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Lord Love a Duck (1966)

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40 comments in total

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28 out of 34 people found the following comment useful :-
This Movie Haunts Me, 13 August 2000
Author: whiterat1

I first watched this movie about one year ago without knowing anything about it other than what is written on the back of the video box. Since that first viewing this movie has...well...haunted me. I can't get the theme song out of my head for one thing. The movie itself is a bizarre story about Southern California teens in the Sixties, but read the other reviews to learn about that. I agree with all of them. It is a great movie for all those reasons but there also seems to be something else. Almost a Felliniesque other-worldliness about it. I haven't been quite able to put my finger on it. Maybe that is why this movie has burned itself into my brain. There is some kind of, for lack of a better word, magical element to it. It is interesting to me how the other reviewers see this as a very important movie in their lives as well. It is a great film discovery on all levels. One of those overlooked gems that it is so important to hang onto.

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23 out of 26 people found the following comment useful :-
One of a kind black comedy., 8 March 1999

Author: tim sexton (timsexton@mailcity.com) from Pensacola, Fl.

This film is a brilliant black comedy on par with Dr. Strangelove and that's not being hyperbolic. It's incredible that this film is unknown, it ought to at least be a cult favorite. By turns strange, hilarious, bizarre and even moving, if you haven't seen this you should. It is unlike any movie I've ever seen. I first saw it when I was a teenager when it came on an afternoon movie showing. (This was before the afternoon dial was filled up with Jerry Springer and his ilk.) I'm sure at least twenty minutes to a half hour were cut out of it to make room for commercials but I knew instantly this was something special. Something different. Something that touched a nerve where other movies had completely passed me by. And as if that weren't enough, the scene with Tuesday Weld going shopping for sweaters is my choice for the single most erotic scene in the history of movies. Get it. Watch it. Consider yourself a cut above the rest because you are in for something special.

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23 out of 27 people found the following comment useful :-
A TRULY brilliant satire on American culture., 17 April 1999

Author: Joseph Harder (jah5y@virginia.edu) from warren michigan

The early nineteen sixties were the great age of black comic satire in American cinema. Everyone remembers Doctor Strangelove and The Nutty Professor and Lolita and One Two Three and The Loved One.In a sense, this neglected masterpiece was the culmination. Even though Axelrod wasn't a genius like Kubrick or Wilder, this film hits its target just as unerringly. Think of it as a darker, much more savage Rushmore, in which almost all the false Gods of our civilization - phony preachers, psychoanalysis, public "education",consumerism, youth 'culture',- are weighed in the scales and found wanting. Roddy Mcdowall and Tuesday Weld give two of the great comic perfomances. Indeed, Mcdowall is inspirational to any would-be anarchist. Should be seen - and discussed - more often. Scorsese once listed this film among his "guilty pleasures": He has nothing to be guilty about-this is wonderful

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21 out of 24 people found the following comment useful :-
Definitely worth seeing once, just for the off-the-wall goings-on., 15 November 2004
Author: Poseidon-3 from Cincinnati, OH

The darkest of black comedies, this odd curio is likely to delight some viewers while leaving others completely cold. McDowall is an odd duck of a high school student (the fact that the actor was 37 doesn't seem to matter in the film's lopsided world!) who fixates on Weld, a pretty fellow student who is used to being popular, but worries about her future at the all new Consolidated High. Soon, McDowall is somehow making every wish of Weld's come true from acquiring a baker's dozen angora sweaters to getting married and beyond! His omnipotent presence is welcome at first, but after a while becomes problematic. The bizarre, but ingratiating film creates a world of its own where fathers melt like butter before their nubile daughters, Principals break pencils in their mouths at the sight of pretty coeds and disapproving mothers-in-law are dealt with through the end of a booze bottle. Actually, these points are some of the most realistic in the film! Try an evangelist who delivers his message through the speakers of a drive-in movie or a house with a living room so cavernous that there's a distinct echo-effect during conversation! Quirky touches abound throughout, some enjoyable (the curvy teens dancing ala "Beach Party", the surreal luncheon with Weld's dad), some not (those annoying glimpses of boom mikes, intended or not.) McDowall (covered in makeup!) gives a strange, but intriguing performance. Weld is infectiously lovely and engrossing. Her hair alone, is deliriously sexy. Albright is wonderful and alternately hilarious and touching as Weld's cocktail waitress mother. Gordon, good or bad, is the Gordon that audiences have come to expect. Korman (in a role that screams for the talents of Paul Lynde) does a decent job as an excited Principal. West is adequate as the hapless guy who falls for Weld and pays the price. The title tune is catchy, though a tad overused. This isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea, but it's a refreshingly different spin on the teen movies typically seen in the 1960's and a knowing glimpse into the old adage "Be careful what you wish for".

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16 out of 17 people found the following comment useful :-
Strange, super-smart subversive black comedy, 8 July 2002

Author: LesHalles from Los Angeles

What strikes me most about this film is its intelligence. The main character, nicknamed Mollymauk after a bird, is a genius, with deep understanding of science, martial arts (he can kick ass), psychology (he can manipulate people at will and hypnotizes Tuesday Weld's character), etc.

McDowall plays the main charcter Alan, nicknamed Mollymauk after a South African duck, THALASSARCHE MELANOPHRYS, in love with the popular Barbara Ann (Tuesday Weld in tight sweaters). At times he is shot in profile making his nose look beak-like. He does a great job, and makes the movie believable.

Although it is a comedy, and has plenty of funny moments, what meant most to me was its criticism of a society which fosters selfishness and lacks any authentic empathy, and its portrayal of Alan's deep love for and devotion to Barbara Ann, which causes him to use his almost super-power level problem-solving and social-engineering skills to fulfill her wishes and dreams without expecting anything in return.

The film is great for its insights into human nature and its parody of conventional high school education and of society. It is well worth seeing, but the main character is complex and not completely sympathetic. He screeches and cavorts like a bird, but instead of coming across as wild and beautiful, he sounds twisted and in pain- which he is, like any adolescent who longs for love, intimacy and understanding but doesn't get any. He seems to create a cult about his his own character, often referring to himself in the third person as Mollymauk. His manipulation and control of others is disturbing as well, even though many people treat each other this way, and so the film has a disturbing effect- it's not a "feel-good" movie.

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14 out of 15 people found the following comment useful :-
Ahead of Its Time, 26 November 2001

Author: JasonS-5 from Baltimore, MD

I put this movie in a category with other slightly anarchic anti-establishment movies such as "The Graduate," "If..." and "The Magic Christian." The only difference is that it pre-dates all of them. Being the first of its kind, its a slightly awkward film that doesn't always know what to do with itself. There are plenty of holes in the plot, and, if its a comedy the dramatic scenes are too strident, if its a drama then it is all done with too much flippancy.

On the whole, though, I really enjoyed it. I don't claim to be an expert on the culture of the mid-sixties, but it tackles a lot of topics that seemed to be taboo at the time, like Marie's death, and their rather self-conscious use of the word prostitute.

The acting is all excellent, I was particularly impressed with Tuesday Weld's performance. I had never really thought of her as anything more than the vapid lead to a bunch of teen movies, but I was really surprised at what a good actress she was. Roddy McDowall is excellent as Mollymauk, but the uneveness of the film doesn't do the character justice, and you get the feeling with a little more work on the plot and the pacing, he could have made the film hysterical.

Anyway, it was a good film, particularly impressive when you think of it as the prototype of a genre of film which is still being produced today.

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13 out of 15 people found the following comment useful :-
A wonderful weird little movie that's one of my favorites., 7 June 2000
Author: roarshock from Oregon USA

I saw this movie in the theater as an eleven-year-old boy, and maybe once on tv more than two decades ago, and it's always remained one of my favorite flicks. I was ecstatic when my sister finally found it for me on video. And after watching it many many times now, I like it just as much, but find it harder than ever to classify. It has: low production values, a love story, teens at the beach, low-budget hijinks, tragedy, sardonic wit, depth and subtlety, really dark parts of the soul, and a wonderfully catchy-shlockly theme song. But all these elements are so wickedly blended that I'm not always sure what's simply a stupid joke and what is jabbing me roughly in my subconscious. It was written, produced and directed by George Axelrod, who has some weighty credentials, including writing and producing "The Manchurian Candidate", so the movie's superficial resemblance to a very cheap 60s teen flick is deceptive, though it's great fun on that level. But the fun parts always carry jagged unseen edges, and any serious commentary is always done wildly tongue-in-cheek. I can't predict who might like this flick, it is too distinctive to categorize, but if you're the type to gamble on an unknown movie that could become a personal lifetime favorite, check this one out.

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10 out of 11 people found the following comment useful :-
See it!, 13 January 2003
Author: (barbarella70@yahoo.com) from madison, wi

The only director I've heard give credit to this great '60's film is John Landis but this strange-funny-dark-satirical-dramatic spoof was ahead of its time -like The Loved One or Dr. Strangelove- and had to have been an influence on many others. LLAD is an adult 'teen' movie that effectively slashes what was popular fodder for teen movies -the Beach Party series, bad low-budget horror films, bad low-budget sex dramas, bad low-budget high-school comedies, etc.

Tuesday Weld as Barbara Ann gives her best performance and her scenes with Lola Albright (amazing as her bunny-suited cocktail waitress mother) make them one of the most unusual mother/daughter pairings of all time. Max Showalter -so great as the singing priest with the old housekeeper in Blake Edwards's 10- has a very funny/creepy scene as Tuesday's dad, Ruth Gordon shows off her marvelous oh-what-the-hell-I'll-do-it persona and who knew Roddy McDowell was that sexy? LLAD is more than just a buried '60's curio: it's an overlooked classic that paved the way for most underground filmmakers looking to break the ice.

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6 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
Lord Love A Boom Mike!, 25 August 2001
Author: fowler-1 from Metairie, LA

First time I saw this I could hardly believe the many, many visible boom mikes throughout the film. Loved the picture regardless, and now I've come to accept those boom mikes as characters as central to LORD LOVE A DUCK's frazzled beauty as Roddy McDowall & Tuesday Weld, its stars.

Most knowledgeable film fans hold 70s films in reverence for their embracing of a deeper, richer reality more inspired by novels than by prior Hollywood films. 60s cinema tends to suffer by comparison: it often seems like a clumsy standoff between the death-throes of the old studios and their formulas, and the insisting beating on the door of a new, artistic, more experimental aesthetic: DUCK is one of those, subverting the soundstage-bound Mickey & Judy cliches by emulating that shot-on-indoor-sets look, with the vital modification of peopling this familiar artifical environment with the hyperAmerican grotesques who routinely populate Geo Axelrod's universe. Thus, like a lot of the best 60s movies, DUCK is part-fish, part-fowl and suffused with an atmosphere of strangeness beyond its subject matter - yet, given how Real Life in that decade similarly swayed on unsteady footing in two seperate realities, it works beautifully. And it definitely doesn't hurt that Tuesday Weld is a goddess of apple-cheeked carnality and conspicuous consumption. She may not be Everywoman exactly, but she IS Everywoman who ever dreamed of marrying Elvis, and that's good enough - like the King, you can't help falling in love with her. As has been noted, the 'cashmere sweater' scene is among the most erotic scenes ever caught on film - unnervingly so, given she's playing the scene with, and for, her father.

The movie is chockfull of scenes that similarly push black humor and social satire past the threshold of good taste or story logic; you're either going to go with it, or reject it altogether. I recommend the former: like a lot of underrated and outright ignored 60s movies that don't comfortably fit into any standard category, LORD LOVE A DUCK rewards the viewer who's willing to suspend disbelief for an hour-and-a-half with a totally absorbing and unique unreality all its own. It's a buzz you can only get from an American film made between JFK and Tricky Dick, and it's a hoot besides.

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7 out of 9 people found the following comment useful :-
What a curious movie! Pretty good, if you understand what it is about., 26 November 2001
Author: TxMike from Houston, Tx, USA, Earth

"Lord Love a Duck" is a curious title, a reference to the nickname "Mollymauk" that Roddy McDowall's character took, because it is actually an Albatross, not a duck. McDowall was 40 when this film was made, and in his 55th motion picture. Yet, he plays a brainy, pencil-neck geek who is valedictorian of his high school graduating class. Tuesday Weld, better known for her role in the old Dobie Gillis TV show around 1960, is the cute, young aspiring starlet who is a bit spacy. And Harvey Korman plays the school principal, many years before he became a comedic star on the old Carol Burnett TV variety show.

"Lord Love a Duck" is an intelligent comedy which pokes fun at lots of things - the "teen beach" movies, high school guidance counselors, Hollywood writers and producers, those sorts of things. Tuesday Weld was actually in one of those films, in 1960, "Sex Kittens Go To College." One of the funniest running gags is Mollymauk's attempt to "bury" Weld's new husband - trying to poison him two different times, fixing his car so the door falls off, the seat belt breaks, the steering wheel comes off, the brakes fail, until he crashes through a wall. But he survives, and Mollymauk goes insane at the high school commencement ceremony outside, trying to do him in with a front-end loader.

The film was done in black and white. The boom mike was purposely included in the frame several times. All this to add to the absurdity of the spoof. A fine film from that era, when I was in fact graduating too, but from college. "Reviewers" who trash this film simply don't understand what it is about.

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