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| Inspired by the success of the Beatles movies A Hard Days Night (1964) and Help! (1965), MGM producer Sam Katzman created Hold On! (1966), a vehicle for another British pop-rock group of the day, Herman's Hermits. Peter Noone is Herman, and the Hermits are Karl Green, Keith Hopwood, Derek Leckenby and Barry Whitwam. The group's name was derived from Sherman, a character on the "Rocky and Bullwinkle" TV show, and a rhyme about Herman the Hermit. In their heyday, Herman's Hermits sold 52 million records and had 24 gold record hits. The whimsical story of Hold On! has the lads on a tour of the U.S. where they are pursued by a NASA scientist trying to determine whether they should have a space capsule named after them. This burning question is resolved during the musical finale at the Rose Bowl. The songs include "Hold On!" as performed by the Hermits and "Make Me Happy," sung by Shelley Fabares as Noone's love interest. Fabares, a niece of Nanette Fabray of The Band Wagon fame, served the same function for Elvis Presley in three of his films of the '60s. | ||