Cuckoo Indeed
Freddie & The Dreamers star as the Cuckoo Patrol who are full of good intentions when it comes to being as helpful as possible, especially with the scout troop who they are part of. Sadly there attempts to be helpful constantly cause chaos and plenty of issues for Mr. Wick (Kenneth Connor) and Mr. Gibbs (John Le Mesurier) who run the scout troop. When they have to take a cart of equipment to the station they not only end up in the back of a removals lorry but then end up in a tag team wrestling match.
"A little nonsense now and then is relished by the wisest men"; that is a quote from "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory" and it sprung to mind within minutes of starting to watch "The Cuckoo Patrol" as this is simply a lot of nonsense starring Freddie & The Dreamers who are supported by a few famous faces. Now watching Freddie Garrity and the rest of the band dressed as over grown scouts, acting foolish and causing chaos with their good intentions, whilst Kenneth Connor pulls his hair out with frustration and grimaces every time they were near, made me smile. There is a real innocence to the movie which is still effective now more than 50 years after it was made. Although I can appreciate why for those who loved the music of Freddie & The Dreamers might have found it all too stupid. In fact I have to admit that by the time this was come to an end I was beginning to tire of all the nonsense and was longing for something with a bit more substance rather than comedy chaos and stupidity.
What this all boils down to is that "The Cuckoo Patrol" is just some innocent nonsense starring Freddie & The Dreamers which is more akin to the comical chaos of The Monkees rather than that of The Beatles in "A Hard Day's Night".
