The Love God?

It is no secret that one of the funniest men to have lived is the late Don Knotts.

Considered by many to be the breakout star of the Andy Griffith Show, Knotts left the show to pursue a movie career. Now many of the movies that Knotts starred in are considered now classics. Knotts’ movies include The Ghost and Mr Chicken, The Shakiest Gun in the West, and the Incredible Mr. Limpet.

One of the other movies that Knotts starred in was The Love God?

Recently I attended a screening of The Love God? hosted by Joe Bob Briggs and Zach Carlson who announced his departure from the Alamo Drafthouse.

I have been both a fan and a friend of Joe Bob Briggs so naturally I had to attend this screening as well as the screenings of the other films that he was hosting that week at the Alamo Drafthouse.

Also attending the screening was a pair of pants worn by Don Knotts’ in the film.

The Love God? is a flick that follows Abner Audubon Peacock IV who is a birdwatcher that is publishing the Peacock newsletter  that follows rare birds. Unable to maintain funding he it talked into accepting to take a new partner in Osborn Tremain. Unbeknownst to Peacock Tremain is a pornographer that with his wife has lost his postmaster’s license due to his material that he releases and wants to use Peacock’s.

After tricking Peacock to go to the Amazon to look for a rare bird Tremain turns the Peacock Newsletter into a men’s magazine and after Peacock returns to the States he is promply arrested on obscenity charges.

The ensuing media circus and trial turns Peacock into a Hugh Hefner like Icon of the sexual revolution.

Feminist writer Lisa LaMonica played by Anne Francis joins the Peacock staff seeing the potential in magazine sales and officially turns the magazine into a Playboyesque publication with celebrity centerfolds and articles for the sexual male.

Under pressure from the financers of the magazine as well as his family Peacock is convinced to live the life of The Love God when all that he wants to do is marry the daughter of his own preacher who has stuck by his side all the way through.

The reason that Joe Bob Briggs and Zach showcased this flick was the fact that they want the audiences to see this film as a cult favorite and I am inclined to agree with them.

As many of you know I am a massive fan of Playboy and Hugh Hefner and I was highly entertained by this parody of the Playboy Empire as well as the lifestyle that it portrays.

Particularly funny is the outfits and the montages that Knotts has to parade in the film as well as the fact that he really isn’t the character that the magazine builds him up to be and is even funnier in the scenes where his friends and family make their positions known.

A particularly funny side plot follows the Mob Boss that is the financer of the magazine and his goons and constant fails at courting Anne Francis who probably has eyes for Don Knotts.

If you follow the flick you can probably see the inspiration and probably origin of Knott's other well-known character Ralph Furley from Three’s Company.

Definitely check this flick out.