This is one of those sixties movies which no one paid much attention to it when it first arrived. The story is a much copied one, boy meets girl. Boy does everything for girl. Girl could care less. What is overlooked is the late great Roddy McDowall, plays Alan 'Mollymauk' Musgrave, the brilliant but love starved high school student. He extends so much ease of performance into the part, one accepts him as perfect for the role. He is. Barbara Ann Greene (Tuesday Weld) plays his intended and is surprisingly apt in her role as the pretty but ditsy, featherbrain, self-absorbed girlfriend. There are many films in which McDowall stars in and he is good with both the major role and the bit part. This film allows the bit to become immense. Chasing his dream girl through her wants and wishes, becomes a serious time consuming task and alarmingly dangerous, but for love, Alan sees very little difficulty in the pursuit. When his efforts produce intended and unintended results, the story becomes a macabre exercise in the why of the 'Dark' side of human nature. Here Roddy is in his element as the audience seeks to know the answer as well. Ruth Gordon befriends Alan and unwittingly aids the young lover to a curtain dropping finale. If not a Classic film, this has certainly become a cult picture. Great Movie for McDowall fans. ***
Review of Lord Love a Duck
