The Cherry Picker

For the 1968 Australian play by Kevin Gilbert, see The Cherry Pickers.

The Cherry Picker (also known as The Quiet Life), is a 1972 British drama film directed by Peter Curran and starring Lulu, Bob Sherman, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Spike Milligan, Patrick Cargill, Jack Hulbert, Fiona Curzon, Terry-Thomas and Robert Hutton.^[1][2] The screenplay was by Curran based on the 1968 novel Pick Up Sticks by Mickey Phillips.

The Cherry Picker
Opening titles
Directed by	Peter Curran
Screenplay by	Peter Curran
Based on	the novel Pick Up Sticks by Mickey Phillips
Produced by	Peter Curran
Starring	Lulu Bob Sherman Terry-Thomas Wilfrid Hyde-White Spike Milligan
Edited by	Jack Knight
Music by	Bill McGuffie
Production company	Twickenham Film Studios
Release date	1972 (1972)
Running time	91 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

As of August 2014, the film was missing from the BFI National Archive; although inferior quality copies are still in circulation, including YouTube,^[3] it is listed as one of the British Film Institute's "75 Most Wanted" lost films^[4] due to the loss of the original print.

Cast

• Lulu as Nancy
• Bob Sherman as James Burn III
• Terry-Thomas as Appleby
• Wilfrid Hyde-White as Dobson
• Spike Milligan as Mr. Lal
• Patrick Cargill as Dr. Harrison
• Jack Hulbert as Sir Hugh Fawcett
• Fiona Curzon as Maureen
• Robert Hutton as James Burn II
• Priscilla Morgan as Mrs. Trulove
• Arthur Blake as Dan Haydock
• Barry Wilsher as vicar
• Bruce Boa as Dr. Softman
• Henry McGee as Pilkington
• Marianne Stone as Mrs. Lal
• Nikki van der Zyl as dubbed voice of Nancy

Critical reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "The title sequence for The Cherry Picker features a Pirelli calendar, with exquisite semi-nudes in Degas-like attitudes. What follows unfortunately fails to come near the sybaritic elegance we associate with that august institution dedicated to the leisure pursuits of big businessmen. Presumably aiming at satire of similarly institutionalised Playboy attitudes towards sex and role-playing, the film dithers over an inadequately scripted and crudely shot narrative that might charitably be described as 'rambling' or 'picaresque'."^[5]