Lord Kitchener's Little Drummer Boys is an unmade feature film that was meant to star the Bee Gees.
The film's script, originally by Mike Pratt, was commissioned by the group's management, NEMS. The movie was the story of five young men who enlist in the Army as musicians and are pressed into service in the Boer War. It was originally suggested that Colin Petersen, who had starred in a number of films as a child, would play the lead role.[1]
Later on the script was rewritten by Spike Milligan then Johnny Speight [2][3]
The film was announced in June 1967.[4][5]
The plan was to film the movie in Kenya[6][7] although Spain was also discussed. Eventually the film collapsed when Barry Gibb pulled out in March 1969 a month before filming was to start in South Africa with a reported budget of £1,500,000. Gibbs said "I thought it would be a catastrophe... I,know I shouldn't say it because I've never been in a film before but I wasn’t keen on the story for a start. It was a much too colourful film and reminded me too much of The Beatles’ Help!"[8] It was a turbulent time for the group - Vince Mouneton had recently left the band and Robin Gibb left shortly afterwards.[9]
The Bee Gees did make a TV special Cucumber Castle (1970) with Frankie Howerd, Vincent Price and Spike Milligan. During filming, the band sacked Colin Petersen.
References
edit- ^ Bilyeu p 138
- ^ The swinging sixties : an iconic decade in pictures. Ammonite. 2012. p. 227. ISBN 978-1-907708-72-5.
- ^ Bilyeu p 156
- ^ "Bee Gees in America". Detroit Free Press. 21 July 1967. p. 40.
- ^ "Film for the Bee Gees". The Sydney Morning Herald. 23 July 1967. p. 77.
- ^ "Bee Gees trio here on brief holiday". The Canberra Times. Vol. 42, no. 11, 881. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 27 December 1967. p. 18. Retrieved 24 November 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Bee Gees going in army on film". The Sydney Morning Herald. 31 March 1968. p. 19.
- ^ Bilyeu p 238
- ^ "Barry Gibb backs out of Bee Gees first film". Daily Mirror. 15 March 1969. p. 9.
Notes
edit- Bilyeu, Melinda (2001). The Bee Gees : tales of the brothers Gibb. Omnibus.