Welcome to "Where Has Poor Mickey Gone" Wednesday! This is an interesting double feature poster pairing "Mickey" with a retitled version of "Werewolf In A Girl's Dormitory!"
So that's the question of the day, and not only where did Mickey go, but also why did he go there?
"Where Has Poor Mickey Gone?" can be viewed as one of two things, either it's a very elongated music video for Irish Blues singer Ottilie Patterson, or an evil version of the Bowery Boys in a "Twilight Zone" episode!
The killer theme song for "Where Has Poor Mickey Gone?" was written and performed by Ottilie Patterson, and is an odd amalgam of instrumentality! Joining Ottilie is her husband, jazz trombonist Chris Barber on bass, Eddie Smith on banjo, Graham Burbidge on drums, and none other than the legendary Sonny Boy Williamson playing the harp! What a combination punch! That's why I still like doing this blog; I've been a huge music fan of all ilks for years, and yet, just like a whole lot of weird movies, I had never heard of Ottilie Patterson until I saw this movie, and she's freakin' awesome! Trust me, after a couple of listens, you'll wonder "Where Has Poor Mickey Gone" too!! Why the IMDB has Cleon Laine listed as singing this song, I have no idea! The movie's credits state Ottilie Patterson without a doubt!
In case you were wondering, that's Mickey over there on the left! He's just a cheap punk, so it's hard to conceive that somebody could actually be missing him! As far as I can tell, and from his behaviour in this movie, it should have been good riddance Mickey, you little jerk!!
This is the exasperated look of a bird whose boyfriend is getting the shit kicked out of him for no reason whatsoever! That's just the way Mickey and his boys roll!
This is Mickey's gang! On the left is Tim, and on the right is Ginger! Classically schooled John (The House That Dripped Blood) Malcolm is Mickey in the middle in his first film appearance! Tim is played by John Challis in his first ever screen appearance! For all the "Dr. Who" fans, John was Scorby in all six episodes of "The Seeds Of Doom" in 1976! Ginger was played by Ray Armstrong, who was also in a couple of "Dr. Who" episodes, and went on to be in a buttload of TV shows like "Z Cars," "Freewheelers," and "Tucker's Luck!" No lack of talent here!
The fourth member of the gang is a new recruit named Kip played by Christopher Robbie also in his second role ever! Christopher Robbie was also in "Dr. Who" for five episodes as Cyberleader, and one episode as Karkus! Christopher was still acting up to at least last year! From the beginning, you just don't get the feeling that the smooth and handsome Kip is going to fit in and there's going to be some friction between him and the boys, but it never happens!
Walking the streets, and peering in windows, the boys spot Mr. Emilio Dinelli getting ready to close up shop for the night!
Since Emilio deals in carnival and fairground novelties, his business creates a great surreal backdrop for the antics these punks are about to come up with!
Emilio is played by Warren Mitchell who just turned 88 a couple of months ago! Where do you start with a guy like Warren Mitchell? His first role was in 1954 where he is credited as 'a laughing man in a bar!" He would go on working until 2006 with roles in movies like "The Crawling Eye," "Unearthly Stranger," "Blood Beast From Outer Space," and "Moon Zero Two!"
Tim and Ginger look major macho in their party hats!! Guys just wanna have fun too!
I get one of these every movie or two, this weeks candidate for the winner in the WTF?! Department!
These guys are so immature it's almost comical,
No, it actually is comical!
Just your typical 28 year old punk out having a good time! Free use of a carnival mirror? Hell Yeah!!
So one of Emilio's treasured items is under cover, and he pleads with the boys to leave it alone, or face the consequences, but instead they end up smashing up a good part of this wild lookin' Ballerama game!
What else could possibly happen? The boys figure out that Emilio is also a magician, so they untie him, so that he can put on a show for them while they kick back!
It just so happens that the main trick in Emilio's act is a coffin that makes people vanish! The boys are too stupid to believe it, so one by one, they go behind the curtain never to be seen again, except for Tim who bolts out the door and goes to the police!
There's no proof to substantiate Tim's wild claims that some olde man disappeared all his pals, so the question does indeed remain unanswered, "Where Did Poor Mickey Go?" (Spoiler Alert: The box's invisible passage just might lead straight to Hell!) Now go back and take another, but closer look at the title card!!
