For its first 20 minutes, `Lord Love a Duck' plays like a comedy. It's got a manic, staccato rhythm I associate with beach blanket movies. But a comedy it is not. The protagonist is a high school senior, Mollymauk, played by a very adult Roddy McDowell. A genius and martial arts expert, Mollymauk appoints himself the benefactor of the school beauty, played by Tuesday Weld. Both have their share of emotional problems, and they soon form an odd relationship.
Throughout the movie, there's an ongoing stream of zany events, centered mostly on the lame activities of the principal (a young Harvey Korman) of the kids' progressive Southern California high school. But the sociopathic nature of Mollymauk's support to Weld gives the movie a very creepy undertone, to say the least. This is an odd, difficult to categorize movie and surely must have a narrow audience. I sure didn't understand it.
Throughout the movie, there's an ongoing stream of zany events, centered mostly on the lame activities of the principal (a young Harvey Korman) of the kids' progressive Southern California high school. But the sociopathic nature of Mollymauk's support to Weld gives the movie a very creepy undertone, to say the least. This is an odd, difficult to categorize movie and surely must have a narrow audience. I sure didn't understand it.