Martin Lewis says: 5 Shags!

THE KNACK, AND HOW
TO GET IT

I went all the way to the Odeon Hendon Central to see this brilliant Richard Lester film! I was 13 - and I knew that I would soon have to prepare myself to do battle with ‘girls.’ So this film looked to be the 101 primer. Michael Crawford defined British mod ‘cool’ in this film. I made copious mental notes during the movie. The next vacation I took with my parents - I tried to put into practice some of the things I thought I’d learned.

	Martin Lewis in 1966

It was 1966. I was really into Illya Kuriyakin that year - so I spent all the time dressed head to toe in black - including a thick roll-neck woolen sweater and a mohair suit.

I don’t know if you’ve ever spent any length of time on the Spanish Mediterranean coast in the middle of August - but black wool is not the ideal fabric for daytime wear. What ever else Michael Crawford taught me in this film went right out of my head. I think it was the heat exhaustion that did it....

Though I’m now an elderly gentleman - and thus way too old to have any use for ‘the Knack’ - I fully intend to re-view this masterpiece - and see what insights it offers into dealing with the distinctive charms of the female species - Los Angeles variety!

Michael Crawford in The Knack