What's Good For The Goose (also known as Girl Trouble and What's Good for the Gander), is a 1969 British comedy film writter directed by Menahem Golan and starring Norman Wisdom and Sally Geeson.[1][2][3] It was written by Wisdom and Golan and produced by Tony Tenser.
| What's Good for the Goose | |
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| Directed by | Menahem Golan |
| Written by |
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| Produced by | Tony Tenser |
| Starring |
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| Cinematography | William Brayne |
| Edited by | Dennis Lanning |
| Music by | Ken Howard |
| Distributed by | Tigon British Film Productions |
Release date |
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Running time |
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| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
The film features pop music by Electric Banana, otherwise known as the Pretty Things.
Plot
editNorman Wisdom plays a 50-something assistant bank manager called Timothy Bartlett whose working life and marriage in London have become lacklustre. After the death of his superior, he is sent in his place to a bankers' conference in Southport, and he gives a lift to two fun-loving female students, Meg and Nikki. Initially annoyed by them, he ends up becoming interested in Nikki. Wandering around to find something to do one night, he ends up meeting her, at a Mod Band venue where the band The Pretty Things are playing. After this, she comes back to his hotel where they spend the night together.
The following day, during the conference, he can only think of her. He abandons his work responsibilities to have a perfect day with her, taking in all the seaside amusements and recapturing his youthful energy. He tells her he has fallen in love with her and rents a 'love nest' for them. Her friend tries to warn him not to get too serious, as Nikki doesn't want a relationship. He comes back to their love nest, only to find all the hippies are hanging out there having sex, and have vandalised it. When he goes to the bedroom, he finds that Nikki is in bed with another man of her own age. Her friend Meg tells him he was just a two-day novelty for her and she has already moved on to someone her own age, and that's the nature of the free love scene.
However, inspired by the time he has spent there, he invites his wife to join him at the resort. She doesn't recognise him when he meets her at the airport, as he is now wearing counterculture scene clothing. He takes her to buy "young" clothes, and goes off with her to the places Nikki and he had gone to where he had such a good time. They replicate the perfect day he had with Nikki, though his wife doesn't enjoy everything as much as Nikki did. He finds he can have (almost) as much enjoyment with his wife, and ultimately, the couple embrace dressing "young" and doing cool now things.
Cast
edit- Norman Wisdom as Timothy Bartlett
- Sally Geeson as Nikki
- Sarah Atkinson as Meg
- Sally Bazely as Margaret Bartlett
- Stuart Nichol as bank manager
- Derek Francis as Harrington
- Terence Alexander as Frisby
- Paul Whitsun-Jones as Clark
- David Lodge as porter
- Karl Lanchbury as Pete
- Hilary Pritchard as cashier in discotheque
Production
editThere was also a German dubbed version of the film titles Öfter mal was Junges!! This is 27 minutes shorter than the UK version running to 75 minutes instead of 102 minutes. It contains alternative longer versions of the hotel bedroom scenes in which Sally Geeson is topless rather than remaining in her bra as she does in the UK print (which is the generally available version). The text in the opening credits is completely redone in German over the same unfettered film sequence as in the UK version meaning it must have been prepared concurrently.
The film uses locations around the Southport area, including the Birkdale Palace Hotel.
Reception
editThe Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Norman Wisdom joins the flower people in what must be a strong candidate for the worst British comedy for some considerable time. Wisdom's brand of little man pathos – in his previous films merely embarrassing – is here grotesque beyond belief, whether he is narcissistically flexing his sagging muscles before leaping into bed with a giggling teenage dolly, prancing insanely over sand dunes in breathless celebration of his rejuvenation, or cavorting round a hideous discotheque in a painfully unfunny attempt to persuade the inmates that he's still young at heart. The rest is a catalogue of disaster: dialogue of indescribable inanity, appallingly crude performances from most of the supporting players, and colour which looks as though it has been processed in a mud bath. And the Israeli director (previously responsible for such horrors as Seduced in Sodom) adds insult to injury by periodically inserting bits of pointless speeded-up motion. Ugh. He,"[4]
References
edit- ^ "What's Good for the Goose". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 19 August 2024.
- ^ John Hamilton, Beasts in the Cellar: The Exploitation Film Career of Tony Tenser, Fab Press, 2005 p 126-127
- ^ Simon Sheridan, Keeping the British End Up: Four Decades of Saucy Cinema, Titan Books 2011 p 61-63
- ^ "What's Good for the Goose". The Monthly Film Bulletin. 36 (420): 108. 1 January 1969 – via ProQuest.