Today's film for Hippie Hotties is a teen sex comedy from Swingin' London. Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush is a 1968 British sex comedy from Clive Donner that was based on a novel released in 1965 by the same name. The plot is one that we can all relate to. It's a timeless tale as old as time in which our lead character is a teen that wants to lose his virginity. You can probably guess what that means: hilarious and hot interactions with women!
Barry Evans plays the hapless teen who is trying to meet and woo women. He thinks that it will be easy to lose his virginity in the Free Love Generation, but he finds that his friends have way more success with women than he does. At one point he complains that “the whole country is having it off, and it’s as if I’m a leper!"
Judy Geeson stars and has a wonderful nude scene in the movie which was a tad scandalous at the time. She ditches her clothes to jump into the lake for a skinny dip. He follows her in and they splash around in the water, eventually making out. This cuts to the pair getting naked and making out in the grass! Success!
This isn't the only Judy Geeson nude scene that we have been treated to. We had the pleasure of seeing Judy Geeson naked again, about twelve years later, in the movie Inseminoid where her topless scene had people wanting to inseminoid her.
Back to the mulberry bush (even though we don't see good bush in this movie). Judy's is actually the only nude scene in the movie, but it is a substantial one. Other gorgeous babes in the movie include Sheila White, Adrienne Posta, Vanessa Howard, and Diane Keen who all have other nude scenes available to ogle on Mr. Skin.
Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush is what the Brits call a 'swinging London' film - despite not being set in London - in which we see sexy young Brits with mod and hippie styles frolicking about and causing general chaos to rock-n-roll soundtracks. Smashing Time is my personal favorite of this genre which features cute British chicks running around London (no nudity, sadly).
Roger Ebert wrote at the time that the beach-party movies of the 50s begat the Swinging London movies on the 1960s and all of them were selling the same thing: fashion, music, and sex while ignoring "the problems of the real world". While he bemoans these movies that are only about aesthetics, I do think there is a place for them. No, Mulberry Bush is not going to make grand statements about the war or equality. But it is going to show you tits and a good time.
This film is definitely hippie in its sound and look which makes it watchable despite its lack of depth. The opening sequence alone to the Spencer Davis Group features psychedelic colors and fonts to introduce everyone involved with the film.
The movie is more or less forgotten about now, but it isn't so bad. If you like hippie fodder, then you will eat this up. Ebert gave it only two stars at the time, but that was no matter to director Clive Donner who also gave the world What's New, Pussycat? in 1965. Bawdy comedies were his jam and if that's also your bag, then Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush might be yours as well.
