The Knack …and How to Get It
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''The Knack …and How to Get It'' is a 1965 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 ...
directed by
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 ...
and starring
Rita Tushingham Rita Tushingham (born 14 March 1942) is an English actress. She is known for her starring roles in films including ''A Taste of Honey'' (1961), ''The Leather Boys'' (1964), '' The Knack ...and How to Get It'' (1965), ''Doctor Zhivago'' (1965), ...
, Ray Brooks,
Michael Crawford Michael Patrick Smith, (born 19 January 1942), known professionally as Michael Crawford, is an English tenor, actor and comedian. Crawford is best known for playing both the hapless Frank Spencer in the sitcom ''Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em'' an ...
, and
Donal Donnelly Donal Donnelly (6 July 1931 – 4 January 2010) was an Irish theatre and film actor. Perhaps best known for his work in the plays of Brian Friel, he had a long and varied career in film, on television and in the theatre. He lived in Ireland, th ...
. The screenplay by Charles Wood is based on a play of the same name by
Ann Jellicoe Patricia Ann Jellicoe (15 July 1927 – 31 August 2017) was an English playwright, theatre director and actress. Although her work covered many areas of theatre and film, she is best known for "pushing the envelope" of the stage play, devising ...
. The film is considered emblematic of the
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 ...
cultural phenomenon. The film premiered in-competition at the
1965 Cannes Film Festival The 18th Cannes Film Festival was held from 3 to 16 May 1965. Olivia de Havilland became the first woman president of the jury. The Grand Prix du Festival International du Film went to ''The Knack …and How to Get It'' by Richard Lester. The f ...
, and won the
Palme d'Or The Palme d'Or (; en, Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's highest prize was the Grand Prix du Fe ...
and the Technical Grand Prize. At the
19th British Academy Film Awards The 19th British Academy Film Awards, given by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts in 1966, honoured the best films of 1965. Winners and nominees * Source: Statistics References {{BAFTA Film Awards Chron Film019 Brit ...
, the film was nominated in six categories, including
BAFTA Award for Best Film The BAFTA Award for Best Film is given annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts and presented at the British Academy Film Awards. It has been given since the 1st BAFTA Awards, representing the best films of 1947, but until ...
and Outstanding British Film. Rita Tushingham was nominated for a
Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical The Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical is a Golden Globe Award that was first awarded by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association as a separate category in 1951. Previously, there was a single award for ...
, and the film was nominated for Best English-Language Foreign Film.


Plot

Colin is a nervous schoolteacher working in
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, observing rather than participating in the
sexual revolution The sexual revolution, also known as the sexual liberation, was a social movement that challenged traditional codes of behavior related to sexuality and interpersonal relationships throughout the United States and the developed world from the 1 ...
of the 1960s. He has little personal sexual experience and wishes to gain "the knack": in this case meaning a way to seduce women. He turns to a friend, a confident, womanizing drummer known only by his surname, Tolen. Tolen gives him unhelpful advice to consume more protein and use intuition, acknowledging intuition is not something that can be completely learned, and advocates the importance of
domination Domination or dominant may refer to: Society * World domination, which is mainly a conspiracy theory * Colonialism in which one group (usually a nation) invades another region for material gain or to eliminate competition * Chauvinism in which ...
of women. He then suggests that Colin should move into his home, where he and another friend "share" women. Colin boards the front door shut. The third flatmate, Tom, is obsessed with painting everything white... including the windowpanes. Due to the blocked door Tolen brings his girls in through the window. Colin swaps his single bed for a fancy old double wrought iron bed which he finds in a scrapyard with Tom. Nancy meets Colin at the scrapyard. Nancy is an inexperienced and shy young woman who has arrived to London from out of town, and is searching for the
YWCA The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization with a focus on empowerment, leadership, and rights of women, young women, and girls in more than 100 countries. The World office is currently based in Geneva, Swi ...
. She stops by a clothing store and is won over by the flattery of the clerk, until she overhears him repeating the same words to every female customer. From the scrapyard the three take the bed on a complex and zany journey back to the house. This includes parking it at a
parking meter A parking meter is a device used to collect money in exchange for the right to park a vehicle in a particular place for a limited amount of time. Parking meters can be used by municipalities as a tool for enforcing their integrated on-street par ...
, moving it on a car transporter and carrying it down the steps of the
Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...
. In a public space, Tolen sexually assaults Nancy, who at first is silent then faints. When she wakes up, she begins claiming she was raped, though this was not the case. Tolen, Colin and their friends find themselves unable to restrain her from loudly repeating the allegations, or puncturing the tyres of Tolen's motorcycle, and she runs back to the residence, where she throws Tolen's
records A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, ...
out of the window and strips naked. The men become convinced her rape allegations reflect
rape fantasy A rape fantasy (sometimes referred to as rapeplay) or a ravishment is a sexual fantasy involving imagining or pretending being coerced or coercing another into sexual activity. In sexual roleplay, it involves acting out roles of coercive sex. R ...
and urge Tolen to have sex with her. When Nancy emerges from the room wearing only a robe, she instead expresses more attraction to Colin, and he returns the interest. The two begin living together.


Cast


Production

After seeing
Ann Jellicoe Patricia Ann Jellicoe (15 July 1927 – 31 August 2017) was an English playwright, theatre director and actress. Although her work covered many areas of theatre and film, she is best known for "pushing the envelope" of the stage play, devising ...
's play ''The Knack'', the producers envisioned a film adaptation. They offered the position of director to
Lindsay Anderson Lindsay Gordon Anderson (17 April 1923 – 30 August 1994) was a British feature-film, theatre and documentary director, film critic, and leading-light of the Free Cinema movement and of the British New Wave. He is most widely remembered for h ...
, who refused. Having worked with
The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
on '' A Hard Day's Night'', Lester was another candidate for director, and agreed to take the position. Lester made major changes to the play, adding his own touch through
direct address Direct address may refer to: * Vocative expression, a term or phrase used to directly address an individual * The direct addressing mode in computer programming * Breaking the fourth wall Breaking or breakin' may refer to: Arts * Breakdancing (a ...
, unexpected oddly-edited sequences, humorous subtitles, and a
Greek chorus A Greek chorus, or simply chorus ( grc-gre, χορός, chorós), in the context of ancient Greek tragedy, comedy, satyr plays, and modern works inspired by them, is a homogeneous, non-individualised group of performers, who comment with a collect ...
of disapproving members of "the older generation." Filming took place in a few weeks in November and early December 1964, and Lester employed television advertising techniques. Talking about the film in the 1980s, actor Ray Brooks said: Lester himself makes a brief cameo as an annoyed bystander. John Barry contributed the jazzy score, which features a memorable organ solo by
Alan Haven Alan Haven (1 April 1935 – 7 January 2016), born in Prestwich, Lancashire, United Kingdom, was an English jazz organist. His original name was Alan Halpern and he was Jewish. He lived off Kings Road and attended Kings Road School, Prestwich. H ...
.
Jane Birkin Jane Mallory Birkin, Order of British Empire, OBE (born 14 December 1946) is an English-French singer and actress. She attained international fame and notability for her decade-long musical and romantic partnership with Serge Gainsbourg. She als ...
,
Charlotte Rampling Tessa Charlotte Rampling (born 5 February 1946) is an English actress, known for her work in European arthouse films in English, French, and Italian. An icon of the Swinging Sixties, she began her career as a model. She was cast in the role ...
, and
Jacqueline Bisset Winifred Jacqueline Fraser Bisset ( ; born 13 September 1944) is a British actress. She began her film career in 1965 and first came to prominence in 1968 with roles in '' The Detective'', ''Bullitt'', and ''The Sweet Ride'', for which she rec ...
all made their first cinematic appearances in the film as extras, together with ''
Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...
'' disc girl
Samantha Juste Samantha Juste (born Sandra Slater; 31 May 1944 – 5 February 2014) was a British model and television presenter who appeared in the mid-1960s as the "disc girl" on the BBC television programme ''Top of the Pops''. In 1968, she married Micky D ...
.


Reception

In ''The New York Times'',
Bosley Crowther Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though his ...
positively reviewed it as "delightfully mobile" and a "frenziedly running, jumping picture". ''Variety'' praised the performances, citing
Rita Tushingham Rita Tushingham (born 14 March 1942) is an English actress. She is known for her starring roles in films including ''A Taste of Honey'' (1961), ''The Leather Boys'' (1964), '' The Knack ...and How to Get It'' (1965), ''Doctor Zhivago'' (1965), ...
as perfect in her role. In 2016, ''The Hollywood Reporter'' ranked it the 49th best film to win the Palme d'Or, stating it "hasn't aged well" but the setting was a great asset. In 2001, the ''Wallflower Critical Guide'' noted the creativity in cinematography and editing, but said it disrupted the storytelling.


Accolades

The film was entered into competition at the
1965 Cannes Film Festival The 18th Cannes Film Festival was held from 3 to 16 May 1965. Olivia de Havilland became the first woman president of the jury. The Grand Prix du Festival International du Film went to ''The Knack …and How to Get It'' by Richard Lester. The f ...
, where it won the
Palme d'Or The Palme d'Or (; en, Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's highest prize was the Grand Prix du Fe ...
.


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Knack And How To Get It, The 1965 films 1965 romantic comedy films 1960s sex comedy films British black-and-white films British romantic comedy films British sex comedy films Casual sex in films Films directed by Richard Lester Films scored by John Barry (composer) Films set in London Palme d'Or winners 1960s English-language films 1960s British films