THE IDOL

Michael Parks as The Idol

THE IDOL (1966). Director: Daniel Petrie.

"To be idolized, a man must offer the unusual." -- ad copy.

Marco (Michael Parks) is an American studying art in London. He has a sort of girlfriend in Sarah (Jennifer Hilary) and a kind of best buddy in Timothy (John Leyton), and the three pal around a lot together. Marco is less impressed when he meets Timothy's mother, Carol (Jennifer Jones), also an American, who is divorcing her husband and about to remarry. Carol also seems to be slightly overbearing with Timothy. Marco seems to have a problem with parents and authority in general. When Marco is embarrassed by Carol at a house-warming party, he is furious, but Carol warms up to Marco when he comes to her son's rescue after two slobs try to beat him up. One New Year's Eve Marco goes to Carol's home to find Timothy, but he has already gone to a party with Sarah. At midnight Marco gives Carol a kiss and one thing leads to another -- with highly unfortunate repercussions ...

Jennifer Jones

There were many great British films made in the 1960's, but The Idol isn't one of them. Its screenplay is half-baked and its characters poorly developed   -- especially Marco, who has little reason for doing anything he does except that he's an asshole -- and the overlong film is also tedious. Made by an American studio, The Idol would still have been a poor movie, but at least it might have been more entertaining with the right trashy cast. Parks is better in this film than he is in Bus Riley's Back in Town, but Laurence Olivier might have had trouble with this character. Jennifer Jones has the good sense to look embarrassed through most of the movie, and her performance is one of her weakest. John Leyton, although he's way too old to convincingly play someone who's just nineteen, probably comes off best. Jennifer Hilary is adequate but she lacks the raw sex appeal of, say, an Ann-Margret -- or a Michael Parks -- so her love scenes with Parks aren't very exciting.

Parks, Leyton and Hilary

Some viewers claim that Carol has incestuous feelings for her son and/or vice versa, but if this was intended, it is not handled very well. Timothy seems to have a crush on Sarah, whom he pursues when he thinks Marco has broken off his relationship with her, but it may be just as likely that Marco is the true object of his sensual attentions. In the long run, none of this makes a difference, because it's impossible to care about any of these characters. One member of the large supporting cast who deserves kudos. however, is Rita Webb as the landlady at Marco's nifty apartment who repeatedly remarks about her tenants that "they're all a bit mental." One wonders what she would think of this motley crew?

Verdict: Lame attempts at pseudo-profundity don't help and neither does an ad campaign that promises more than it delivers. **.