Watched a wonderful "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" last night on Hulu.com which featured Lola Albright and was reminded of her awesome "Babe-iliciousness"!! Checked the IMDb to see if she was still breathing (and fortunately she still is!). In passing, I glanced at her filmography and noticed LLAD. Thought I'd check out the reviews for this mess just to get a couple of chuckles. I suffered through this movie TWICE while in the Army - once in a post PX theater (had no choice - it was the only thing playing) and, in Vietnam; again, had no choice as it was the only flick in the rice paddy.
I was expecting ratings in the 2 to 3 range with exasperated commentors waxing that this film would be perfect MST3K fodder. Instead, most were in Frank Rich mode proclaiming this masterlesspiece as cerebral satire of the highest order. Oh, please! My take is totally contrary. LLAD is a second-rate "Tweener". By Tweener, I mean that Hollywood experienced a painful period beTWEEN the end of Hollywood's entertainment dominance (around 1958-60) and it's Second Golden Age commencing roughly around 1972 ("The Godfather" got the ball rolling again).
The motion picture biz hadn't yet found out how to combat TV and the America was in the midst of a cultural/social/political revolution (feminism, Vietnam, Beatles, Summer of Love, Drugs, etal). The studios were clueless on how to recapture the magic in this new era - they were desperate and ventured forth in many directions with few hits and many, many misses. Some other classic Tweeners were "Panic in Needle Park", "Casino Royale", "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad World", "Doctor Doolittle", "Hello Dolly" to name a couple or five.
Actually, LLAD doesn't really qualify as a legitimate Tweener - it was too minor. But it contained the essential characteristics: trying way too hard to be hip, relevant, trendy, madcap, satirical - and failing on all counts; and I don't not think the booms were intentional. My only pleasant memory of this film (other than "The End") was Ruth Gordon. Even though she was merely doing a warm up for the same wacky, eccentric role in "Rosemary's Baby", she was still endearing and funny.
Oh, BTW, I don't really remember the bunny mom being the luscious Lola Albright. I suspect she had better memories of her fine performance on "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" than the pretentious drivel that was (as is) "Lord Love A Duck"........
I was expecting ratings in the 2 to 3 range with exasperated commentors waxing that this film would be perfect MST3K fodder. Instead, most were in Frank Rich mode proclaiming this masterlesspiece as cerebral satire of the highest order. Oh, please! My take is totally contrary. LLAD is a second-rate "Tweener". By Tweener, I mean that Hollywood experienced a painful period beTWEEN the end of Hollywood's entertainment dominance (around 1958-60) and it's Second Golden Age commencing roughly around 1972 ("The Godfather" got the ball rolling again).
The motion picture biz hadn't yet found out how to combat TV and the America was in the midst of a cultural/social/political revolution (feminism, Vietnam, Beatles, Summer of Love, Drugs, etal). The studios were clueless on how to recapture the magic in this new era - they were desperate and ventured forth in many directions with few hits and many, many misses. Some other classic Tweeners were "Panic in Needle Park", "Casino Royale", "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad World", "Doctor Doolittle", "Hello Dolly" to name a couple or five.
Actually, LLAD doesn't really qualify as a legitimate Tweener - it was too minor. But it contained the essential characteristics: trying way too hard to be hip, relevant, trendy, madcap, satirical - and failing on all counts; and I don't not think the booms were intentional. My only pleasant memory of this film (other than "The End") was Ruth Gordon. Even though she was merely doing a warm up for the same wacky, eccentric role in "Rosemary's Baby", she was still endearing and funny.
Oh, BTW, I don't really remember the bunny mom being the luscious Lola Albright. I suspect she had better memories of her fine performance on "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" than the pretentious drivel that was (as is) "Lord Love A Duck"........