From 'Candy' to 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show'

In the genre we might call 'post-psychedelic nonsense' we had: Candy (1968), Head (1968), I Love You, Alice B. Toklas! (1968), Barbarella (1968), The Magic Christian (1969), and even 200 Motels (1971) - although Frank Zappa would no doubt turn in his grave at the thought of being associated with all that 'hippie *beep*. Nonetheless, all these unashamedly silly, usually dreadful, attempts at cocking a snook at 'serious' alternatives to mainstream cinema seemed, more often than not, to betray a desire to re-invent the musical. When an actual musical came along, in the form of The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), a peculiar chapter in the history of filmmaking seemed to have been closed for good. On the other hand, you could argue that Pedro Almodóvar's early films, and even the camp (failed seriousness) of Baz Luhrmann movies owes something to the celluloid exploitation of/compliment to the outburst of cultural experimentation/downright silliness of the late 60s.

I like 'Candy', though - it's bonkers. And I get the feeling the joke's on us. Whatever, Brando's hilarious.

It goes without saying that the French New Wave left the U.S. and U.K. mainstream way behind, but I'd like to put in a word for Richard Lester, who made a series of films - A Hard Day's Night (1964), The Knack ...and How to Get It (1965), How I Won the War (1967) and The Bed Sitting Room (1969) - that blew most of those 'wacky' American films out of the water.

The lion and the calf shall lie down together, but the calf won't get much sleep.