Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush was based on a novel of the same name by Scottish author Hunter Davies which was first published in 1965. Davies was also hired to pen the screenplay adaptation of his novel for director Clive Donner.

Davies is probably best known for his 1968 biography The Beatles which was approved by Brian Epstein, the group's manager at the time. Davies is also the author of The Glory Game (1972), which is generally regarded as one of the best books ever written about football. Today Davies continues to write about football and other sports in his weekly column for the New Statesman.

Clive Donner began his film career as an editor on the 1944 film On Approval and then moved into directing, first in television in 1951 on the Hallmark Hall of Fame, and then in motion pictures with the 1962 feature, Some People featuring David Hemmings in a story about three bikers who form a rock 'n' roll band.

Donner made Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush after he completed the Peter Sellers-Peter O'Toole comedy, What's New, Pussycat? (1965). Most film critics feel that his best work has been The Caretaker (1963), an adaptation of the Harold Pinter play which won the special prize at the Berlin International Film Festival, Nothing But the Best (1964) starring Alan Bates, and Rogue Male (1976), a made-for-TV feature with Peter O'Toole that won a BAFTA award (British Academy of Film & Television Arts) and was a remake of Fritz Lang's 1941 thriller Man Hunt.

Donner co-produced Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush with writer Larry Kramer who also provided some additional dialogue. Kramer is best known as the author of the play The Normal Heart and founded the AIDS advocacy group, ACT UP, in 1987. Kramer also wrote the screenplays for Ken Russell's Women in Love (1969) and the 1973 megabomb musical remake of Lost Horizon.

Cinematographer Alex Thomson had only shot one film prior to Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush - the Israeli comedy Ervinka (1967) - but this was an excellent showcase for his craft and led to a highly successful film career. In addition to receiving an Oscar® nomination for his work on Excalibur [1981] and British Film award nominations for Eureka [1984], Legend [1985] and Hamlet [1996], he has also lensed Labyrinth [1986], The Krays [1990] and Black Beauty [1994] to list a few.

Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush was a promising and highly appealing screen debut for actor Barry Evans who plays Jamie, the skirt-chasing grocery clerk. Unfortunately, his film career never progressed beyond a few roles such as Ingild in Clive Donner's period epic Alfred the Great (1969) and Eli Frome in Pete Walker's 1971 thriller, Die Screaming, Marianne.

Instead, Evans became a television star during the seventies, first appearing in the popular Doctor in the House series as Michael Upton and then repeating that same character in the Doctor at Large series that followed. His last major success was in the TV series Mind Your Language (1977-1979).

After Evans appeared in the TV series Emery Presents: Legacy of Murder (1982), he didn't receive any more job offers and to support himself he became a minicab driver in Leicestershire. He did return to the screen one more time in 1993 with a supporting role in the remake of Charles Dickens' The Mystery of Edwin Drood.

Evans died on February 10, 1997 at his bungalow in Claybrooke Magna, Leicestershire. He was only 53 years old and the cause of his death has never been confirmed. According to the information at wiki.answers.com "His death...was attributed by the British Authorities...to alcohol consumption, but there were mysterious circumstances, which they failed to mention to the public. He was fully laid out on the sofa, when police found his body. They had come to inform him that they had found his stolen J-Reg Montego car, and he (Barry Evans) had previously reported that there had been a burglary at his home, and quite a few items were missing. Barry Evans had also made a call to a friend at 5 am in the morning, and had been very upset. The autopsy revealed that he had died of a blow to his head besides the high alcohol content in his blood - perhaps a Homicide."

Except for the obscure 1963 drama Wings of Mystery, Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush was Judy Geeson's first major film role. She had appeared in various British television programs prior to that but the Clive Donner film gave her wide exposure that led to her casting opposite Sidney Poitier in To Sir, with Love and the Joan Crawford horror thriller, Berserk! (both 1967).

For a brief period of time, Geeson looked as if she might be the next "Julie Christie." She received critical acclaim for several of her performances in such dramatic fare as Peter Hall's Three Into Two Won't Go [1969] with Rod Steiger and Claire Bloom, Ted Kotcheff's Two Gentlemen Sharing [1969], One of Those Things [1971], an offbeat melodrama filmed in Denmark with a British cast, and Richard Fleisher's disturbing account of serial killer John Christie, 10 Rillington Place (1971), which co-starred Richard Attenborough and John Hurt. Unfortunately, due to either limited opportunities or unlucky career decisions, the actress ended up accepting roles in B-movie genre films and sex comedies such as Percy's Progress [1974], Adventures of a Taxi Driver [1976], and Inseminoid [1981]. Beginning in the late seventies and continuing to the present, she began to concentrate more on television work and less on motion pictures.

Geeson was briefly married to Kristoffer Tabori, the son of director Don Siegel and actress Viveca Lindfors. She currently lives in Los Angeles where she runs an antique store called Blanche. In recent years she appeared at a revival screening of Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush when it was shown at the Egyptian Theatre as part of the Hollywood Cinematique's regular programming.

Angela Scoular, who plays Caroline in Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush, divided her time between television work and moviemaking for most of her career though none of her film roles resulted in a breakout hit. She did appear in a number of major films but only in minor supporting roles such as A Countess from Hong Kong [1967], directed by Charlie Chaplin, Casino Royale [1967], On Her Majesty's Secret Service [1969] and The Adventurers [1970], based on the Harold Robbins bestseller.

Adrienne Posta, cast in the role of Linda in Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush, appeared in several popular British films of the late sixties and early seventies - To Sir, with Love, Up the Junction [1968], Some Girls Do [1969] and Spring and Port Wine [1970] - before concentrating on television work in later years.

It was in the role of Audrey in Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush that Vanessa Howard made her film debut. Her brief movie career included such cult horror favorites as The Blood Beast Terror [1968], Corruption [1968], the black comedy Mumsy, Nanny, Sonny and Girly [1969] and What Became of Jack and Jill? [1972]. She retired from movies after marrying Hollywood producer Robert Chartoff (Point Blank [1967], Rocky [1976], New York, New York [1977]).

While Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush was mostly a showcase for young, up-and-coming actors, Maxine Audley and Denholm Elliott as Caroline's decadent aristocratic parents practically stole the movie in their brief scenes. Audley had a long and distinguished career, appearing in such movies as The Prince and the Showgirl [1957] with Laurence Olivier and Marilyn Monroe, The Vikings [1958], Michael Powell's Peeping Tom [1960] and The Agony and the Ecstasy [1965]. Elliott was one of England's most distinguished character actors, scoring an Oscar® nomination for Best Supporting Actor in A Room with a View [1985], and winning a younger audience with his appearances in Raiders of the Lost Ark [1981] and Trading Places [1983].

In minor supporting roles in Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush, you'll spot such familiar British supporting players as Nicky Henson (Witchfinder General [1968], There's a Girl in My Soup [1970], Psychomania [1973]), Roy Holder (The Taming of the Shrew [1967], Loot [1970], The Land That Time Forgot [1975]) and Donald Pleasence's daughter, Angela, who has appeared in such horror films as From Beyond the Grave (1973), Symptoms (1974) and The Godsend (1980).

The soundtrack album of Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush includes the following songs:
- "Taking Out Time"
Performed by the Spencer Davis Group
- "Every Little Thing"
Performed by the Spencer Davis Group
- "Virgin's Dream"
Performed by the Spencer Davis Group
- "Picture of Her"
Performed by the Spencer Davis Group
- "Just Like Me"
Performed by the Spencer Davis Group
- "Waltz for Caroline"
Performed by the Spencer Davis Group
- "It's Been A Long Time"
Performed by Andy Ellison
- "Utterly Simple"
Performed by Traffic
- "Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush"
Performed by Traffic
- "Am I What I Was or Was I What I Am"
Performed by Traffic

by Jeff Stafford

SOURCES:
http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/461852/
http://www.zoomzoomonline.co.uk/
http://www.stevewinwood.com/
http://www.visitcumbria.com/hundav.htm
IMDB
Filmfacts
Wikipedia