Cuckoo Patrol (1965)

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