In the 1960's, there were a number of concert films starring The Beatles, Herman's Hermits, and many other boy bands of that time. They were produced very cheaply, made a good profit, and let teen girls see their favorite bands backstage and on tour. 1964's A Hard Day's Night was the best of the bunch, and every subsequent movie tried to copy it including Herman's Hermits' Hold On! 47 years later, does Hold On! hold up like A Hard Day's Night, or should only nostalgic fans give it another look?
In Hold On!, Herman's Hermits are on tour, and despite their glamorous accommodations, they spend most of their time hiding out in hotels from screaming fans. Herman wants to meet a nice American girl, and he falls for a beautiful girl he sees on the beach from his hotel balcony. From here, the plot gets really convoluted in spite of its brief 85-minute running time. There is a D-list celebrity trying to latch onto Herman's Hermits and be more famous by association. Also, the writers threw in a few other subplots involving a news reporter looking for a hot story and NASA naming their next satellite after Herman's Hermits.
I'm not a fan of Herman's Hermits, so I am obviously not the target audience. Even so, I thought that a lot of the numbers were filmed with very little creativity, and the few numbers where they went out on a limb included renaissance fair dancing and an outer space dream sequence. These scenes are goofy and yet I didn't really laugh except for a bit involving zero-gravity food. (The food was attached to a string which is visibly hanging in the middle of the shot. I couldn't help laughing a little.) If you want a nostalgia trip, check out Hold On! on Netflix, but even the biggest fans won't want to watch it more than once.
DVD Bonus Features
This bare-bones release only comes with a theatrical trailer.
This DVD is a made-to-order edition available exclusively from the online WB Shop.
"Herman's Hermits Hold On!" is on sale May 10, 2011 and is not rated. Christian, Comedy. Directed by Arthur Lubin. Written by Robert E. Kent. Starring Barry Whitwam, Derek Leckenby, Karl Green, Keith Hopwood, Peter Noone.
