Lord Love a Duck (1966) Plot Summary Explained

Alan is obsessively in love with Barbara Ann and views her desires as commands he must fulfill. From his prison cell, he explains that he devoted the entire year to satisfying her every whim, framing his actions as a demonstration of devotion. However, the film presents this as manipulation masked as love, with Alan controlling events behind the scenes to shape Barbara's life according to his own design.

Foreshadowing: Early in the film, Alan signs a pact with Barbara Ann in wet cement, establishing his willingness to bind himself to her unconditionally.

• alan musgrave
• barbara ann
• obsession
• love
• manipulation
• motivation

Barbara Ann drops out of school to become the principal's secretary, choosing insider access and power over classroom education. This decision reflects her relentless pursuit of wealth, fame, and social standing rather than traditional academic achievement. By working in the principal's office, she positions herself to leverage connections for her ambitions.

Foreshadowing: Her earlier pact with Alan in wet cement, trading ethics for social standing, hints at her willingness to abandon conventional paths.

• barbara ann
• high school
• drop out
• secretary
• ambition

Marie Greene commits suicide after Stella Bernard visits and confronts her about discrepancies in Barbara Ann's story. During the visit, Marie reveals details that contradict what Stella learned previously, making Marie feel worthless and like an embarrassment to her daughter. The revelation of her failures as a mother, combined with Stella's judgment, drives her to take her own life.

Foreshadowing: Stella's surprise visit exposes the fragile lies underpinning Barbara's ambitions, setting the emotional crisis in motion.

• marie greene
• suicide
• stella bernard
• embarrassment
• mother

Alan arranges the suicide scene to appear like an accident specifically for life insurance purposes. He manipulates the crime scene to make it look like an accident rather than self-harm, enabling Barbara Ann to collect insurance money. This demonstrates Alan's willingness to commit fraud and manipulate events to serve Barbara's interests.

Foreshadowing: Alan's control over Barbara's world and his role as the unseen hand shaping events foreshadows his ability to orchestrate such deception.

• life insurance
• fraud
• accident
• alan
• frame

Barbara Ann wants a divorce from Bob after meeting T. Harrison Belmont, a powerful Hollywood producer known as the King of Beach Party Films. When she decides she wants to become the biggest star ever, Bob refuses to allow her to take a Hollywood screen test. This refusal fuels her desire to escape the marriage and pursue her Hollywood dreams, leading her to seek a divorce.

Foreshadowing: Barbara's earlier pursuit of Bob as a husband was driven by ambition rather than love, setting up her willingness to discard him when a bigger opportunity appears.

• barbara ann
• bob
• divorce
• hollywood
• belmont
• screen test

Alan attempts to kill Bob because Bob refuses to grant Barbara Ann a divorce. Since Bob's mother Stella frowns upon divorce, Alan takes matters into his own hands to remove this obstacle. His obsessive devotion to Barbara Ann leads him to murder, which he rationalizes as fulfilling her desires. The film presents this as the logical endpoint of his manipulative devotion.

Foreshadowing: Alan's earlier manipulation of keeping Stella drunk to facilitate Barbara's marriage to Bob establishes his willingness to use extreme measures.

• alan
• bob
• murder
• divorce
• attempt

Bob proves to be almost indestructible throughout Alan's series of murder attempts. After poisoning with arsenic and deadly nightshade, a deconstructed automobile, and a skateboard slip-and-fall, Bob survives each attack. The film plays this for dark comedy, showing Bob's remarkable luck and resilience despite Alan's elaborate schemes. By graduation time, Alan has only managed to get Bob into a wheelchair through the final excavator attack.

Foreshadowing: The escalating absurdity of Alan's failed attempts establishes Bob's seemingly supernatural survival ability.

• bob
• poison
• car
• skateboard
• survival
• attempts

At the graduation ceremony, Alan pursues Bob with an excavator in a deadly chase. The attack knocks down stage speakers and rips through the crowd, resulting in Bob being placed in a wheelchair. Several people on the speakers' platform appear to be killed. This violent climax marks the culmination of Alan's obsession, leading directly to his imprisonment.

Foreshadowing: The buildup of failed murder attempts and Alan's desperation as graduation approaches creates the tension for this violent payoff.

• graduation
• excavator
• bob
• death
• attack

Alan goes to prison for the violent attack at the graduation ceremony, where he killed several people while trying to kill Bob with the excavator. From his prison cell, he dictates his story, claiming he did everything for love. The film concludes with Alan imprisoned while Barbara Ann achieves Hollywood fame in 'Bikini Widow', presenting a bitter view where manipulation and obsession lead to destruction while ambition is rewarded.

Foreshadowing: The opening scene establishes Alan's imprisonment from the start, creating dramatic irony as viewers learn how he arrived there.

• alan
• prison
• sentence
• graduation attack

Barbara Ann decides she wants Bob as her husband and pursues marriage to him. Alan orchestrates the situation to make this happen, including keeping Bob's eccentric mother Stella perpetually drunk to soften family resistance. With Marie dead and no obstacles remaining, Bob marries Barbara Ann, giving her a domestic platform for her ambitions. The marriage is driven by Barbara's calculation rather than genuine affection.

Foreshadowing: Barbara's earlier decision to dive into church activities and Bob's circle establishes the connection that makes this marriage possible.

• barbara ann
• bob
• marriage
• stella
• church

Alan narrates the story from his prison cell, dictating the events of the previous year to explain his actions. This framing device establishes that the audience already knows the outcome, Alan is imprisoned while Barbara Ann succeeds. The narrative presents his perspective on the events, but the film consistently undercuts his self-justification as love, revealing his actions as manipulation and control.

Foreshadowing: The opening prison diary immediately establishes Alan's control mindset and sets the dark, satirical tone for everything that follows.

• narration
• prison
• alan
• frame story
• flashback

Bikini Widow is the film that brings Barbara Ann to Hollywood fame. After divorcing Bob and securing a screen test with producer T. Harrison Belmont, she achieves her dream of becoming the biggest star ever. The title reflects the beach party film genre that made Belmont famous. Her success stands in stark contrast to Alan's imprisonment, illustrating the film's bitter commentary on ambition and reward.

Foreshadowing: Barbara's meeting with Belmont and her determination to become the biggest star ever sets up her eventual success.

• bikini widow
• hollywood
• barbara ann
• fame
• belmont