I Watch Films: The Knack And How To Get It

 

The Knack… And How To Get It

The titular knack is getting women into bed. Colin (Michael Crawford) is a teacher in 1960s London, lacks confidence and also a girlfriend. His lodger, Tolen, has lots. (In the opening sequence there is a queue throughout the house of identically dressed attractive young women; how much is heightened reality and how much fantasy is something the film refuses to answer).

Unhappy, he puts a room to rent sign in the window in the hope of getting a more restrained tenant, or something, and also boards the door shut to stop Tolen’s women getting in. Tom, who has been thrown out of his rooms for painting everything white, climbs in through the window, empties everything into the hallway and paints it all white.

Colin then decides that his bed is too small, and goes with Tom to get a bigger one. Pushing it through the streets they meet Nancy, who has arrived in town and had a number of more-or-less amusing and/or eye-opening encounters interspersed with the main action. She joins them, and they have a wacky journey back.

The film then moves to a conclusion, with Tolen, having lost his knack somehow, putting the moves on Nancy who faints and accuses him of rape. The lads think she is having rape fantasies and the film limps to the end. There’s a chorus of people in the street giving commentary on events occasionally, the whole thing being stylised with odd and surprising cuts and shots.

Watch This: A cleverly shot, rather silly 60s sex comedy film
Don’t Watch This: As ever with sex comedies, fairly heavy subjects are treated lightly, and unimportant ones dwelled on