The Cherry Picker

The Cherry Picker is a lost 1972 British comedy-drama film directed by Peter Curran and starring Lulu, Bob Sherman, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Spike Milligan, Patrick Cargill, Jack Hulbert, Fiona Curzon, Terry-Thomas and Robert Hutton. The screenplay was by Curran based on the 1968 novel Pick Up Sticks by Mickey Phillips.

Plot

American business tycoon James Burn II wants to find a proper job for his wayward hedonistic son James Burn III, and engages the help of Nancy. James Burn III marries Nancy and gets a dead-end job in a brewery. A series of events lead to him subsequently becoming the boss of the company, which now sells addictive beer.

Cast

Lulu as Nancy
Bob Sherman as James Burn III
Terry-Thomas as Appleby
Wilfrid Hyde-White as Dobson
Spike Milligan as Mr. Lal
Patrick Cargill as Dr. Harrison
Jack Hulbert as Sir Hugh Fawcett
Fiona Curzon as Maureen
Robert Hutton as James Burn II
Priscilla Morgan as Mrs. Trulove
Arthur Blake as Dan Haydock
Barry Wilsher as vicar
Bruce Boa as Dr. Softman
Henry McGee as Pilkington
Marianne Stone as Mrs. Lal
Nikki [van der Zyl] as dubbed voice of Nancy

Critical reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "The title sequence for The Cherry Picker features a Pirelli calendar, with exquisite semi-nudes in Degas-like attitudes. What follows unfortunately fails to come near the sybaritic elegance we associate with that august institution dedicated to the leisure pursuits of big businessmen. Presumably aiming at satire of similarly institutionalised Playboy attitudes towards sex and role-playing, the film dithers over an inadequately scripted and crudely shot narrative that might charitably be described as 'rambling' or 'picaresque'."

Preservation status

As of August 2014, the film was missing from the BFI National Archive; although inferior quality copies are still in circulation, including YouTube, it is listed as one of the British Film Institute's "75 Most Wanted" lost films due to the loss of the original print.