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Released by: Warner Archives
Released on: 4/19/2011
Director: Arthur Lubin
Cast: Herman's Hermits, Shelley Fabares, Herbert Anderson, Peter Noone
Year: 1965
The Movie:
While the never hit the heights of superstardom the way that The Beatles did, Herman's Hermits were a pretty big deal in the mid-sixties and since it was in vogue in those days to put pop stars in bad movies, it made sense that the British five piece would wind up in a feature film. And thus we have Hold On!, which is basically just under ninety minutes worth of nonsense in the vein of A Hard Day's Night.
When the movie begins, NASA is debating whether or not they should bow to the public's demand to name their newest rocket after Herman's Hermits. A NASA big wig assigns a clumsy worker named Ed Lindquist (Herbert Anderson) to go investigate the popular British group to see if they're the right kind of guys to be naming rockets after, so off he goes to try and infiltrate the group and get the inside scoop.
While this is going on, a fame hungry woman named Cecile Bannister (Sue Anne Langdon) is trying to get close to Herman (Peter Noone), claiming to be an old friend of his so that the paparazzi will notice her and her pictures will get into all the papers. This complicates things for Herman, who just wants to spend some quality time with Louisa (Shelley Fabares), the pretty blonde daughter of a wealthy socialite named Mrs. Henrietta Page (Hortense Petra) who has hired the band at her daughter's request to play a charity event at their social club. Keeping the band in line is their uptight manager Dudley Hawks (Bernard Fox), who knows all too well what kind of mischief the boys can get into when girls are around.
More a star vehicle for front man Peter Noone than an actual movie about the band (the other four members - Karl Green, Keith Hopwood, Derek Leckenby, and Barry Whitman - don't get more than two or three lines a piece in the entire film), Hold On! is as goofy as they come. Running gags such as Lindquist's penchant for getting water thrown on his face and Cecile's efforts to throw herself in front of the group whenever photographers are around keep things light and moderately funny, while preposterous scenes such as the bit where Herman finds himself hanging on for dear life on a rollercoaster ride let us know not to take any of this all too seriously. A fantasy sequence in which Herman spies pretty Louisa singing on the beach and approaches her as a knight in shining armor to save her and her friends from the clutches of a moustache twirling Dudley is also too stupid not to laugh at - the movie really is as corny as they come (as if a movie revolving around the decision to name a rocket after Herman's Hermits would be anything but!).
Director Arthur Lubin, who spent most of his sixties career working in television and directed episodes of Mister Ed and Maverick after churning out all manner of interesting movies such as Phantom Of The Opera and a bunch of westerns in the decades prior, keeps things moving at a very good pace. A whole lot happens in the film, and while most of it is dopey it manages to keep us entertained. Noone's got charisma and charm and it's hard not to like the guy, while the musical numbers, which include the band doing the title track as well as songs 'A Must To Avoid,' 'Leaning On The Lamp Post,' 'All The Things I Do For You Baby,' and quite a few others, are always fun.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Hold On! looks okay in this 2.35.1 anamorphic widescreen transfer from Warner Archive. Colors are nice and bold and they have a really nice sixties pop sensibility to them. A few stock footage inserts show a bit more print damage than the rest of the movie, which is fairly clean and shows only minor specks. There aren't any serious compression artifacts to complain about though you might spot a couple here and there. Overall, this is a pretty serviceable looking image.
The audio levels seem a little bit low but once you turn up the volume, the English language Dolby Digital Mono track is fine. The musical numbers sound pretty good while the dialogue is clear and balanced properly against the score and effects. No alternate language tracks or subtitles are provided.
As far as extras go, we get the standard Warner Archives static menu screen, chapter selections, and a non-anamorphic widescreen trailer for the film.
The Final Word:
There's something endearing about this awful film and it's corny jokes and predictable storyline. It doesn't showcase the band so much as it acts as a star vehicle for Peter Noone and the whole thing is campy, goofy and poorly written - but it's fun. There's a warmth to its awfulness and it works as a time capsule of sorts, making the film's utter ridiculousness somehow far more effective than it should be.
