Friday, November 15, 2024

Jack H. Harris Presents Mother Goose A-Go-Go!


Mother Goose A-Go-Go is also known by the title Unkissed Bride. The former title fits it better. This movie was the only one not only produced by Jack H. Harris but also written and directed by him. In a nutshell - it's terrible. But terrible in that weird way in which it's not totally unwatchable. It stars a Kentucky boy, Tommy Kirk, going by "Tom Kirk" in this one. It's necessarily boring, but it is wildly goofy -- a blend of Benny Hill and The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini (which also starred Kirk), but it seems to have been filmed almost totally in a single hotel, possibly the Sands in Las Vegas. It's based on an idea Harris got from a Las Vegas act at the Sands. 


The premise is pretty straight-forward. On their wedding night a couple discover that the groom swoons when he hears any reference to a fairy tale. (It should be noted almost none of them have anything to do with Mother Goose.) He seeks psychiatric help and his psychiatrist, a busty blonde played Danica d'Hondt, agrees to come to the hotel and give him help. Of course, confusion ensues. Jacques Bergerac plays the uncle of the bride played by Anne Helm (pregnant during shooting) and he's often distracted by pretty women, especially their backsides.  Add to the mix a daffy house detective played in full-blown Fawlty Towers mode by Robert Hall, and you have the sense of what this one is all about. It's well and truly zany. 


Henny Youngman shows up for a cameo at a drive-in theater and Joe Pyne is seen a few times, invariably taking calls from frustrated ladies. The movie uses fast movement, frozen screen images and even breaks the fourth wall several times. It's a product of its time. You can watch it in all its vintage glory at this link. 

Next time Harris goes nude. 

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3 comments:

  1. Gene PhillipsNovember 16, 2024 at 8:58 PM

    GO GO is not the least bit funny, even by the standards of "dirty comedies" of the time. But I like Harris giving the main character a Freudian repression, even though I doubt Harris knew much about Freud beyond the sort of thing a sixties guy might have read about in his newspaper's Sunday supplement.

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    1. Rip JaggerNovember 16, 2024 at 11:46 PM

      There are a couple of chuckles maybe, but I'm agreed, not many. I do like the posters quite a bit though.

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  2. JohnNovember 17, 2024 at 11:31 AM

    The name Joe Pyne jumped out at me. I remember him during his TV stint in L.A. back in the 60's. Definitely an ascerbic personality. Didn't get to see much of it except when my grandparent's visited -- my grandpa was a fan, so I snuck glimpses here and there when I was supposed to be in bed. I recall two guests: Anton LaVey and Shel Silverstein, who tried to show a girlie magazine on the air and Pyne get trying to grab it away from him. I'm sure it was staged.

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