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

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

and

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, 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,

Dame Kiri Te Kanawa Dame Kiri Jeanette Claire Te Kanawa (; born Claire Mary Teresa Rawstron, 6 March 1944) is a New Zealand opera singer. She had a full lyric soprano voice, which has been described as "mellow yet vibrant, warm, ample and unforced". On 1 December ...

and

Herma A herma (, plural ), 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 were so called either becaus ...

and Eliza Keil of the Keil Isles featured in the film. It also had an appearance by

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

n hit maker

Normie Rowe Norman John Rowe (born 1 February 1947) is an Australian singer and songwriter. He rose to national prominence in the mid-1960s as a pop star and teen idol, backed by The Playboys. His 1965 double A-side " Que Sera Sera"/" Shakin' All Over" w ...

. Directed by John O'Shea and written by Joseph Musaphia, 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, who spent the majority of his professional life in the United Kingdom. He is known for the fast-paced, flamboyant directing he brought to his comedy films, mo ...

'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 by Parlophone. Seven of the fourteen songs, including the sin ...

'' (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 Rotorua () is a city in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island. It is sited on the southern shores of Lake Rotorua, from which it takes its name. It is the seat of the Rotorua Lakes District, a territorial authorities of New Zea ...

, it actually starts out in Sydney. 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 Marilyn Monroe ( ; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; June 1, 1926 August 4, 1962) was an American actress and model. Known for playing comic "Blonde stereotype#Blonde bombshell, blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex ...

-type blonde, is also on that flight, en route to Rotorua with her mother for a holiday. 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 Lake Rotorua () is the second largest lake in the North Island of New Zealand by surface area, and covers 79.8 km2. With a mean depth of only 10 metres it is considerably smaller than nearby Lake Tarawera in terms of volume of water. It i ...

Cast

:In order of credits :Source:

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 English-language musical comedy films {{1960s-Australia-film-stub