Gonks Go Beat

Gonks Go Beat
Region 2 DVD cover
Directed by	Robert Hartford-Davis
Produced by	Peter Newbrook
Written by	Robert Hartford-Davis Peter Newbrook
Starring	Kenneth Connor Frank Thornton Terry Scott
Music by	Various
Edited by	Teddy Darvas
Production company	Titan Film Productions
Release date	1965
Running time	90 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

Gonks Go Beat is a 1965 British science fiction / musical fantasy film, directed by Robert Hartford-Davis. It stars Kenneth Connor and Frank Thornton.Gonks Go Beat is loosely based on the Romeo and Juliet storyline and features 16 musical numbers performed by a variety of artists, including Lulu and the Luvvers, The Nashville Teens and members of the Graham Bond Organisation including Ginger Baker, Jack Bruce and Dick Heckstall-Smith. Other musical contributors were – and remained – obscure. The film includes an early appearance by the actor Derek Thompson performing with his twin sister Elaine (credited as Elain).

The title highlights the fad for gonk toys in mid 1960s Great Britain.

At a point in the distant future, the inhabitants of Planet Earth have become divided into two factions who despise each other. In Beatland live the hip and trendy people who have long hair, dress in polo neck jumpers, jeans and sunglasses and listen to cool beat music. Their counterparts on Ballad Isle keep their hair short and tidy, wear button-down shirts and pressed slacks or floral dresses and twinsets, and listen exclusively to crooners. A musical competition is staged annually between the two sides, overseen by the neutral and powerful record company executive Mr. A&R (Thornton). For the rest of the year they regard each other with suspicion and antipathy, although they are not above sneaking into each other's territory to steal musical ideas.

Meanwhile, the overlords of a far-flung galaxy have been observing the squabblings and goings-on on Planet Earth with increasing exasperation. Finally, their patience with the earthlings is pushed beyond its limit and they decide to send their bungling representative Wilco Roger (Connor) to sort the situation out and bring about a reconciliation between the parties, with the warning that if he fails he'll be exiled to Planet Gonk, a fearsome and dreaded place where spherical furry soft toys shuffle around all day listening to Dixieland jazz.