Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Tuesday's Forgotten Movies,THE KNACK-And How to Get It.




In my continuing attempts to resurrect public memory of Rita Tushingham's fabulous films of the sixties, here is THE KNACK from 1965 (Dir: Richard Lester). It concerns a young man's irresistible charms and whether such a skill can be passed on. Rita plays Nancy, a waif on her own in mod London who meets up with the boys.
This was Tushingham's area of expertise, playing waifs. Not classically pretty, she used her ability to play spunky yet innocent girls to great avail.

For more forgotten films, please consult Todd Mason at Sweet Freedom.

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

Patti - Oh, this is a movie I've never seen. I'm going to have to look for it...

Unknown said...

I liked this one a lot.

Anonymous said...

Good choice. No, Tushingham was never what you'd call pretty but she was (is) a good actress. And I love looking back at those scenes of "swinging London" in the mid-'60s.

Jeff M.

Anonymous said...

And Michael Crawford was very young there, long before his PHANTOM OF THE OPERA days.

Jeff M.

pattinase (abbott) said...

I wasn't sure if it was the same guy.

Anonymous said...

He was in several of those '60s movies - THE JOKERS, HOW I WON THE WAR, even HELLO DOLLY.

Jeff M.

Gerard said...

"I, too, dig it."

You're so hip, Mr. Reviewer.

iluvcinema said...

I keep seeing this pop up in my Netflix queue, so I may just have to check it out :)

Sergio (Tipping My Fedora) said...

Wonderful movie, one of my absolute favourites, from any decade. There's even a brief cameo from Charlotte Rampling in the water skiing sequence

Charles Gramlich said...

Never even heard of this one.

Erik Donald France said...

I love it!

Steve Oerkfitz said...

Should mention this is a Richard Lester film who made A Hard Days Night and Help

pattinase (abbott) said...

I certainly should have. I will add it in.

Ron Scheer said...

Interesting to remember that the Beatles emerged from this same pop culture explosion there in supposedly staid Old England...music, fashion, film, drama. Another film: DARLING, with Dirk Bogarde and Julie Christie.

pattinase (abbott) said...

DARLIING is exquisite.

Anonymous said...

You want to watch one of my favorite British (6 episode) series (we have the DVD): Frederic Ranphael's THE GLITTERING PRIZES, starring Tom Conti. One episode clearly deals with a fictional version of him writing the script for DARLING, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.

Jeff M.

pattinase (abbott) said...

Netflix won't let us join but I'll check my library.

Todd Mason said...

As I've mentioned before, funny as hell when I was eight or so...should really see it again.

Deb said...

It is from the title of this movie that The Knack ("My Sharona") got their band's name. One of their albums was even called "Get the Knack." Perhaps they are now best remembered for (sadly) knocking Disco decisively off the charts.