You’ve probably heard of The Exorcist. It's the ultimate horror classic. But long before William Peter Blatty was making audiences scream at spinning heads and pea soup, he was writing some of the weirdest, most chaotic comedies in Hollywood history. The weirdest of them all? A 1965 film called John Goldfarb, Please Come Home! It's a movie that almost nobody talks about today, except as a footnote in legal textbooks.
Honestly, the backstory of this film is way more interesting than the actual movie. We’re talking about a plot involving the CIA, a fictional Middle Eastern kingdom, a U-2 spy plane crash, and a lawsuit from the University of Notre Dame that nearly buried the project forever. It’s a snapshot of a very specific, very strange era in American cinema where studios thought "zany satire" meant throwing every possible stereotype at the wall to see what stuck.
Most of it didn't.
What was John Goldfarb, Please Come Home actually about?
The setup is pure 1960s farce. Richard Crenna—years before he became Rambo’s mentor, Colonel Trautman—plays John "Wrong-Way" Goldfarb. He’s an American U-2 pilot who earns his nickname by running 95 yards for a touchdown in the wrong direction during a college football game.
Basically, he's a loser.
Goldfarb manages to crash his spy plane in the mythical Arab kingdom of Fawzia. The king there, King Fawz (played by a very heavily made-up Peter Ustinov), is obsessed with American culture and football. He decides to blackmail Goldfarb: either coach a local football team to beat the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, or get turned over to the Soviets.
Then you’ve got Shirley MacLaine. She plays Jenny Ericson, an undercover reporter who sneaks into the King’s harem to get a scoop. It’s the kind of premise that feels like it was written during a very long, very martinis-heavy lunch.
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The lawsuit that stopped everything
The real drama happened off-screen. The University of Notre Dame was not happy. Not even a little bit.
When the university's leadership saw a preview of John Goldfarb, Please Come Home, they were horrified. The film depicted the legendary Fighting Irish as a bunch of "undisciplined gluttons and drunks" who were easily corrupted by harem dancers. For a school that took its prestige and religious image very seriously, this was an insult they couldn't ignore.
They sued 20th Century Fox.
It wasn't just a "stop doing that" kind of letter. It was a full-blown legal battle over the "commercial piracy" of their name and reputation. In late 1964, a New York judge actually granted an injunction. He ordered the film’s release to be blocked and even told the publishers to recall the novel the movie was based on.
For three months, the movie sat in a vault. Fox had to scramble, replacing the scheduled Christmas Day screenings with a different movie called The Pleasure Seekers.
Eventually, the decision was overturned on appeal. The higher courts ruled that the movie was clearly a "patently preposterous" satire and that the First Amendment protected the studio's right to make fun of the university. But the damage was done. The hype was weird, the delay was expensive, and the public's curiosity had mostly curdled into confusion.
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Why does this movie still matter?
It's a perfect example of "Executive Ego" vs. "Audience Reality." The film had a massive budget for its time—around $4 million. It had an A-list cast. It had a screenplay by a future Oscar winner. It even had a score by a young composer named Johnny Williams.
Yes, that John Williams. The guy who wrote the music for Star Wars and Jaws.
If you listen to the soundtrack for John Goldfarb, Please Come Home, you won't hear any sweeping orchestral themes. It's all bouncy, 60s pop tracks and "wacky" sound effects. It’s a fascinating look at what one of the greatest composers in history was doing before he became a legend.
Despite all that talent, the movie bombed. Hard.
The critics hated it. Hedda Hopper, the famous gossip columnist, called it a "waste of money and actors." The audience didn't really show up either. Fox needed it to make about $6 million just to break even, but it barely cleared $3.8 million.
It turns out that satirizing the Cold War, the CIA, and Catholic universities all at once was a bit much for 1965.
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The Blatty Connection
If you’re a fan of William Peter Blatty, this movie is a vital piece of the puzzle. Blatty was a comedic genius before he turned to horror. He worked with Blake Edwards on the Pink Panther sequel A Shot in the Dark. He had a sharp, cynical wit that often focused on the absurdity of authority.
In John Goldfarb, Please Come Home, you can see the seeds of his later work. He loved characters who were trapped in impossible, surreal situations. While the movie version of Goldfarb lost a lot of the book's bite, the core idea—that the world is run by idiots who are obsessed with trivial things like football—is very much a Blatty theme.
How to watch it today (if you dare)
Finding this movie isn't as easy as hitting play on Netflix. It’s rarely streamed and often forgotten by the major platforms. You can sometimes find used DVDs or catch it on Turner Classic Movies during a marathon of "Studio Follies."
Is it worth watching?
Well, if you like kitschy 1960s aesthetics, over-the-top Peter Ustinov performances, and seeing Shirley MacLaine in some truly wild costumes, sure. It’s a time capsule. It’s a reminder of a time when Hollywood would spend millions on a joke that didn't quite land.
The lawsuit alone makes it a piece of cinema history. It set a precedent for how movies can use real-world institutions in fiction. Without the Goldfarb case, we might not have had movies like Animal House or The Program that poke fun at college sports culture.
If you want to dive deeper into this weird corner of film history, start by looking for the original novel by William Peter Blatty. Most people agree it's actually much funnier than the movie. It has more of that dark, cynical edge that got lost in the big-budget Hollywood production. You can also check out the 2007 musical adaptation that was performed at the New York Fringe Festival—proof that this strange story still has a weird grip on people’s imaginations.
Actionable Takeaways
- Research the Legal Precedent: If you're into law or media studies, look up University of Notre Dame du Lac v. Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corp. It's a foundational case for "right of publicity" and satire.
- Listen to Early John Williams: Seek out the soundtrack on YouTube or specialized film score sites. It's a trip to hear the "Star Wars guy" doing 1960s "Fawzian" lounge music.
- Read the Book: If the movie feels too dated, Blatty’s prose holds up much better. It’s a great example of 60s satirical literature.