''Don't Let It Get You'' is a film made in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

and

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, Australia in 1966. It is notable for the period it was made in as well as the popular musical acts that featured in it. Sir Howard Morrison,

Eddie Low Edward Robert Low (born 14 May 1943) is a musician from New Zealand. Career During the 1960s, Eddie Low was a member of The Quin Tikis, touring with the annual Miss New Zealand pageant and with country singer Joe Brown. He starred in the 196 ...

Dame Kiri Te Kanawa Dame Kiri Jeanette Claire Te Kanawa , (; born Claire Mary Teresa Rawstron, 6 March 1944) is a retired New Zealand opera singer. She had a full lyric soprano voice, which has been described as "mellow yet vibrant, warm, ample and unforced". Te ...

and

Herma A herma ( grc, ἑρμῆς, pl. ''hermai''), commonly herm in English, is a sculpture with a head and perhaps a torso above a plain, usually squared lower section, on which male genitals may also be carved at the appropriate height. Hermae we ...

and

Eliza Keil Samoan-born Eliza Keil started out singing with her brothers in the popular New Zealand rock & roll group the Keil Isles and would later become a solo artist in her own right with a string of TV appearances and a part in a film. Career 1960s E ...

of the

Keil Isles The Keil Isles were a New Zealand-based Rock & Roll group which consisted of the Keil Brothers, Olaf, Herman, Rudolf, Klaus and their cousin Freddie Keil. They were all Samoans with German ancestry. Band history Their lead guitarist Olaf Keil ...

featured in the film. It also had an appearance by

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n hit maker

Normie Rowe Norman John Rowe (born 1 February 1947) is an Australian singer and songwriter of pop music and an actor of theatre and soap opera for which he remains best known as Douglas Fletcher in 1980s serial '' Sons and Daughters''. As a singer he was ...

. Directed by John O'Shea and written by

Joseph Musaphia Joseph Musaphia (born 1935) is a New Zealand writer and actor who was born in London. Biography Joseph Musaphia was born in 1935 in London and he has Portuguese ancestry. He moved with his family to Melbourne, Australia and lived there from 1 ...

, 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 Richard Lester Liebman (born January 19, 1932) is an American retired film director based in the United Kingdom. He is best known for directing the Beatles' films '' A Hard Day's Night'' (1964) and ''Help!'' (1965), and the superhero films ''S ...

's '' A Hard Day's Night'' (1964) and ''

Help! ''Help!'' is the fifth studio album by the English Rock music, rock band the Beatles and the soundtrack to their Help! (film), film of the same name. It was released on 6 August 1965. Seven of the fourteen songs, including the singles "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 :Source:

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Cast and crew of

References

External links

* Australian musical comedy films 1960s New Zealand films New Zealand musical comedy films Films shot in Sydney 1966 musical comedy films 1966 films 1960s English-language films {{1960s-Australia-film-stub