Movies - Head

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Head is a motion picture released in 1968, starring TV rock group The Monkees (in credit order: Peter Tork, Davy Jones, Micky Dolenz and Michael Nesmith), and distributed by Columbia Pictures. It was written and produced by Bob Rafelson and Jack Nicholson, and directed by Rafelson.

The film featured Victor Mature as "The Big Victor" and other cameo appearances by Jack Nicholson, Dennis Hopper, Teri Garr, Carol Doda, Annette Funicello, Toni Basil (the film's choreographer), Frank Zappa, and athletes Sonny Liston and Ray Nitschke.

Head is essentially plotless, a seemingly stream of consciousness stringing-together of musical numbers, satire of various movie genres, elements of psychedelia, and references to topical issues such as the Vietnam War. Trailers for the film summarized it as a "most extraordinary adventure, western, comedy, love story, mystery, drama, musical, documentary satire."

The storylines and peak moments of the movie came from a weekend visit to a resort in Ojai, California, where the Monkees, Rafelson and Nicholson brainstormed into a tape recorder, reportedly with the aid of a large quantity of marijuana. When the band learned that they not only weren't receiving screenwriting credit (since they didn't write the actual shooting script), but would not be allowed to direct themselves, three of the members staged a one-day walkout, leaving Tork the only Monkee on the set the first day. The incident damaged The Monkees' relationship with Rafelson and Bert Schneider.

Filmed at Columbia Pictures/Screen Gems Studios and on various locations in California (the Vincent Thomas Bridge, San Pedro; Pasadena Rose Bowl, Pasadena; Playa Del Rey; Bronson Canyon; Palm Springs; Columbia Ranch, Burbank), Utah (Valley Music Hall, Salt Lake City), and The Bahamas between February 15 and May 17, 1968, the movie makes fun of the band's image and the bandmember's personae. The song "Ditty Diego - War Chant" is a parody of the band's TV theme song written by Boyce and Hart; its lyrics illustrate the self-parodizing tone evident in parts of the film:

Hey, hey, we are The Monkees,
You know we love to please,
A manufactured image
With no philosophies.

We hope you'll like our story,
Although, there isn't one,
That is to say, there's many,
That way, there is more fun.

You told us you like action
And games of many kinds
You like to dance you, like to sing
So let's all lose our minds!
We know it doesn't matter
'Cause what you came to see
You know we'd love to give you
And give it one, two, three!

But it may come three, two, one, two
Or jump from nine to five,
And when you see the end in sight
The beginning may arrive.

To those who look for meanings
In form as they do fact
We might just tell you one thing
But we'd only take it back!

Not back like in a box back
Not back like in a race
Not back so you can keep it
But back in time and space!

You say were manufactured.
To that we all agree.
So make your choice and we'll rejoice
In never being free!

Hey Hey we are The Monkees
We've said it all before;
The money's in, were made of tin,
We're here to give you more!
The money's in, were made of tin
We're here to give you...

The 86-minute Head premiered in New York City on November 6, 1968. (The film later debuted in Hollywood on November 20.) It was not a commercial success. This was in part because Head, being an antithesis of The Monkees TV show, comprehensively demolished the group's carefully-groomed public image, while the older, hipper audience they'd been reaching for rejected the Monkees' efforts out of hand.

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Movies - Head

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