The Source of ‘Austin’s’ Mad Power

Thirty years before Austin Powers uttered his first “Yeah, baby, yeah!” or danced the frug with a group of “birds” down Carnaby Street, people were grooving to a diverse, often outrageous crop of movies that came out of the swinging England and hip, hot Hollywood of the ‘60s.

These flicks ran the gamut from freewheeling musical comedies to head trips into the world of psychedelia to plotless excursions into surrealism. They proved to be an inspiration--and not just to Austin. Jay Roach said he clinched the job directing “International Man of Mystery” by “showing these super-hyper stylized movies of jet-set pop art films” to Mike DeLuca, production chief at New Line, which released both “Austin” films.

“I got the job by convincing them that you could make a stylized comedy, and that it would be a really broad comedy, but a really rich pop art sort of feeling to it,” Roach says.

Now the American Cinematheque is casting the spotlight on these classic, campy and sometimes incomprehensible flicks that inspired Roach and “Austin Powers” star Mike Myers. The Cinematheque’s “Mods & Rockers!” festival kicks off today at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood and continues through July 4.

These films were a rebellion against the staid Britain of the 1950s, notes British humorist Martin Lewis, the festival’s co-creator and producer.

“Our ‘50s weren’t even in black and white. It was gray,” he says. “‘It was a deeply depressing decade. When the Beatles and [the comedy troupe] Beyond the Fringe burst on the scene, it blew off the cobwebs.”

Actor Michael York, who began his movie career in such trendy ‘60s gems as “Smashing Time” and “The Guru” and has appeared in both “Austin Powers” films as Austin’s boss, Basil Exposition, vividly recalls the liberating feeling of those times.

“You can’t imagine the shock in England just to see everyone taking off their ties and formal suits, letting it all hang out. It was an amazing time--all roads lead to Carnaby Street,” York says.

York realized England was breaking out of its doldrums, when, as a young actor in repertory in Scotland, he caught a clip on the tube of 1964’s “A Hard Day’s Night.” “My eyes bugged out,” York recalls. “I thought, ‘This is fantastic.’ ”

Besides such well-known films as the 1965 Beatles classic, “Help!,” and Michelangelo Antonioni’s legendary pop culture film “Blowup,” set in London, the festival features such groovy goodies as:

* “Bedazzled”: Stanley Donen’s 1967 comedy starring Peter Cook and Dudley Moore and featuring Raquel Welch as Lust.

* “Tonight Let’s All Make Love in London”: Peter Whitehead’s documentary of mid-’60s London featuring Michael Caine, Vanessa Redgrave and the Rolling Stones.

* “Wonderwall”: The American premiere of the surreal 1969 headtripping experience starring Jane Birkin. George Harrison supplies the sitar-laced score.

* “Privilege”: Director Peter Watkins’ chilling 1967 examination of the media-controlled future starring former Manfred Mann singer Paul Jones.

* “Psych-Out”: A 1968 American International Pictures flick starring Jack Nicholson as a Haight-Ashbury musician, Garry Marshall as a cop and director Henry Jaglom as an artist who takes a really bad acid trip.

* “Lord Love a Duck”: George Axelrod’s dark and delicious 1966 satire starring Roddy McDowall and Tuesday Weld.

* “Head”: The Monkees’ bizarre 1968 feature film, co-written by Nicholson, and featuring Annette Funicello, Victor Mature and famed San Francisco-based topless dancer Carol Doda.

* “Having a Wild Weekend”: Director John Boorman’s surprisingly mature 1965 musical starring the pop group du jour the Dave Clark Five.

The festival concludes with the 1965 documentary “Go-Go Mania” and an English tea party complete with British food and drink, surprise ‘60s pop guest stars and a costume contest.

‘90s Kids Interested in the 1960s

What strikes Lewis about the success of “Austin” is how much it taps into a passion for the ‘60s on the part of kids of the ‘90s. A Beatles expert, Lewis speaks at various conventions and he notes that half the audience is under 25.

“I wondered if they were dragged there by their parents, but they had independently discovered the ‘60s,” Lewis says. “They were finding very positive, cheerful optimism within the music and . . . also what was surrounding it.”

Walter Shenson, the producer of the Beatles’ “A Hard Day’s Night” and “Help!,” is still surprised about the continuing popularity of these films. (Shenson will appear Saturday at the screening of “Help!”) Shenson was an American producer working in London when United Artists approached him about making a film with the Beatles. “The executives said the reason we want to do it is that we at UA records would get the soundtrack album, and it is worth us financing a film for that album.”

Though not originally a Beatles enthusiast, Shenson got along famously with the boys, as did director Richard Lester. “Hard Day’s Night” was made for just $450,000 and garnered two Oscar nominations.

Like Shenson, “Wonderwall” director Joe Massot was an American expatriate soaking up the London experience. “It was unbelievable,” says Massot, who still calls London home. “I had been in Cuba making movies with Castro and I had sort of escaped all of that and came to England. The next thing I know, I had fallen into the ‘60s with the Beatles.”

Massot, who also directed the Led Zeppelin concert film “The Song Remains the Same,” is excited that “Wonderwall” is finally getting a chance to be seen in America. Originally, the plotless, erotic, near-silent film only managed to eke out a one-week engagement in London.

Massot says “Wonderwall” nearly made it over to America in 1969. “There was a producer who wanted to bring it over,” Massot says. “But that never quite happened.” In recent years, “Wonderwall” has become something of a cult sensation in England. Notes Massot: “It’s a growing event now.”

Also showing with “Wonderwall” is Massot’s 1965 short, “Reflections on Love.”

“I shot that at the moment when London was beginning to swing,” he says. “As opposed to ‘Wonderwall,’ which is all about the beautiful people, ‘Reflections on Love’ is just about London and the people in London. It’s Carnaby Street. It’s the real thing.”

“Austin” director Roach says he will be checking out the “Mods & Rockers!” festival. “Martin has some on that list we haven’t seen,” Roach says. “We need to see them because they may be the source of our next film.”

Roach believes these films are more entertaining now than when they were originally released. “Back then they may have seemed cheesy,” he explains. “But now, it’s such a nostalgic connection. It is just like comfort food.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Mods & Rockers! Film Festival

At the Egyptian Theatre

Today

7 p.m.: “Bedazzled”

9:30 p.m.: (double bill) “Mods & Rockers” and “Tonight Let’s All Make Love in London”

Saturday

4 p.m.: “Thunderbirds Are Go!”

6:15 p.m.: “Help!,” guest speaker: producer Walter Shenson

8:15 p.m.: “Wonderwall,” guest speaker: director Joe Massot

9 p.m.: “Great Exploitations!,” Martin Lewis’ one-man show

Sunday

4 p.m.: “Blowup”

6:30 p.m.: (double bill) “The Jokers” and “Privilege”

Thursday

7 p.m.: “Performance”

9:15 p.m.: (double bill) “Psych-Out” and “Riot on Sunset Strip”

July 2

7 p.m.: “Beyond the Valley of the Dolls”

9:30 p.m.: (double bill) “Lord Love a Duck” and “The Knack”

July 3

4 p.m.: “Head,” guest: Micky Dolenz

6:15 p.m.: “The Touchables”

8:15 p.m.: (double bill) “Gonks Go Beat” and “The Ghost Goes Gear”

9 p.m.: “Great Exploitations!”

July 4

Noon: (double bill) “Summer Holiday” and “Having a Wild Weekend”

4 p.m.: The Mods & Rockers English Tea Party & Movie (“Go-Go Mania”)

The Egyptian Theater is located at 6712 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood. Film Festival tickets are $7; $5 for Cinematheque members. Tickets for the stage show are $10; $7 for Cinematheque members. The July 4 Tea Party is $15; $10 for Cinematheque members. Information: (323) 466-3456, Ext. 5 and then the pound sign. Web site: https://www.martinlewis.com/mod.html.