Lord Love a Duck (1966)

John Waters without the oomph

Granted, it WAS the '60s, but that's no excuse for this heavy-handed satire. You'll want to soundly slap just about everyone involved in it (well, except for the wondrous Ruth Gordon).

I figured this to be a last-ditch attempt to make a teen idol of sad old queen Roddy McDowell.

Many of the scenes, especially those involving Tuesday Weld and her "father," have a real John Waters feel -- I found myself wondering if the Master of Sleaze had seen this abortion of a movie.

Make like it's the '60s again and watch it high -- otherwise, you won't be able to stomach it. September 17, 2007

McDowall, Weld and Gordon salvage this disjointed mess

This movie tries to be a brilliant satirical comedy, but it fails almost as often as it succeeds -- and a few of the failures are downright painful to watch. E.g. the scene of a father lusting after his daughter, to the point of moaning and drooling, tries to be funny, or bizarre, or something, but comes off simply as what it is: horribly creepy and perverted.

Also, the direction in this film isn't just bad, for the most part it's non-existent. Fortunately with Weld, McDowall and Gordon at the acting helm, the lack of direction isn't fatal. September 13, 2007

What's It All About?

What's it all about? That's a good question. Perhaps the insignificance of our mercenary aspirations as we get older compared to just enjoying life when we are young and innocent is what director and writer George Axelrod had in mind. Roddy McDowall brilliantly plays the man of wisdom way beyond the youthful body that hosts his knowledge of what is truly important in our lives.
January 12, 2007

Flawed, Highly Recommended

Hey-hey-hey! This "crazy" film helped me stay sane. KTLA TV in Los Angeles used to play it on a semi-regular basis in the bleary-eyed hours of the morning. That's when Lord Love a Duck first did its magic and made me see the light. Of course, since then, it's been on VHS and DVD (with a bonus auto-bio on director George Axelrod), so now there's no excuse but to put aside everything and see this movie now.

Just off the top, there's nothing quite as satisfyingly bent as the father & daughter go cashmere sweater shopping sequence. It defies print. For that achievement alone I would give the film 5 stars! Fortunately though, there's lots more to appreciate.

As much as I LOVE "Love a Duck", it does have its flaws. The comic momentum sags a bit in the middle, especially the lead-up and suicide committed by Barbara Anne's mother. That's where the smart and darkly-styled comedy veers into staid drama. And mixed-genres do have way of going afoul (or a-FOWL, in this case). But this was Axelrod's first go as a director and there are way more gains than losses here. His anarchistic approach is, after all, consistent with the theme and persona of lead character Maulymuck, played by McDowall.

When discussing movies, I often recommend that people see this film and they almost never know what I'm talking about. Lord Love a Duck falls undeservedly off the radar. I think this is due to its unique but worthy quirks which seem to broadside people's expectations. How do you place LLAD in term of its' antecedents or influences on other films? --best not to. Its humor is spread subtly and not hung up on a single peg. It's not that easily "branded" -- the most overused buzz-word of the last decade.

The Lord Love a Duck soundtrack by Neil Hefty is a great find too, if you can fish it out of Ebay. July 7, 2005

This DUCK Was Better The Second Time Around

Just to see Tuesday Weld (never better!), Roddy McDowall (rarely better)and Ruth Gordon (always wonderful, no matter what she's in) romp through this comic mess is worth the price of the DVD, and then some. I saw this film when it came out in the 60s and didn't like it much, but bought the DVD hoping I might find more in it than I did as a teenager. Turns out I really enjoyed it the second time around. It makes fun of a lot of different things and has an edge about it in the process. School, school administrators, authority figures, parents, shrinks, teenagers, consumerism, fame, dating, social snobism---you name it and it's a target. There are several scenes that are laugh-out-loud funny: Tuesday Weld going out with her father (she lives with her divorced mother), first to a drive-in fast food joint and then on a sweater-buying shopping spree; Harvey Korman in all his scenes. (By the way, what I really find interesting about 60s films is how much people smoked and drank, even in comedies. Lola Albright, very good as Weld's cocktail-waitress mother, just pours herself a stiff one when things get tough. It's almost jarring how that type of on-screen behavior has changed over the last 40 years.) In any event, this is an inconsistent but highly enjoyable film from the "crazy" 60s.








August 2, 2004

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