''Can Heironymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe and Find True Happiness?'' is a 1969 British musical film directed by and starring

Anthony Newley Anthony Newley (24 September 1931 – 14 April 1999) was an English actor, singer, songwriter, and filmmaker. A "latter-day British Al Jolson", he achieved widespread success in song, and on stage and screen. "One of Broadway's greatest leadin ...

Plot

Merkin is an internationally successful singer approaching middle age who retells his life story in a series of production numbers on a seashore in front of his two toddlers and aged mother. Merkin's promiscuous relationships with women are explored, particularly Polyester Poontang and the adolescent Mercy Humppe. Merkin compares the relationship with Mercy Humppe to that of

Humbert Humbert ''Lolita'' is a 1955 novel written by Russian-American novelist Vladimir Nabokov. The novel is notable for its controversial subject: the protagonist and unreliable narrator, a middle-aged literature professor under the pseudonym Humbert Humber ...

and Lolita. Merkin is constantly surrounded by a Satan-like procurer, Goodtime Eddie Filth, and an angelic 'Presence' who interrupts Merkin's biography with cryptic

Borscht Belt The Borscht Belt, or Jewish Alps, is a colloquial term for the mostly defunct summer resorts of the Catskill Mountains in parts of Sullivan, Orange, and Ulster counties in the U.S. state of New York, straddling both Upstate New York and the nort ...

-level jokes to denote births and deaths in Merkin's life. Newley periodically steps out of character to complain about his 'Merkin' role with an unseen director, two screenwriters, the film's producers and a trio of blasé movie critics who are turned off by the story's

eroticism Eroticism () is a quality that causes sexual feelings, as well as a philosophical contemplation concerning the aesthetics of sexual desire, sensuality, and romantic love. That quality may be found in any form of artwork, including painting, sc ...

and lack of plot.

Cast

– Heironymus Merkin/Director *

Joan Collins Dame Joan Henrietta Collins (born 23 May 1933) is an English actress, author and columnist. Collins is the recipient of several accolades, including a Golden Globe Award, a People's Choice Award, two Soap Opera Digest Awards and a Primeti ...

– Polyester Poontang * Milton Berle – Goodtime Eddie Filth * George Jessel – The Presence *

Bruce Forsyth Sir Bruce Joseph Forsyth-Johnson (22 February 1928 – 18 August 2017) was a British entertainer and presenter whose career spanned more than 70 years. Forsyth came to national attention from the late 1950s through the ITV series '' Sunday Nig ...

– Uncle Limelight *

Stubby Kaye Bernard Solomon Kotzin (November 11, 1918 – December 14, 1997), known as Stubby Kaye, was an American actor, comedian, vaudevillian, and singer, known for his appearances on Broadway and in film musicals. Kaye originated the roles of Nicely-Ni ...

– Fat Writer *

Connie Kreski Connie Kreski (September 19, 1946 – March 21, 1995) was born Constance Joanne Kornacki. She was an American model and actress. In January 1968, Kreski posed in the centerfold as ''Playboy'' magazine's Playmate of the Month. She subsequently wo ...

– Mercy Humppe *

Patricia Hayes Patricia Lawlor Hayes (22 December 1909 – 19 September 1998) was an English character actress. Early life Patricia Hayes OBE was born in Streatham,Dennis Barker, "Hayes, Patricia Lawlor (1909–1998)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biogra ...

– Grandma *

Victor Spinetti Vittorio Giorgio Andre "Victor" Spinetti (2 September 1929 – 19 June 2012) was a Welsh actor, author, poet, and raconteur. He appeared in dozens of films and stage plays throughout his 50-year career, including the three 1960s Beatles films ...

– Critic Sharpnose *

Ronald Radd Ronald Radd (22 January 1929 – 23 April 1976) was a British television actor. He is perhaps best remembered for originating the role of Hunter in the television thriller series '' Callan''. In 1971, he was nominated for a Tony Award for ''Ab ...

– Critic Bentley * Rosalind Knight – Critic Penelope *

Louis Negin Louis Negin (20 October 1929 – 2 December 2022) was a British-born Canadian actor, best known for his roles in the films of Guy Maddin."Enchantment". ''In Toronto'', September 2011. Career Born in London, England, and raised in Toronto, Ontari ...

– Producer Peter *

Julian Orchard Julian Dean Chavasse Orchard (3 March 1930, in Wheatley, Oxfordshire – 21 June 1979, in Westminster, London)GRO Register of Deaths: JUN 1979 15 1935 WESTMINSTER – Julian Dean C. Orchard, DoB = 3 March 1930 was an English comedy actor. He ...

– Red Cardinal *

Judy Cornwell Judy Valerie Cornwell (born 22 February 1940) is an English actress and writer best known for her role as Daisy in the successful British sitcom ''Keeping Up Appearances'' (1990–1995). She also played Anya Claus in '' Santa Claus: The Movie' ...

– Filigree Fondle *

Margaret Nolan Margaret Ann Nolan (29 October 1943 – 5 October 2020) was an English actress, visual artist and glamour model. She appeared in '' Goldfinger'', '' A Hard Day's Night'' and six '' Carry On'' films, and also regularly appeared on screen from t ...

- Little Assistance

Production notes

The film was shot on the island of Gozo. The set designer for the dream sequences was

Loudon Sainthill Loudon Sainthill (9 January 191810 June 1969) was an Australian artist and stage and costume designer. He worked predominantly in the United Kingdom, where he died. His early designs were described as 'opulent', 'sumptuous' and 'exuberantly spl ...

, who died shortly after finishing his work on the film.

Reception

In 1970, Newley and his co-writer

Herman Raucher Herman Raucher (born April 13, 1928) is an American author and screenwriter. He is best known for writing the autobiographical screenplay and novel '' Summer of '42'', which became one of the highest-grossing films and one of the best selling nov ...

won the

Writers' Guild of Great Britain The Writers' Guild of Great Britain (WGGB), established in 1959, is a trade union for professional writers. It is affiliated with both the Trades Union Congress (TUC) and the International Affiliation of Writers Guilds (IAWG). History The un ...

Award for Best British Original Screenplay. The film's original music was written by Newley with lyrics by

Herbert Kretzmer Herbert Kretzmer (5 October 192514 October 2020) was a South African-born English journalist and lyricist. He was best known as the lyricist for the English-language musical adaptation of ''Les Misérables'' and for his long-time collaboration ...

(''

Les Misérables ''Les Misérables'' ( , ) is a French historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published in 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. In the English-speaking world, the novel is usually referred to by its origin ...

''). The film was controversial because it was

X rated An X rating is a rating used in various countries to classify films that have content deemed suitable only for adults. It is used when the violent or sexual content of a film is considered to be potentially disturbing to general audiences. Aust ...

in its original release, meaning many newspapers in the U.S. would not take advertising for it. The film was a commercial, and generally a critical, failure.

Vincent Canby Vincent Canby (July 27, 1924 – October 15, 2000) was an American film and theatre critic who served as the chief film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1969 until the early 1990s, then its chief theatre critic from 1994 until his death in ...

wrote in ''The New York Times'' that Newley "so over extends and overexposes himself that the movie comes to look like an act of professional suicide...The movie is as self-indulgent as a burp. It's also as pretentious as its form...The movie is not so free and loose as it is simply out of control." In ''The Sunday Times Guide to Movies on Television'', Angela and Elkan Allan asked "Can Anthony Newley ever remember that he is just a pleasant light comedian and settle down to earn an unpretentious living?" Michael Billington (critic), Michael Billington of ''The Illustrated London News'' wrote: "The kindest thing for all concerned would be that every available copy should be quietly and decently buried." Rex Reed also savaged it: "If I'd been Anthony Newley I would have opened it in Siberia during Christmas week and called it a day." Roger Ebert's review in the ''Chicago Sun-Times'', on the other hand, praised the film's ambition: "It is strange, wonderful, original, and not quite successful. It is just about the first attempt in English to make the sort of personal film Fellini and Jean-Luc Godard, Godard have been experimenting with in their very different ways. It is not as great as ''8½'' but it has the same honesty and self-mocking quality." Collins later cited the film as contributing to her divorce from Newley. In 2006, the movie won a readers' poll in the ''Chicago Tribune'' as "The Worst Movie Title Ever."

Songs

The movie songs were released on a record album. #Overture #If All the World's a Stage #Piccadilly Lily #Oh, What a Son of a Bitch I Am #Sweet Love Child #Instrumental #Chalk and Cheese #I'm All I Need #On the Boards #Lullaby #Piccadilly Lily (reprise) #Once Upon a Time #When You Gotta Go #I'm All I Need (reprise) #If All the World's a Stage (reprise) All of the songs except the instrumental and "Piccadilly Lily" are included in the 2010 CD ''Newley Discovered''.

Awards and honours

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0064123 1969 films 1969 musical comedy films British musical comedy films Films shot in Malta Films with screenplays by Herman Raucher Universal Pictures films 1969 directorial debut films 1970s English-language films 1960s English-language films 1960s British films 1970s British films