The Knack ...and How to Get It (1965)

Director:

Richard Lester

Writers:

Charles Wood (screenplay)
Ann Jellicoe (play)

Release Date:

3 June 1965 (UK)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

There's a niche for 'The Knack.'

Plot:

In England, the times are a changing: it's mods and rockers. On the day Nancy gets off the London train...

Plot Keywords:

Mods | Swinging London | Based On Play | Independent Film

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Another 4 wins & 7 nominations

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Rita Tushingham	...	Nancy Jones
Ray Brooks	...	Tolen
Michael Crawford	...	Colin
Donal Donnelly	...	Tom
William Dexter	...	Dress Shop Owner
Charles Dyer	...	Man in Photo Booth
Margot Thomas	...	Female Teacher
John Bluthal	...	Angry Father
Helen Lennox	...	Girl in Photo Booth
Wensley Pithey	...	Teacher
Edgar Wreford	...	Man in Phone Booth
Frank Sieman	...	Surveyor
Bruce Lacey	...	Surveyor's Asst.
George Chisholm	...	Left Luggage Porter
Peter Copley	...	Picture Owner

Also Known As:

The Knack... and How to Get It (USA)

Runtime:

UK:85 min | USA:84 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Hong Kong:IIA | Argentina:16 | Canada:14A | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 (video rating) (2004) | UK:X (original rating) | USA:Unrated | West Germany:12 | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

1 Melrose Terrace, Hammersmith, London, England, UK

Company:

Woodfall Film Productions

Trivia:

Film debuts of Jacqueline Bisset and Charlotte Rampling,

Quotes:

[criticizing England's youth culture]
Old Man: Mods and Rockers!

Movie Connections:

Spoofs Les parapluies de Cherbourg (1964)

The Knack emerges as a serious contender as the film which best defines and captures the essence of the sixties.

The Knack emerges as a serious contender as the film which best defines and captures the essence of the sixties. As a product of its age, it convincingly portrays an image of 'swinging London' that so dominated the media at that time. It is an enduring image, which has long since seeped into our collective consciousness.

Today, The Knack appears, at best, to be an attempt at understanding the changing moral landscape that was being radically redrawn during this era. As a piece of contemporary film making, it manages to capture the spirit of that age perfectly. What it doesn't necessarily do is make sense of it all. The 1960s was, after all, a period of rapid social and political change - an age of cold war tension, supersonic invention and lunar landing pretensions, combined with increasing freedom for teenagers, both in terms of sex and spending power.

The quartet of principal actors, Crawford, Tushingham, Brooks & Donnelly all give bravura performances. Richard Lester's direction was exemplary; indeed, he has probably not made a better film since those heady days. The locations, featuring some rather dingy-looking parts of the capital, look all the more so thanks to the decision to film in monochrome. This was particular brave considering the colourful times the film was depicting. The one ingredient which most of all created the sense of playfulness indicative of the film was John Barry's wonderfully mischievous jazz-tinged pop score. One cannot imagine the film without it, which is the highest compliment one can pay to a film soundtrack.

There is no doubt that The Knack was and remains a stylish movie, albeit rooted in its time. No viewer can fail to date its origin correctly ... yet that's precisely what makes this celluloid time-capsule such a fascinating viewing experience. It exists as the archetypal mid-sixties art-house movie, which, like the decade in which it was written, took risks, dared to be different, and, if it didn't always succeed, sure as hell made an impression.