''The Touchables'' is a 1968 British

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definit ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by Robert Freeman and written by

Ian La Frenais Ian La Frenais (born 7 January 1937) is an English writer best known for his creative partnership with Dick Clement. They are most famous for television series including ''The Likely Lads'', ''Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?'', ''Porridg ...

from a story by

Donald Cammell Donald Seton Cammell (17 January 1934 – 24 April 1996) was a Scottish painter, screenwriter, and film director. He has a cult reputation largely due to his debut film ''Performance'', which he wrote the screenplay for and co-directed wi ...

. It stars

Judy Huxtable Judy Huxtable (born 4 July 1942) is a British actress. Early life and career Born in Surrey, England, to wealthy parents, Huxtable was initially a society débutante and then became a fashionable figure in 1960s "swinging London" and, as a mode ...

, Esther Anderson and

James Villiers James Michael Hyde Villiers (29 September 1933 – 18 January 1998) was an English character actor. He was particularly known for his plummy voice and ripe articulation. He was a great-grandson of the 4th Earl of Clarendon. Early life Villie ...

. The screenplay was written by Ian La Frenais, who had created the comedy ''

The Likely Lads ''The Likely Lads'' is a British sitcom created and written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais and produced by Dick Clement. Twenty episodes were broadcast by the BBC, in three series, between 16 December 1964 and 23 July 1966. However, only te ...

'' for television with his partner

Dick Clement Dick Clement (born 5 September 1937) is an English writer, director and producer. He became known for his writing partnership with Ian La Frenais for television series including ''The Likely Lads'', ''Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?'', ...

. It was the first of only two films directed by Robert Freeman, the photographer responsible for a number of

Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developme ...

album covers. A mannequin of

Diana Dors Diana Dors (born Diana Mary Fluck; 23 October 19314 May 1984) was an English actress and singer. Dors came to public notice as a blonde bombshell, much in the style of Americans Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield and Mamie Van Doren. Dors was p ...

which appears in the film was the same model as was used in the cover montage of '' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band''. Other cast members include

John Ronane John Ronane (11 December 1933 – 15 May 2019) was a British actor. He appeared onstage in the West End, in movies in Hollywood and Europe, on television and radio. As a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, he appeared in the original produ ...

Peter Gordeno Peter Gordeno (20 June 1939 – 18 October 2008) was a British dancer, recording artist, cabaret singer, choreographer, and occasional actor. Biography Born as Peter Godenho in Rangoon, Burma, to an Italian American father and Scottish/ Bu ...

, Harry Baird, Simon Williams and

Joan Bakewell Joan Dawson Bakewell, Baroness Bakewell, ('' née'' Rowlands; born 16 April 1933), is an English journalist, television presenter and Labour Party peer. Baroness Bakewell is president of Birkbeck, University of London; she is also an auth ...

in a cameo role as an interviewer. The cast also includes appearances by many popular British wrestlers, including Ricki Starr, Steve Veidor, Danny Lynch and Bruno Elrington. Largely ignored on its release and since, owing to the scarcity of prints, it has recently acquired

cult status A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...

of its type, in part due to a DVD release.

, who shares story credit, would later rework its themes in ''

Performance A performance is an act of staging or presenting a play, concert, or other form of entertainment. It is also defined as the action or process of carrying out or accomplishing an action, task, or function. Management science In the work place ...

'' (1970).

Plot

Swinging London 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 ...

, four girls decide to kidnap their pop idol and hold him hostage in a giant plastic dome in the countryside. His manager tries desperately to find him, as does a wrestler and an upper-class London gangster. However, it becomes clear that the young man does not want to be freed from his glamorous captors.

Cast

- Sadie * Esther Anderson - Melanie *Marilyn Rickard - Busbee *Kathy Simmonds - Samson * David Anthony - Christian *

- Twyning *

- Kasher *Ricki Starr - Ricki * Harry Baird - Lillywhite * Michael Chow - Denzil *

- Interviewer *

- Jimmy * Simon Williams - Nigel

Reception

Renata Adler Renata Adler (born October 19, 1938) is an American author, journalist, and film critic. Adler was a staff writer-reporter for ''The New Yorker'', and in 1968–69, she served as chief film critic for ''The New York Times''. She is also a write ...

, writing in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', described the film as

a sort of fidgety mod pornography, which uses the advertising convention for eroticism—cutting abruptly from teasing sex scenes to gadgetry, in this case pinball machines, trampolines and odd items of furniture and clothing. Robert Freeman, who directs (his first feature film) is a former fashion photographer... There is no question of acting, since the range of expressions runs from seductive to sinister to mod vacuous.

Box Office

According to Fox records, the film required $2,600,000 in rentals to break even and by 11 December 1970 had made $825,000 so made a loss to the studio.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Touchables, The 1968 films British drama films 1968 drama films 20th Century Fox films British sexploitation films Films with screenplays by Ian La Frenais Films set in London Films scored by Ken Thorne 1960s English-language films 1960s British films