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.
