The Cuckoo Patrol (1967) User Reviews

Shamefully poor

[Leofwine_draca · 4/10 · 29 September 2015]

A star vehicle for Freddie Garrity - of FREDDIE AND THE DREAMERS fame - THE CUCKOO PATROL is an entirely dated and lacklustre comedy centred around a Scout troop and the misadventures they get themselves into. This really is poverty row stuff, with awfully lame jokes and the sight of Garrity mugging and gurning towards the camera all the while. You wonder how on earth a production like this got made or who they were aiming at given the star's five minutes of fame had long since passed.

Still, for fans of cult and/or forgotten films, THE CUCKOO PATROL holds some fun. Kenneth Connor and John Le Mesurier contribute a nice little double act as the thoroughly exasperated scouting superiors and some of the sub-plots are quite fun, like when the Scouts unwittingly aid a criminal gang with their attempt at safecracking. But let's be fair, the quality of the writing is very poor here, and the film as a whole feels like something that came out of the 1930s rather than the late '60s. Victor Maddern gives the best performance as the gang boss.

Somewhere in Shorts

[richardchatten · 3/10 · 8 July 2020]

Frank Randle was making the same sort of nonsense - with the same director of photography - during the war; and twenty years later it's still no funnier.

More of this was shot on location than Mancunian Films' meagre budgets ever allowed, but Freddie Garrity (whose comic leaping about endeared him at the time to my grandmother and during the early seventies was still starring in the children's TV comedy series 'Little Big Time'), while making Randle seem as sophisticated as Noel Coward by comparison, completely lacks Randle's redeeming acrobatic prowess.

The Cuckoo Patrol

[CinemaSerf · 4/10 · 29 May 2023]

I actually felt a bit sorry for the "Freddie and the Dreamers" guys here as they play a troop of aged boy-scouts who find themselves embroiled with some petty crooks. Along the way, they have some "carry-on" style escapades that allow some surprising names - who should have known better - to pop up: John le Mesurier, Victor Maddern and Basil Dignam to name but three. I suppose the only one who emerges with anything akin to credibility is the sparsely used Kenneth Connor who is very much in character as their hapless scout leader. It's got plenty of the usual slapstick antics, and comes across much like a cheap and cheerful Norman Wisdom film, only with songs. That's the nadir just there - the title song and the few others that pepper the film are truly terrible (especially when sung in pyjamas). A fun ambush at the end raises the tempo ever so slightly, but sadly this is just a poorly conceived and executed flop of a film that can't ever have looked good - even on the storyboard/beer mat.

Cuckoo patrol

[michellebennettohara · 5/10 · 11 March 2006]

I don't really remember a great deal about this film as i was only about six years old at the time. My father, Harry Bennett aka Crafty Casey Pye played the part of one of the wrestlers called the black gorillas, alongside his tag partner Dominic Pye. Dominic is listed on the cast list but the other black gorilla is listed as a Bill Turney, I know this isn't correct but don't know who Bill Turney is/was and why . My mum says there was a mix up at the time, she seems to remember.

I would be interested in obtaining a copy of this film, can anyone help, i have sent a message to stephen-50 who has previously made a comment about this film.

Thank you for your help Michelle

Dire beyond belief! Spoilers

[naseby · 1/10 · 26 August 2015]

I don't know HOW this ever got to be made, despite the stalwarts of British cinema/familiar faces, plus, off the top of my head in 1967, Freddie and the Dreamers, had used up any popularity they had by then. They produced dire songs here too.This really was an awful script and acting in a vain attempt to capitalise on the 'pop-stars-into-film' genre, especially really limited to 60s bands. This is really forgettable and not pleasant, or funny in any way. It had to be viewed though as 'part' of this genre, in my book, but I regretted every minute of it, even though the actors I've said, had 'support'. 'The 'gang' are just that, a troupe of Boy Scouts unwittingly helping and then foiling a couple of robbers. Do yourself a favour - give it miss, promise! Saw this recently, on the new UK satellite channel TalkingPictures.

Yes. This film was certainly released.

[loza-1 · 22 May 2005]

In answer to another comment from someone who wondered whether this film had been released, I can assure him/her that it was. I remember seeing the photographs outside a London cinema around 1967 or 1968. If I remember correctly, Freddie Garity was dressed as a boy scout. As a boy scout myself at the time I can tell you that each troop is divided into patrols, and that each patrol is named after an animal or a bird.

By that time, Freddie and the Dreamers were past their sell-by date. I did not want to see an overgrown Freddie playing a boy scout, so it did not take much willpower to resist the urge to enter the cinema.

With hindsight, I can see that Freddie and Co were unique in rock music, and were a better band than people give them credit for. But, at the time, pop stars were put in films that were usually absolute crap. The only film of this kind that I have found impressive is Adam Faith in Mix Me a Person.

Rubbish

[Shropslad · 1/10 · 17 February 2016]

I watch all genre of films, even if I see bad reviews. I like to make my own mind up. But this film is nothing but an absolute disaster and I find it very embarrassing to say I'm British. Never been a big Kenneth Connor fan and this has done him no favours at all. His acting, if you can call it that, is abysmal and cringe worthy. There are a few well known faces which must have felt very embarrassed to have their name associated with this drivel. Freddie and the Dreamers where more like a nightmare. This so far is the worst film I have ever seen and likely to be the only one as it will certainly take some beating. Avoid please....I have warned you!!

Is this the worst British film of the 1960s or all time?

[malcolmgsw · 1/10 · 4 May 2013]

This film is truly awful and must be one of the worst British films that i have ever had the misfortune to watch>Further more the cast contains many familiar actors from the time who must have been really hard up to have had to accept a part in this film.It is virtually plot less and contains a number of sketches connected to the fact that Freddie and his band are scouts.The only one of any interest was that involving wrestling which was still at the height of its success.In the full running time i dd not laugh once.It is a shame when there are still so many fine British films unreleased on DVD that a company decided that this was worthy of a DVD release.I gave it one out of 10 only because i cannot give it its rightful mark which is zero.

How did this film ever get made ?

[michael-bond · 1/10 · 22 October 2019]

This must surely be a candidate for the worst film ever : certainly the worst British film, the worst sixties film, and the most unfunny 'comedy'. Freddie and the Dreamers were never big enough stars to carry a film and in any case were by 1967 when the film appeared, already past their use by date. There isn't a single decent 'gag' in the whole sorry mess, the 'acting' is uniformly dire and the likes of John le Mesurier must surely have been embarrassed to be associated with it. If I say that Kenneth Connor (of 'Carry On' fame) was taking a step DOWN in terms of quality and subtlety to appear in this appalling drivel, it might convey how truly awful it is. It's a mystery how it even got made, let alone released. Excruciatingly poor.

Not the best film I have ever seen.

[Stephen-50 · 1/10 · 11 June 1999]

This is not the best film I have ever seen, however, it may well be the worst. Weak story, and some of the worst acting ever. The print was in excellent condition after 34 years, has it ever been screened, or was this rubbish never released?

In the unlikely event that you ever get the chance to see it, do, it is an experience you will not forget!

Made for Children

[Egbert802 · 5/10 · 6 May 2021]

I cannot understand all the damming reviews here - by adults.

This is a children's film, so of course adults are not going to necessarily find it funny. My 8 year old son really enjoyed it - in the same slapstick way I enjoyed Punch and Judy as a kid. There are quite a few famous faces in this film, and I thought it was well put together as a sort of loony/panto mish mash children's comedy.

I would rather they watched this than some of the dark and disturbing rubbish thats put on today!

Dross!

[geoffm60295 · 1/10 · 4 March 2020]

I watched the first 40 minutes of this film, but the acting, storyline and dialogue was so abysmal I gave up on it. The notion of adults marching around, dressed as Boy Scouts, was never going to be funny! By 1967, Freddy and Dreamers had already become yesterday's pop stars, and their silly & goofy antics on stage, did not translate well to the big screen. I'm not quite sure how this film ever got made! This film is frankly a piece of embarrassing dross! Give it a big miss!

Terrible Film

[keithb-90067 · 4 June 2021]

Being a fan of sixties music and the associated bands, I wondered how I had missed this film. I now know why, its rubbish. It must have sunk without trace on its release.

Whilst there is stella cast of fine comedic talents, they are wasted in this turkey. Makes me wonder how much they got paid and was it worth it.

Freddy was still entertaining in the 1980s-90s so a lot of drivel has been mentioned about him here he made this film because he was an entertIner that was his job

[terrydalley-24095 · 5/10 · 2 January 2021]

Freddy was still in entertaining in the 1980s-90s he made ghis film because it was was he did ; all entertainers made Lulus and should not be judged on these things alone . i think he did the best job he could with script he had to work with ,if it did not work i do not think it was because of his effort to suceed