The Ghost Goes Gear

One of my friends lent me the DVD of THE GHOST GOES GEAR, since I tend to get a kick out of 1960s rock 'n' roll comedies. The good news is that The Spencer Davis Group, in what I believe is their only film of this type, is very likable and even shows a bit of a flair for knockabout comedy (their drummer is particularly fun to watch, and young Stevie Winwood, while quiet, is certainly easy on the eyes). The bad news is that what little plot there is, nonsense about the boys' Upper Class Twit manager and his haunted family estate (interestingly the ghost haunting it is smilingly played by Roger Daltrey lookalike Lorne Gibson, who also sings in the film with his group The Lorne Gibson Trio), takes up an inordinate amount of screen time and makes a typical SCOOBY-DOO episode look like the best of Hitchcock! When the jokes are funny, it's a happy accident of delivery and timing -- otherwise, the flick's pretty much just an excuse to string together musical numbers featuring all-but-forgotten British folk and pop acts of the time (including Mr. Acker Bilk!). If you love The Spencer Davis Group, though, you'll find it worthwhile to turn on the commentary track -- and not just because it drowns out the rest of the film! :-) Spencer Davis and Martin Davis (no relation :-) tell lots of funny off-the-cuff stories about the film's creation and the folks involved, and even they cheerfully admit that the film is, er, flawed and that most of the folks in it barely even qualify as footnotes in British pop history. So if you're in the mood for a curiosity and you've got a pal who can loan this DVD to you (so you don't have to spend actual money on it :-), THE GHOST GOES GEAR is worth one viewing, especially if you gather a bunch of friends who love to do a DIY MST3K number on such films (like my hubby did when we watched it :-)!

Certainly, one of the most difficult cult films of the 1960's to find anywhere, GHOST GOES GEAR was a vehicle for the then faddish british pop band, THE SPENCER DAVIS GROUP. Spencer, Steve Winwood and the band are likeable enough, but the producers chose an extremely weak gimmick to highlight their talents (musical, not acting).

Spencer and the Band go to the mansion of their band manager. A ghost appears and sings a pop song. All of a sudden the "haunted house" becomes a big tourist attraction. The Spencer Davis Group and a gaggle of obscure mid-60's Brit bands show up and give a concert. End of film.

For some inexplicable reason, the Producers decide to spend more time with the Band manager, his parents and the two caretakers than with the rock bands! Then, they decided to put THE GHOST GOES GEAR on a double bill with....ONE MILLION YEARS B.C.! Huh?

ANCHOR BAY has announced a release on DVD. Buy only if you're a huge SPENCER DAVIS or Steve Winwood fanatic. Others beware the Ghost........

Definitely goes into the "so bad, it's almost good" category. The music isn't that bad and though for the most part obscure, recalls some lesser known acts from the mid-sixties British pop scene. The story.......not exactly sure there is one, something about a mansion a ghost and pop/jazz/folk groups randomly popping up.The commentary with Spencer Davis weirdly kind of makes it. If you are feeling nostalgic this may take you back and put a smile on your face, but if you don't like bad cheesy movies, may want to take a pass.

"The Ghost Goes Gear" is a dismal affair. You hear about it and see that The Spencer Davis Group are the stars of the movie and you think it ought to be at least interesting. Well, it would have been if The Spencer Davis Group had more numbers in the film. They only perform in the first half and they don't do any of their big hits. (Well, "When I Get Home," which they play on a boat in the opening scene, was a hit in England, but if you want to see them do "Somebody Help Me," "Gimme Some Lovin'" or "I'm A Man," forget it. Not here anyway).

Instead, the bulk of the film deals with the group's manager and his parents and their attempts, with the help of the group, to save their ancestral home. They make up something about a ghost and then have a concert with a bunch of lesser English groups and that's it for 79 minutes.

A couple of the groups are not bad (The St. Louis Union, The M6), but most of the rest are a really square lot: Acker Bilk (not doing "Stranger on the Shore," thank God), The Three Bells, Dave Barry, The Lorne Gibson Trio, not a memorable moment among them. I will say this: they are all beautifully photographed, but that's all.

So what else do you get? Clumsy, unfunny slapstick, crummy dialogue, the annoying Sheila White, a group of acts that may have meant something to British audiences, but come across as blah to most American ears.....and not enough of The Spencer Davis Group. You'd have to be a total 60s die-hard to find much to enjoy here.

it is said that the British never really take themselves seriously. Case in point this Spencer Davis Group vehicle which tries only to be a bit silly and totally hip at the same time, and fails most of the time to be either. The film's plot is rubbish. The dialog is totally vapid. The musical numbers are mostly embarrassing for all involved. However, there are moments of fun, and a few of the musical acts are not bad at all. It's like the Monkees without most of the charm. It is refreshing to see how unsophisticated pop music was in those days though. We have lost that innocence forever and at least it's documented in gorgeous colour for future generations to ignore.