Lock Up Your Daughters!

I saw this film when it came out, and loved it.. I fell in love with the ribald humor. I especially like the "asides" to the camara. The take off on the "Eating " scene in Tom Jones is a riot. I saw this film once more on Cable about a year or two ago. That leads me to belive it is available on tape , somewhere. I copied it to tape, but the quality is fair. I would buy this film on DVD if it came out.

When a group of sailors get shore leave, they have only one thing on their minds: women! But in the restrained 1700s, they don't have many options. They can either seek out prostitutes, don elaborate disguises to gain entry to respectable ladies' bedchambers, or attack random women in the street. The latter option proves problematic when the women shout, "Rape!" and they have to explain themselves before a magistrate. Keep in mind this is an over-the-top British comedy and there are no actual rapes.

With hilarious character names like Clumsey, Squeezum, Foppington, Eager, and Lusty, if you're laughing during the first five minutes' introduction, you'll like the rest of the movie. It feels like everyone in the cast had a blast hamming up their naughty jokes and melodramas. Glynis Johns and her husband Peter Bayliss take turns seducing the accused and accuser in each rape trial. Peter "questions" the young lady in his office, while Glynis sees if she can "get anything out of" the amorous young man. Christopher Plummer is all dolled up in his "foppiest" attire, and he flounces around the screen personifying the stereotype of, "no s** please, I'm British." Ian Bannen sneaks into his paramour's room and announces he's going to make love to her. "What do you mean?" she asks, feigning shock and modesty. "What do you think I mean?" he replies with a smirk as he sheds his coat.

I'll watch anything to support the cast of the beloved Carry On series, so it was a treat to see Jim Dale in another raunchy British comedy. He and others often break the fourth wall and make jokes with the audience. Susannah York, Kathleen Harrison, Roy Kinnear, Fenella Fielding, and Roy Dotrice are also among the supporting cast. If you liked Tom Jones or the Carry On movies, rent this very funny movie that is extremely politically incorrect by today's standards.

Awful late-sixties so-called "comedy" about the ill-fated attempts of an over-protective father (Christopher Plummer) to keep his daughters pure. Plummer's hate for his most famous film, "The Sound of Music," is infamous. Many people know that he refers to it as "The Sound of Mucus." So he started appearing in really bad movies (most notably ones where he plays evil characters) in order to wipe away his Nice Family Man persona.

So he made this trash instead? Whatever.

When our local TV station first launched, it filled a lot of its schedule with old British programming. "Lock Up Your Daughters!" was duly aired, and I -- swayed by the opening few seconds of the film -- popped in a blank tape. Best thing I ever did.

The actors are beautifully suited to their characters and bring them to delightful life, complete with appropriate accents (Christopher Plummer's Foppington will leave you in stitches, as will Hoyden and her family). Double entendres abound, plot-line wheels within wheels mix and match the characters, hilarious sight gags lurk in every scene, and risqué comments are made on a regular basis.

I showed the film to friends a few years ago and they called the piece "a lost treasure," as much for the cast as for the story. To this day I can crack up just thinking about the dialog. Should this gem ever find its way to a DVD release, I'll be at the front of the line.

Lock Up Your Daughters is one of the best high-spirited comedies I have ever seen.

It is misunderstood since it lacks the "social commentary" values that many films of the day (1969) required to be successful.

The characters are over-the-top satires of everyday people and played to that purpose by all of the actors.

Christopher Plummer shines especially bright as Lord Foppington, a noble with hair too big to fit in the door.

The plot involves the usual 18th century stuff; mistaken identities, thwarted romances, corrupt government officials, and jokes at every turn.

It answers the questions: What happens when 4 rambunctious, eager to party sailors are on leave in a small British coastal town? And, who do they get involved with and how does it all turn out?

Despite doing poorly at the box office, it has great costumes, excellent music(based on the Mermaid Theatre musical of the same name), great,lively acting and sets that are obviously authentic.

That it has never been released on either VHS or DVD is truly a shame, since so many bad movies are released every day.