There's a germ of a good story idea in here somewhere. Don Knotts plays a decent small town guy named Abner Peacock who is fond of birds--the feathered kind. He's a Boy Scout leader, Sunday School teacher, bird-impressions extraordinaire, and publisher of an under-funded bird-lovers magazine which is taken over by a smut peddler with a postal impediment. Knotts unknowingly becomes a wanted man and is soon arrested for porno-pushing, later learning that if he pleads guilty and continues with the girlie mag, he could become a millionaire. Pop-eyed Knotts has a fun first scene in church doing bird-calls in song, but he wears out his welcome by his second scene--it's all downhill from there. Shrill, shrieking, and generally unpleasant to watch, Knotts never appears to be having a good time and he gets little support from a mostly-geriatric supporting cast. Anne Francis (just off her role in "Funny Girl") plays a shrewd editor who must pretend that she can't keep her hands off Knotts (her first line, "Cool it boys, I'm slumming", must have resonated bitterly with Francis). The cheap Universal sets and overly-bright lighting (with constant camera and crew shadows) are an eyesore, while the inept direction ensures that everyone acts manic, waving their arms in comic distress. If there's anything good to say about the picture, it's the fashion show montage mid-movie, where even Knotts looks passable in the groovy '60s clothes. * from ****
Review of The Love God?
