Gonks Go Beat
Encyclopedia
Gonks Go Beat is a 1965
British science fiction/musical fantasy film, directed by Robert Hartford-Davis
and starring Kenneth Connor
and Frank Thornton
. The film is loosely based on the Romeo and Juliet
storyline and features 16 musical numbers performed by a variety of artists, including Lulu
, The Nashville Teens
and, somewhat incongruously, members of the Graham Bond Organisation
including Ginger Baker
, Jack Bruce
and Dick Heckstall-Smith
. Other musical contributors were – and remained – obscure, although a curiosity for viewers in the British Isles is an appearance by a young Derek Thompson (now known as Charlie Fairhead in the long-running BBC series Casualty
) performing with his twin sister Elaine. The title highlights the fad
for gonk
s in mid 1960s Great Britain.
. Their counterparts on Ballad Isle keep their hair short and tidy, wear button-down shirts and pressed slacks or floral dresses and twinset
s, and listen exclusively to crooners. A musical competition is staged annually between the two sides, overseen by the neutral and powerful record company executive Mr. A&R (Thornton). For the rest of the year they regard each other with suspicion and antipathy, although they are not above sneaking into each other's territory to steal musical ideas.
Meanwhile the overlords of a far-flung galaxy have been observing the squabblings and goings-on on Planet Earth with increasing exasperation. Finally their patience with the earthlings is pushed beyond its limit and they decide to send their bungling representative Wilco Roger (Connor) to sort the situation out and bring about a reconciliation between the parties, with the warning that if he fails he will be exiled to Planet Gonk
, a fearsome and dreaded place where spherical furry soft toys shuffle around all day listening to Dixieland jazz
.
On arrival Wilco Roger makes contact with Mr. A&R. They are aware of a forbidden romance between a Beatland boy and a Ballad Isle girl, and use a combination of Mr. A&R's cunning and Wilco Roger's mystical powers to enable the couple to get together without fear and come up with a musical composition which will be acceptable to both sides. The time for the annual competition comes around, and the inhabitants are appalled when the Beatland boy and the Ballad Isle girl take to the stage together. However their song "Takes Two to Make Love" turns out to be the hit of the night, loved by both sides of the musical divide. Mr. A&R declares it the unquestioned winner and orders an end to the silliness as it has now been proved that everyone can live together and learn to appreciate all types of music.
, particularly appreciated by connoisseurs of the "so-bad-it's-good" genre. Its attractions include the absurdly silly storyline, cheap, cramped and wobbly cardboard sets, clunkily unfunny comic dialogue, a general air of amateurish ineptitude and the embarrassing spectacle of middle-aged actors such as Connor and Thornton obviously all-at-sea in this would-be "trendy" setting. The film was released on DVD in the UK in 2007 by Optimum Home Entertainment, who tipped the wink to its intended audience by describing it as "the Plan 9 from Outer Space
of film musicals".
1965 in film
The year 1965 in film involved some significant events, with The Sound of Music topping the U.S. box office.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :Academy Awards:...
British science fiction/musical fantasy film, directed by Robert Hartford-Davis
Robert Hartford-Davis
Robert Hartford-Davis was a British born producer, director and writer, who worked on film and television in both in the United Kingdom and United States. He is also sometimes credited as Michael Burrowes or Robert Hartford....
and starring Kenneth Connor
Kenneth Connor
Kenneth Connor MBE was an English comedy stage, radio, film and TV actor, best known for his appearances in the Carry On films.-Career:...
and Frank Thornton
Frank Thornton
Frank Thornton is an English actor who is best known for playing Captain Peacock in Are You Being Served? and its sequel Grace & Favour and as Truly in Last of the Summer Wine.-Early life:...
. The film is loosely based on the Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers.Romeo and Juliet belongs to a...
storyline and features 16 musical numbers performed by a variety of artists, including Lulu
Lulu (singer)
Lulu Kennedy-Cairns, OBE , best known by her stage name Lulu, is a Scottish singer, actress, and television personality who has been successful in the entertainment business from the 1960s through to the present day...
, The Nashville Teens
The Nashville Teens
The Nashville Teens are a British pop band formed in Weybridge, Surrey in Summer 1962.-History:Arthur Sharp began his career in music as the manager of Aerco Records in Woking, Surrey...
and, somewhat incongruously, members of the Graham Bond Organisation
Graham Bond
Graham John Clifton Bond was an English musician, considered a founding father of the English rhythm and blues boom of the 1960s....
including Ginger Baker
Ginger Baker
Peter Edward "Ginger" Baker is an English drummer, best known for his work with Cream and Blind Faith. He is also known for his numerous associations with World music, mainly the use of African influences...
, Jack Bruce
Jack Bruce
John Symon Asher "Jack" Bruce is a Scottish musician and songwriter, respected as a founding member of the British psychedelic rock power trio, Cream, for a solo career that spans several decades, and for his participation in several well-known musical ensembles...
and Dick Heckstall-Smith
Dick Heckstall-Smith
Dick Heckstall-Smith was an English jazz and blues saxophonist. He played with some of the most important English blues-rock and jazz fusion bands of the 1960s and 1970s.-Early years:...
. Other musical contributors were – and remained – obscure, although a curiosity for viewers in the British Isles is an appearance by a young Derek Thompson (now known as Charlie Fairhead in the long-running BBC series Casualty
Casualty (TV series)
Casualty, stylised as Casual+y, is a British weekly television show broadcast on BBC One, and the longest-running emergency medical drama television series in the world. Created by Jeremy Brock and Paul Unwin, it was first broadcast on 6 September 1986, and transmitted in the UK on BBC One. The...
) performing with his twin sister Elaine. The title highlights the fad
FAD
In biochemistry, flavin adenine dinucleotide is a redox cofactor involved in several important reactions in metabolism. FAD can exist in two different redox states, which it converts between by accepting or donating electrons. The molecule consists of a riboflavin moiety bound to the phosphate...
for gonk
Gonk
A gonk is a small, furry, soft toy that was popular in the 1960s, created by artist Robert Benson and Sheila Stanton. They were egg-shaped and had small arms and legs. An inflatable vinyl version was sold in America....
s in mid 1960s Great Britain.
Plot
At a point in the distant future, the inhabitants of Planet Earth have become divided into two factions who despise each other. In Beatland live the hip and trendy people who have long hair, dress in turtlenecks, jeans and sunglasses and listen to cool beat musicBeat music
Beat music, British beat, or Merseybeat is a pop and rock music genre that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1960s. Beat music is a fusion of rock and roll, doo wop, skiffle, R&B and soul...
. Their counterparts on Ballad Isle keep their hair short and tidy, wear button-down shirts and pressed slacks or floral dresses and twinset
Twinset
A twinset, twin set or sweater-set is a matching set of a cardigan and a short-sleeved jumper|pullover . The twinset first appeared in the 1940s, but is now considered a classic wardrobe staple. - Description :...
s, and listen exclusively to crooners. A musical competition is staged annually between the two sides, overseen by the neutral and powerful record company executive Mr. A&R (Thornton). For the rest of the year they regard each other with suspicion and antipathy, although they are not above sneaking into each other's territory to steal musical ideas.
Meanwhile the overlords of a far-flung galaxy have been observing the squabblings and goings-on on Planet Earth with increasing exasperation. Finally their patience with the earthlings is pushed beyond its limit and they decide to send their bungling representative Wilco Roger (Connor) to sort the situation out and bring about a reconciliation between the parties, with the warning that if he fails he will be exiled to Planet Gonk
Gonk
A gonk is a small, furry, soft toy that was popular in the 1960s, created by artist Robert Benson and Sheila Stanton. They were egg-shaped and had small arms and legs. An inflatable vinyl version was sold in America....
, a fearsome and dreaded place where spherical furry soft toys shuffle around all day listening to Dixieland jazz
Dixieland Jazz
Dixieland Jazz was a Canadian music television series which aired on CBC Television in 1954.-Premise:The series host was Trump Davidson, a cornet player. He also hosted a radio music series on CBC's Trans-Canada Network.-Scheduling:...
.
On arrival Wilco Roger makes contact with Mr. A&R. They are aware of a forbidden romance between a Beatland boy and a Ballad Isle girl, and use a combination of Mr. A&R's cunning and Wilco Roger's mystical powers to enable the couple to get together without fear and come up with a musical composition which will be acceptable to both sides. The time for the annual competition comes around, and the inhabitants are appalled when the Beatland boy and the Ballad Isle girl take to the stage together. However their song "Takes Two to Make Love" turns out to be the hit of the night, loved by both sides of the musical divide. Mr. A&R declares it the unquestioned winner and orders an end to the silliness as it has now been proved that everyone can live together and learn to appreciate all types of music.
Reputation
Gonks Go Beat was widely ridiculed on its original release as being so ill-advised and botched in execution as to have no appeal to any cinema audience demographic, whether of the younger or older generation. However in later years it has acquired a reputation as a cult filmCult film
A cult film, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a highly devoted but specific group of fans. Often, cult movies have failed to achieve fame outside the small fanbases; however, there have been exceptions that have managed to gain fame among mainstream audiences...
, particularly appreciated by connoisseurs of the "so-bad-it's-good" genre. Its attractions include the absurdly silly storyline, cheap, cramped and wobbly cardboard sets, clunkily unfunny comic dialogue, a general air of amateurish ineptitude and the embarrassing spectacle of middle-aged actors such as Connor and Thornton obviously all-at-sea in this would-be "trendy" setting. The film was released on DVD in the UK in 2007 by Optimum Home Entertainment, who tipped the wink to its intended audience by describing it as "the Plan 9 from Outer Space
Plan 9 from Outer Space
Plan 9 from Outer Space is a 1959 science fiction film written and directed by Edward D. Wood, Jr. The film features Gregory Walcott, Mona McKinnon, Tor Johnson and Maila "Vampira" Nurmi...
of film musicals".
Cast
- Kenneth ConnorKenneth ConnorKenneth Connor MBE was an English comedy stage, radio, film and TV actor, best known for his appearances in the Carry On films.-Career:...
as Wilco Roger - Frank ThorntonFrank ThorntonFrank Thornton is an English actor who is best known for playing Captain Peacock in Are You Being Served? and its sequel Grace & Favour and as Truly in Last of the Summer Wine.-Early life:...
as Mr. A&R - Barbara Brown as Helen
- Iain Gregory as Steve
- Terry ScottTerry ScottOwen John "Terry" Scott was an English actor and comedian who appeared in seven Carry On films. He also appeared in BBC1's popular domestic sitcom Terry and June with June Whitfield...
as PM - Reginald BeckwithReginald BeckwithReginald Beckwith was a British film and television actor, who made almost one hundred film and television appearances in his career.-Filmography:* Freedom Radio * Scott of the Antarctic...
as Professor - Jerry DesmondeJerry DesmondeJerry Desmonde was an English stage musical, film, and television actor principally in comedies and drama. He is probably best known as a straight man to Norman Wisdom.Jerry is sometimes credited as Jerry Desmond....
as Great Galaxian - Arthur MullardArthur MullardArthur Ernest Mullard, original surname Mullord was an English comedy actor.- Early life :...
as Drum Master - Pamela Donald as Tutor
- Gillian French as Beatland Prime Minister
- Babs Lord as Beat Girl
- LuluLulu (singer)Lulu Kennedy-Cairns, OBE , best known by her stage name Lulu, is a Scottish singer, actress, and television personality who has been successful in the entertainment business from the 1960s through to the present day...
as Herself - The Nashville TeensThe Nashville TeensThe Nashville Teens are a British pop band formed in Weybridge, Surrey in Summer 1962.-History:Arthur Sharp began his career in music as the manager of Aerco Records in Woking, Surrey...
as Themselves - Ginger BakerGinger BakerPeter Edward "Ginger" Baker is an English drummer, best known for his work with Cream and Blind Faith. He is also known for his numerous associations with World music, mainly the use of African influences...
as Himself - Jack BruceJack BruceJohn Symon Asher "Jack" Bruce is a Scottish musician and songwriter, respected as a founding member of the British psychedelic rock power trio, Cream, for a solo career that spans several decades, and for his participation in several well-known musical ensembles...
as Himself - Graham BondGraham BondGraham John Clifton Bond was an English musician, considered a founding father of the English rhythm and blues boom of the 1960s....
as Himself - Dick Heckstall-SmithDick Heckstall-SmithDick Heckstall-Smith was an English jazz and blues saxophonist. He played with some of the most important English blues-rock and jazz fusion bands of the 1960s and 1970s.-Early years:...
as Himself - John McLaughlinJohn McLaughlin (musician)John McLaughlin , also known as Mahavishnu John McLaughlin, is an English guitarist, bandleader and composer...
as Himself - Derek Thompson as Singer
External links
- Gonks Go Beat at BFI Film & TV Database