Don't Let It Get You
Directed byJohn O'Shea
Produced byJohn O'Shea
CinematographyTony Williams
Edited byJohn O'Shea
Music byPatrick Flynn
Release date
  • 1966 (1966)
Running time
80 minutes
CountriesAustralia
New Zealand
LanguageEnglish

Don't Let It Get You is a film made in New Zealand and Sydney, Australia in 1966. It is notable for the period it was made in as well as the popular musical acts that featured in it.[1]

Sir Howard Morrison, Eddie Low, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and Herma and Eliza Keil of the Keil Isles featured in the film. It also had an appearance by Australian hit maker Normie Rowe.[2]

Directed by John O'Shea and written by Joseph Musaphia, the film captures the exuberance and energy of one of New Zealand's finest hours in pop/rock musical history. Fashioned in the style of Richard Lester's A Hard Day's Night (1964) and Help! (1965), it is a showcase for the talents of the period, including Kiri te Kanawa ("Sing for us now, Kiri"). The songs are mostly written by Patrick Flynn in collaboration with either O'Shea or Musaphia. However, the film is also a knockabout romantic comedy: the dialogue non-sequiturs, pratfall gags and bizarre juxtapositions display an offbeat sense of irony and blase manner not unlike that of television in the late Eighties (Terry and the Gunrunners and The Billy T. James Show, for example). As a nostalgia piece, the film comes as close to capturing the hopes and aspirations of the period as the Weekly Reviews do for the Forties and the Tangata Whenua series does for the Seventies.

Synopsis

Although most of the film is set in Rotorua, it actually starts out in Sydney. Furthermore, the hero and heroine, Gary Wallace and Judy Beech, are both Australian. Gary wants desperately to play in Howard Morrison's band at a big concert in Rotorua, so he sells his drums to pay for the plane ticket to New Zealand, and Morrison turns out to be on the same flight. Judy, a Marilyn Monroe blonde, is also on that flight, en route to Rotorua with her mother for a holiday. Aside from Gary and Judy and Howard Morrison himself, the fourth major role is filled out by the obligatory villain, William, a rival drummer who has the job Gary seeks, and who also sets off in hot pursuit of Judy. At the end of the film, while Gary wins Judy and plays in the concert, William is, quite literally, marooned in the middle of Lake Rotorua.

Cast

In order of credits
Actor Played as
Howard Morrison Himself
Gary Wallace Himself
Carmen Duncan Judith Beech
Normie Rowe Himself
Kiri Te Kanawa Herself
Harry Lavington William Broadhead
Alma Woods Mrs Beech
Tanya Binning Queen of the Surf
Ernie Leonard Himself
Eric Wood Service Station Attendant
Anne Sharland Herself
Rim D. Paul Himself
Gerry Merito Himself
Herma Keil Himself
Eliza Keil Herself
Lew Pryme Himself
Eddie Low Himself
Gwynn Owen Herself
Keri Summers Herself
Paul Walden Himself
Source: Internet Movie Database[3]

References

  1. ↑ Vagg, Stephen (23 December 2019). "Australian Film Musicals You Probably Didn't Realise Existed". Filmink.
  2. ↑ "Don't Let It Get You". The Film Archive. Archived from the original on 25 May 2010. Retrieved 1 August 2010.
  3. ↑ Cast and crew of Don't Let It Get You at IMDb


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