''Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush'' is a 1968 British

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

produced and directed by

Clive Donner Clive Stanley Donner (21 January 1926 – 6 September 2010)Ronald Bergan]Obituary: Clive Donner ''The Guardian'', 7 September 2010 was a British film Film director, director who was part of the British New Wave, directing films such as ''Th ...

, based on the 1965 Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush (novel), novel of the same name by

Hunter Davies Edward Hunter Davies (born 7 January 1936) is a British author, journalist and broadcaster. His books include the only authorised biography of the Beatles. Early life Davies was born in Johnstone, Renfrewshire, to Scottish parents. For four ...

. The film stars Barry Evans,

Judy Geeson Judith Amanda Geeson (born 10 September 1948) is an English film, stage, and television actress. She began her career primarily working on British television series, with a leading role on '' The Newcomers'' from 1965 to 1967, before making he ...

and

Angela Scoular Angela Margaret Scoular (8 November 1945 – 11 April 2011) was a British actress. Early life Her father was an engineer and she was born in London. She attended St George's School, Harpenden, Queen's College, Harley Street and RADA. Career Sc ...

. It was listed to compete at the 1968 Cannes Film Festival, but the festival was cancelled due to the events of

May 1968 in France Beginning in May 1968, a period of civil unrest occurred throughout France, lasting some seven weeks and punctuated by demonstrations, general strikes, as well as the occupation of universities and factories. At the height of events, which ha ...

. The film was released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

and

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

officially for the first time by the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

(BFI) in September 2010 as part of its " Flipside" strand.

Plot

Jamie McGregor (Barry Evans) is a

virginal The virginals (or virginal) is a keyboard instrument of the harpsichord family. It was popular in Europe during the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods. Description A virginal is a smaller and simpler rectangular or polygonal form of ha ...

sixth-former in a

Swinging Sixties The Swinging Sixties was a youth-driven cultural revolution that took place in the United Kingdom during the mid-to-late 1960s, emphasising modernity and fun-loving hedonism, with Swinging London as its centre. It saw a flourishing in art, mus ...

new town, delivering groceries for the local supermarket. However he is more interested in matters sexual and sets out to lose his virginity by attempting to seduce the local girls – Linda, Paula, Caroline, and his dream girl, Mary. He ultimately succeeds in bedding the sexually aggressive Audrey, only to learn too late that sex is not as important as he initially believed.

Cast

* Barry Evans as Jamie McGregor *

as Mary Gloucester *

as Caroline Beauchamp * Sheila White as Paula *

Adrienne Posta Adrienne Posta (born Adrienne Luanne Poster, 24 March 1949) is an English actress and singer, prominent during the 1960s and 1970s. She adopted the surname 'Posta' in 1966.Adrienne Poster, page on "Ready Steady Girls" (readysteadygirls.eu). Retr ...

as Linda *

Vanessa Howard Vanessa Howard (born Vanessa Tolhurst, 10 October 1948, Shoreham-by-Sea, United Kingdom – 23 November 2010), later known as Vanessa Chartoff, was a British film actress and professional backup singer. Early life Howard was orphaned by the age o ...

as Audrey *

Maxine Audley Maxine Audley (29 April 1923 – 23 July 1992) was an English theatre and film actress. She made her professional stage debut in July 1940 at the Open Air Theatre. Audley performed with the Old Vic company and the Royal Shakespeare Company many ...

as Mrs. Beauchamp *

Denholm Elliott Denholm Mitchell Elliott, (31 May 1922 – 6 October 1992) was an English actor, with more than 125 film and television credits. His well-known roles include the abortionist in ''Alfie'' (1966), Marcus Brody in ''Raiders of the Lost Ark'' (1981 ...

as Mr. Beauchamp *

Moyra Fraser Moyra Fraser (3 December 1923 – 13 December 2009) was an Australian-born English actress and ballet dancer, who is best known for playing Penny in the long-running sitcom '' As Time Goes By''. Her sister was the actress Shelagh Fraser. She mar ...

as Mrs. McGregor * Michael Bates as Mr. McGregor *

Diane Keen Diane Keen (born 29 July 1946) is an English actress, known for her portrayal of Fliss Hawthorne in the Granada sitcom ''The Cuckoo Waltz'' and Julia Parsons on the BBC soap opera ''Doctors''. She also appeared in Nescafé advertisements from 19 ...

as Claire *

Christopher Timothy Christopher is the English version of a Europe-wide name derived from the Greek name Χριστόφορος (''Christophoros'' or '' Christoforos''). The constituent parts are Χριστός (''Christós''), "Christ" or "Anointed", and φέρει� ...

as Spike * Nicky Henson as Craig Foster *

Allan Warren Michael Allan Warren (born 26 October 1948) is an English portrait photographer, primarily known for his images of members of high society. An actor and talent manager in his youth, he rose to prominence for portraits of British nobility, pol ...

as Joe McGregor *

Roy Holder Roy Trevor Holder (15 June 1946 – 9 November 2021) was an English film and television actor who appeared in various programmes including '' Ace of Wands'', ''Z-Cars'', '' Spearhead'', the ''Doctor Who'' serial ''The Caves of Androzani''. His f ...

as Arthur *

George Layton George Layton (born 2 March 1943) is an English actor, director, screenwriter and author best known for three television roles – junior doctor Paul Collier in the comedy series '' Doctor in the House'' and its sequels '' Doctor at Large'', '' ...

as Gordon * Christopher Mitchell as Tony *

Angela Pleasence Daphne Anne Angela Pleasence (born 30 September 1941) is an English actress. Trained in theatre, Pleasence's first major film role came in '' Hitler: The Last Ten Days'' (1973), followed by roles in horror films such as ''From Beyond the Grave'' ...

as Scruffy Girl *

Marianne Stone Marianne Stone (23 August 1922 – 21 December 2009) was an English character actress. She performed in films from the early 1940s to the late 1980s, typically playing working class parts such as barmaids, secretaries and landladies. Stone appe ...

as Mrs. Kelly * Anthony Finch as Boy at Bowes Lyon House

Production

Music

The music was released by

United Artists Records United Artists Records was an American record label founded by Max E. Youngstein of United Artists in 1957 to issue movie soundtracks. The label expanded into other genres, such as easy listening, jazz, pop, and R&B. History Genres In 1959, ...

on a soundtrack album in 1968. It has been re-issued on CD by

Rykodisc Rykodisc is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, operating as a unit of WMG's Independent Label Group and is distributed through Alternative Distribution Alliance. History Claiming to be the first Compact Disc, CD-only independ ...

The Spencer Davis Group The Spencer Davis Group were a British band formed in Birmingham in 1963 by Spencer Davis (guitar), brothers Steve Winwood (keyboards, guitar) and Muff Winwood (bass guitar), and Pete York (drums). Their best known songs include the UK numbe ...

provided most of the music and made a cameo appearance in the film at a church fete. The title track "

Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush "Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush" (also titled "Mulberry Bush" or "This Is the Way") is an English nursery rhyme and singing game. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 7882. It uses the tune which Nancy Dawson danced into fame in ''Th ...

" was written and performed by

Traffic Traffic comprises pedestrians, vehicles, ridden or herded animals, trains, and other conveyances that use public ways (roads) for travel and transportation. Traffic laws govern and regulate traffic, while rules of the road include traffic ...

. Traffic also have two other songs on the soundtrack album "Am I What I Was or Was I What I Am" and a version of "Utterly Simple" that is different from the recording used on the album '' Mr Fantasy''.

Andy Ellison Andrew Ellison (born 5 July 1945 in Finchley, London, England) is an English musician and vocalist, best known as the frontman in John's Children, Jet and Radio Stars. He attended Box Hill School in Surrey, where he met Chris Townson. Joh ...

of the group

John's Children John's Children were a 1960s Mod (subculture), mod rock band from Leatherhead, England that briefly featured future T. Rex (band), T. Rex frontman Marc Bolan. John's Children were known for their outrageous live performances and were booted off ...

also appears on the soundtrack album with the song "It's Been a Long Time".

Locations

The location for the film was

Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a large town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Stevena ...

New Town New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

. Buildings featured include the town's

Clock Tower Clock towers are a specific type of structure which house a turret clock and have one or more clock faces on the upper exterior walls. Many clock towers are freestanding structures but they can also adjoin or be located on top of another buildi ...

in the town centre, a pedestrian zone. The sailing scenes at the "Botel" were filmed on

Grafham Water Grafham Water is an biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) north of Perry, Huntingdonshire. It was designated an SSSI in 1986. It is a reservoir with a circumference of about , is deep at maximum, and is the eighth largest rese ...

Huntingdonshire Huntingdonshire (; abbreviated Hunts) is a non-metropolitan district of Cambridgeshire and a historic county of England. The district council is based in Huntingdon. Other towns include St Ives, Godmanchester, St Neots and Ramsey. The popul ...

Release

A screening of the film at

Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions I ...

was booked, but it was never shown there due to the

May 1968 events in France Beginning in May 1968, a period of civil unrest occurred throughout France, lasting some seven weeks and punctuated by demonstrations, general strikes, as well as the occupation of universities and factories. At the height of events, which ha ...

. Horror journalist

Preston Fassel Preston Fassel (born September 11, 1985) is an author and journalist primarily known for his work in the horror, science fiction, and crime genres. His work has appeared in Fangoria, Rue Morgue, Screem magazine, and on Cinedump.com. He is the ...

, in his biography of

, reported this was the first incident in a string of unfortunate coincidences for the actress, whose career was continually derailed by circumstances beyond her control.

Reception

The film was the 14th-most popular movie at the Australian box office in 1969. It was the 10th-most popular film in general release at the British box office in 1968.John Wayne-money-spinner The Guardian (1959–2003) ondon (UK)31 December 1968: 3.

References

External links

* * * {{Clive Donner 1960s coming-of-age comedy films 1960s sex comedy films 1967 films British coming-of-age comedy films British sex comedy films British teen comedy films 1960s English-language films Films about virginity Films based on British novels Films directed by Clive Donner Films shot in Bedfordshire Films shot in Hertfordshire Stevenage 1960s British films