Lord Love A Duck (1966) 104m
After half an hour of viewing this cult comedy you may feel a little disappointed that it fails to live up to the wackiness of its opening scenes. But, like me, you may also find it easier viewing the second time around - after all, maintaining the high energy of its first few minutes for over an hour and a half is a difficult undertaking for any film. Director George Axelrod probably chooses the right road: the main function of LORD LOVE A DUCK's daffy (no pun intended) opening is to set us up for the offbeat story which follows while also allowing various bits of weird nonsense to be dropped in here and there without having them feel jarringly out of place.
Roddy McDowall is a high-school genius who gives himself the nickname Mollymauk, after a type of albatross. He surprises young Tuesday Weld one night and, with no explanation, immediately sets himself up as her mentor, protector, provider, and personal djinn. He sets events into motion that make her wishes come true, but then whimsically creates minor obstacles which he in turn whole-heartedly sets about overcoming. It's a strange relationship. At the film's conclusion, McDowall (who has been relating the story in flashback) states emphatically that he did it all "for love". The first time I saw LORD LOVE A DUCK I found this abrupt ending a little hard to swallow - especially since one of the wishes he grants Weld is marriage to a wealthy high school Senior. Forewarned in the second viewing, it's apparent that there could be no logical reason for McDowall's behavior anyway, so settling for a motive as irrational as love is as good a reason as any. I'm still not convinced, though: I think it's more likely that McDowall, as a genius, is terribly lonely and simply wants to share his perspective of the world with someone he has an interest in. He represents himself to Weld by two symbols of freedom - birds and keys. He even goes so far as to hypnotize Weld with keys, frequently dangling them in front of her face to establish himself as her personal liberator. McDowall already has freedom - his superior intellect and physical prowess (he takes care of the school bruiser without getting his feathers ruffled) enable him to do pretty much whatever he wishes. Choreographing Weld's life keeps him occupied until her desires are almost completely fulfilled, upon which he finds himself back where he started and can only respond by running amok.
The McDowall/Weld relationship is set against a satirical background which is just as odd as they are. Their high school has become ludicrously 'progressive' under the leadership of principal Harvey Korman (it's unusual to see him with black hair!); they make a deal with a movie producer who specializes in quickie Beach Party films; and while McDowall's family is absent throughout the film, Weld's parents are only half present - her mother picks up men in bars, and her father, who makes a memorable appearance in one of the film's most manic scenes, seems about two steps away from the booby hatch. If that wasn't enough, Ruth Gordon also turns up halfway through the story as the mother of Weld's boyfriend. It's another of her acerbic, domineering roles, in which she constantly berates her son for his failed suicide attempts (it's actually MacDowall who's cheerfully trying to knock him off!) and breezes through every scene as if she owns it. LORD LOVE A DUCK is something of a grab-bag - it doesn't have something for everyone, but anyone with an interest in 60s cinema should give it a try. There are probably more insights about the story and its characters in Al Hine's novel, if you can ever find a copy.
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