Well, I guess you had to be there in the Sixties when Herman's Hermits were part of the British Invasion. Very popular back then, but by the looks of a number of reviews here, they don't come across very well as actors or even musicians. The movie itself is by no means a masterpiece, but by comparison, it is somewhat better than the Beatles' frenzied picture "Help", and about on a par with again, The Beatles' "A Hard Day's Night" and The Monkees "Head". Except for one scene in which the director opts for one of those sped up frantic scenarios, most of the picture goes on to tell a coherent story, even if it gets off on the wrong foot with Mrs. Brown introduced as a greyhound Peter Noone inherited and wants to race to get rich, along with his four bandmates who have bought in on equal shares of the animal. Later on, we meet what in hindsight would have been the inspiration for their biggest commercial hit, as evidenced by the title of the picture. Judy Brown is indeed the lovely daughter of George George (not a typo) and Mrs. Brown, (Stanley Holloway, Mona Washbourne), and I was quite surprised to see that this was the only acting credit for the very pretty Sarah Caldwell. In the story she's a fashion model, and she did have sort of a Twiggy quality to her appearance. If you don't get the reference, you'll have to look it up.
A couple of situations turn to disappointments in the picture, and I had to wonder why the scriptwriters went along with the story line. For one thing, Mrs. Brown (the greyhound) gets wandered off at a train station while Peter Noone waves goodbye to Judy, and is not recovered until near the end of the film when he's returned to Manchester by street-smart hustler Percy Sutton (Lance Percival), who pops up in the most unlikely of places to befriend the boys. Having won two qualifying races earlier, the canine Mrs. Brown never does go on to win the grand prize in a championship race. The other has to do with Judy Brown's modeling career; by going off to Rome for a fashion spread, Peter gives up hope for his one true love. So, it almost comes off as settling for second best when he reunites with hometown girl Tulip (Sheila White), who was very pretty in her own right, just not as worldly as Judy. She had pined away for Herman Tulley (Noone) the entire picture.
In recent years, I've seen the reconstituted Herman's Hermits four or five times, and every show has been a wonderful experience down memory lane with their lineup of hit songs. At my very first show (Newton Theater in Newton, New Jersey), there was a Patricia Brown sitting in the front row along with her mom!! I thought it was a set up, but it turned out to be a genuine mother/daughter couple that Noone took great delight in talking with. The most recent was 3/18/2023 at the Paramount Theater in Middletown, New York. Having seen the group's performance a number of times, I bought tickets in the front row, far right just off the stage where Noone usually comes down into the audience. The strategy worked, in as much as he presented my granddaughter with a signed copy of Herman Hermits Greatest Hits album! The one song the group performs in this picture, "A Kind of Hush", is the one they end all their concerts with, right after singing "Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter".
A couple of situations turn to disappointments in the picture, and I had to wonder why the scriptwriters went along with the story line. For one thing, Mrs. Brown (the greyhound) gets wandered off at a train station while Peter Noone waves goodbye to Judy, and is not recovered until near the end of the film when he's returned to Manchester by street-smart hustler Percy Sutton (Lance Percival), who pops up in the most unlikely of places to befriend the boys. Having won two qualifying races earlier, the canine Mrs. Brown never does go on to win the grand prize in a championship race. The other has to do with Judy Brown's modeling career; by going off to Rome for a fashion spread, Peter gives up hope for his one true love. So, it almost comes off as settling for second best when he reunites with hometown girl Tulip (Sheila White), who was very pretty in her own right, just not as worldly as Judy. She had pined away for Herman Tulley (Noone) the entire picture.
In recent years, I've seen the reconstituted Herman's Hermits four or five times, and every show has been a wonderful experience down memory lane with their lineup of hit songs. At my very first show (Newton Theater in Newton, New Jersey), there was a Patricia Brown sitting in the front row along with her mom!! I thought it was a set up, but it turned out to be a genuine mother/daughter couple that Noone took great delight in talking with. The most recent was 3/18/2023 at the Paramount Theater in Middletown, New York. Having seen the group's performance a number of times, I bought tickets in the front row, far right just off the stage where Noone usually comes down into the audience. The strategy worked, in as much as he presented my granddaughter with a signed copy of Herman Hermits Greatest Hits album! The one song the group performs in this picture, "A Kind of Hush", is the one they end all their concerts with, right after singing "Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter".