''The Love God?'' is a 1969 American comedy film starring

Don Knotts Jesse Donald Knotts (July 21, 1924February 24, 2006) was an American actor and comedian. He is widely known for his role as Deputy Sheriff Barney Fife on ''The Andy Griffith Show'', a 1960s sitcom for which he earned five Emmy Awards. He also ...

and Edmond O'Brien. It was written and directed by Nat Hiken, who died between the completion of shooting and the film's release. ''The Love God?'' marked a change of pace for Knotts, who had exclusively appeared in family comedies, and was an attempt to integrate Knotts into the adult-oriented films that dominated the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Plot

Abner Peacock's beloved birdwatching magazine ''The Peacock'' is in financial crisis. Desperate to stay afloat, Abner takes on new partner Osborn Tremain, who has an agenda of his own: to publish a sexy men's magazine. Tremain and his wife Evelyn can only do so by taking over Abner's magazine, as Tremain has been convicted for sending obscene material through the mail. Before Abner can stop the Tremains, the first issue sells more than 40 million copies and Abner becomes the unwilling spokesman for First Amendment rights. Swept up in adulation, Abner soon adopts the swinging bachelor lifestyle.

Cast and characters

as Abner Audubon Peacock IV *

Anne Francis Anne Francis (also known as Anne Lloyd Francis; September 16, 1930 – January 2, 2011) was an American actress known for her ground-breaking roles in the science-fiction film ''Forbidden Planet'' (1956) and the television action-drama seri ...

as Lisa LaMonica * Edmond O'Brien as Osborn Tremain * James Gregory as Darrell Evans Hughes * Maureen Arthur as Evelyn Tremain *

Maggie Peterson Margaret Ann Peterson (January 10, 1941 – May 15, 2022) was an American actress and singer. She was best known for playing Charlene Darling on ''The Andy Griffith Show''. She also played the character of Doris in the episode "A Girl for Goob ...

as Rose Ellen Wilkerson

Reception

'' Los Angeles Times'' critic Kevin Thomas called the film "one of the intentionally funniest and most pertinent pictures to come out of Universal in years." In the ''

San Francisco Examiner The ''San Francisco Examiner'' is a newspaper distributed in and around San Francisco, California, and published since 1863. Once self-dubbed the "Monarch of the Dailies" by then-owner William Randolph Hearst, and flagship of the Hearst Corporat ...

'', Stanley Eichelbaum described the film as "an engaging spoof on the current vogue for the sexual put on." According to Don Knotts, resistance to seeing him in anything other than clean family films was greater than Universal Pictures had anticipated, and they had trouble booking ''The Love God?'' in theaters: "I'm not sure how many, but I heard that a great number of theaters turned the picture down. In any case, it did not do well at all." The film was rated M (for "Mature Audiences", later replaced with PG) by the

Motion Picture Association The Motion Picture Association (MPA) is an American trade association representing the five major film studios of the United States, as well as the video streaming service Netflix. Founded in 1922 as the Motion Picture Producers and Distribu ...

when it was released. In later years, changes to the film rating system meant that this rating was no longer considered sufficient for ''The Love God?'', so the film's rating was bumped up to PG-13 (for "Parents Strongly Cautioned") and given the flag "sex-related material." The film was panned by Judith Crist when it premiered on television, who said that its "smutty pseudo-satire on pornography, civil liberties and bird-watching would be rated as sub-Z by anyone with a knowledge of the alphabet, let alone an iota of taste."Crist, Judith.
This Week's Movies
. TV Guide. Dec. 19, 1970. P. A-2.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Love God?, The 1969 films American comedy films Films scored by Vic Mizzy 1969 comedy films Films set in New York City 1960s English-language films 1960s American films