Another lightweight vehicle for British cabaret/beat group Freddie and The Dreamers who were topping the charts in the US when production began in 1965 – although by the time the film was finally released in 1967, the band’s main chart success was over and the audience for a black-and-white film starring former milkman Freddie Garrity clad in short trousers was understandably a limited one.
The film opens as the Cuckoo Patrol of the local scout group (Freddie and the Dreamers) prepare to leave for their Summer camp. This proves a trying experience for the serious, silent and long-suffering Scoutmaster, Mr Gibbs (John Le Mesurier).
It is even worse for Assistant Scoutmaster Mr Willoughby Wick (Kenneth Connor) who is full of theories on how best to train the boys.
The troop’s well-meaning but catastrophic antics land them in a series of “comic misadventures” The title says it all really – and the film could quite justifiably be subtitled ’76 minutes of drivel’.
It’s debatable whether it’s the worst pop film ever, but it’s certainly no Hard Day’s Night, that’s for sure . . .
Freddie and the Dreamers
Freddie Garrity
Bernie Dwyer
Derek Quinn
Peter Birrell
Roy Crewdson Mr Willoughby Wick
Kenneth Connor Dicko
Victor Maddern Mr Gibbs
John Le Mesurier Moley
Vic Wise Yossle
Arthur Mullard Scout mistress
Peggy Ann Clifford Marshall
Ernest Clark Snodgrass
Basil Dignam Girl Guides
Patsy Snell
Cheryl Molyneaux
Georgina Patterson
Sandra Hampton
Carmen Dene Jo
Jo Gibbons Owly
Anthony Buckingham Jumbo
John Ross
Director
Duncan Wood
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