalibur so all he had to do is drive by and say hi to the camera. The Raiders appeared regularly on "Where The Action Is" which competed with "Shindig" and "Hallabaloo" fronted by the other Big Two networks for a slice of teen viewership in the 60's.

A retro blast

[bcrumpacker · 5/10 · 24 September 2012]

SPOILER ALERT Whiny wannabe star Debbie Watson is a Deborah Walley clone (the original was bad enough) who went nowhere after this movie, the pouty male lead is a stiff, and the music is terrible.

But we must admire record producer Roddy McDowell's purple convertible Lincoln with white and purple striped upholstery, his private jet, and swinging bachelor pad. And the scenery is classic Southern California: Palm Springs Tramway, Olvera Street, Valley Music Center, Ascot Speedway, and a white Excalibur sports car with chrome pipes cruising Sunset Blvd.

Roddy, the antihero in Lord Love A Duck, is wacky record producer Tony Krum. Roddy may have served as the model for Z Man, the teen tycoon of rock in Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls. But in retrospect it looks like both Roddy and Z Man were based upon Phil Spector, whose notorious antics were already legend. Nita Talbot is far too pretty to be disposable, but she is thrown away anyway. No visible drugs or booze, but everyone's head is scrambled. Bottom line: a retro blast.

Bad, bad.....not bad, good.

[dirty_dave · 2/10 · 15 June 2007]

"The Cool Ones"..Hmm...Well the sixties cars were super cool as was Tonys'(Roddy McDowells)purple velvet lined office,complete with throne.I think the highlight of this "stinker" for me was Cliffs'(Gil Peterson) amazing ability,whilst singing, to dance like a "Thunderbird" puppet with it's finger stuck in a live light socket....(I'm wondering if he was the inspiration for the party scene in "Team America").A close second favorite was Cliffs' incredibly unlikeable character complete with immaculately groomed hair-do with not one hair out of place throughout the entire duration of the movie....Sorry gang,in my opinion this movie is just plain "badsville",I'm still not sure why I sat through it.

This movie is campy, yes. But I love it and so will you!

[TADA co · 8/10 · 26 December 2004]

Roddy Mcdowell is a gas in this musical comedy about a fun loving teenager, played coyly and sweet by the young Debbie Watson. The main character accidentally starts a dance craze by throwing a tantrum on the set of a televised dance show. The dance she creates is called, of course, "The Tantrum."

It is this campy humor that, while sometimes over the top, keeps you wanting more. There are also some great sequences shot on Olivera Street in Los Angeles and on the Palm Springs Tram. Glen Cambell is even in it.

The music is fun, that dancing a blast, it's hip and cool and ultra sixties...yeah baby! It runs on cable now and again...look for it.

This is on my list of movies you hate to love! A must see.

Forgettable Except For Roddy McDowell Fans

[DKosty123 · 4/10 · 15 August 2016]

The 1960's had a lot of movies made by adults trying to tap into the huge market of teenagers. While some of those movies are memorable, this one is not. While the cast is attractive, and the color of the film is good, the writer of this script never wrote another one. It is obvious why. There is little sense to make of what is going on.

Roddy is the star of this, and there are the usual supply of good looking women around. In fact, as a veteran director of two Elvis movies including Kissin Cousins is on hand, the movie feels like it is another Elvis movie, only without Elvis. Because of this, there is forgettable music and whoever wrote the music for this committed a capital crime. The music just is no good.

Mcdowell is the youth idol in this movie and as such seems to be just an oddball from the first moment on. If you think of a guy like Bob Denver trying to carry a movie of bad music and a supporting cast that is very little help, and a script that is poor at best, that pretty much sums up this one.

Looks Like An AIP Dud

[cmdahoust · 13 March 2020]

This film had all looks of the classic AIP (American International Pictures) film from the mid 60's. A very cheesy rock film without much plot or good music for that matter. Viewers will recognize a few of the films actors most notably Roddy McDowell just before he did the Planet of the Apes series. I found myself watching this mostly out of curiosity as to what music I might hear.

Not much substance and poor music make this film a disappointment for me. Some of the cinematography of L.A. and the mountains (tramway) is very good, but everything else in this film disappoints.

If you want "cool" then try sucking on an ice cube, because this film will burn you

[Ed-Shullivan · 4/10 · 4 November 2021]

Another out dated 1960's period film that lacks a good title song rendition, any decent acting, and while I am at it, I have to comment on the terrible choreography. If you want to watch how a good film is produced, feast your eyes on the 1957 (ten years earlier than this crap) Elvis Presley film Jailhouse Rock.

I give it an over rated 4 out of 10 IMDB rating for the only redeeming feature which are the attractive dancers.