George Axelrod’s savage 1966 satire
Lord Love a Duck had a profound influence on me when I first saw it about thirteen years ago in my early twenties. Disillusioned by college, work and everything I had been told I should want for my future, the film provided fuel for the angriest and most productive period of my life. Lately I have been feeling the same sort of disillusionment which is perhaps why the characters of the young Anarchist Mollymauk and the doomed Barbara Anne (both played with chaotic genius by Roddy McDowall and
Tuesday Weld) have been on my mind so much lately. While much has been written about the film, I still think the most profound statement concerning it comes from Axelrod’s original promotional campaign where he wrote:
"This motion picture
is against
teenagers…
their parents…
beach movies...
cars…schools…
and several hundred
other things.
It’s about
a guy living
in this insane world
who suddenly
goes stark,
raving sane
and commits
a
mass murder.
It’s a comedy…
an act of pure aggression."
Honestly, I will take
Lord Love a Duck over any other counter-culture revolutionary film from the sixties. I think it was so far ahead of its time that cinema still hasn’t caught up…
3 comments:
Never seen this, but you have me intrigued. Hope it's better than The Strawberry Statement.
Never even heard of this, but it looks and sounds fascinating. Nice caps!
Thanks guys,
I think it is a really special film and I hope you will both check it out.
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