It Can't Happen Here

 

 (alarmy)

EAT THAT QUESTION: FRANK ZAPPA IN HIS OWN WORDS-2016-If you like the music of Frank Zappa (I do) then you should like this bio/documentary about him. Many interviews are shown (US and Europe) along with concert footage (some with the original Mothers Of Invention and various incarnations), rehearsals, scenes from 200 Motels and Baby Snakes, his very early TV appearance on “The Steve Allen Show”. Even his appearance as a mystery guest on "What's My Line?". Director Thorsten Shutte includes a lot of rare footage too.

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Zap!

 

 (themoviedb)

ZAPPA-2020-This documentary opens with Frank Zappa addressing a audience in Czechoslovakia right after The Velvet Revolution at what would be his last recorded concert. Then it's mostly FZ pontificating on his life, music, the record business, the government, Edgard Varese', etc. What really makes this interesting is that all the interviews are found footage. Nothing was recorded by FZ (who died in 1993) for this bio. There is also some amazing footage of the original Mothers, a young Captain Beefheart, photo shoots and concert footage. Alice Cooper, Ruth Underwood, Bunk Gardner, The GTOs, Ian Underwood, Bruce Bickford, Steve Vai, Ray White, Gail Zappa (who died in 2015), Mike Keneally and others are interviewed in new footage. 

Nice effort by director Alex Winter (BILL AND TED'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE). He's directed a lot of movies apparently but the only other one I've seen is FREAKED (1993).

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"If Ya Got Ears, Ya Gotta Listen"

 

 (youtube)

THE ARTIST FORMERLY KNOWN AS CAPTAIN BEEFHEART-1997-This was a late period documentary about the great Captain Beefheart (aka Don Van Vilet) who died in December of 2010. It gives some interesting insights and info about his early career then jumps to “Trout Mask Replica” and glosses over later work. "Clear Spot" isn't even mentioned. There are some comments from Frank Zappa (obviously already sick; he died in 1993) and former Mother and perennial complainer Jimmy Carl Black (who died in 2008) chimes in as well. Matt Groehing, Ry Cooder, John French and Eric Drew Feldman offer their opinions. British DJ John Peel (who died 2004) narrates.

 It's a nice little documentary but hardly a comprehensive one. Director Elaine Shepherd later made a 30-year anniversary special on Monty Python's Flying Circus.

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Soundtrack By Zappa

RUN HOME,SLOW-1965-This weird black and white western concerns the dysfunctional Hager family in Pebble Springs and the havoc that ensues after the townspeople hang their father. The small family unit is made up of tough vengeance driven daughter Nell (Mercedes McCambridge) and her two brothers, Ritt (Gary Kent) and Kirby (Allan Richards), a hunchback and extended family member, the nitwit Julie Ann (Linda Gaye Scott), Ritt’s wife (she uses a parasol). After robbing a bank they kill the Gately family blaming the father for leading the lynching. In the ensuing battle their horses get away and they lose their money. With only a burro they wander through the desert, find the lost money and argue about having no water. Ritt seems to have been mortally wounded in the gun battle but goes with them anyway. Nell talks to dead dad and abuses the dipshit Julie Ann (she deserves it). They continue to wander after digging for water fails. Although it actually works but they don't realize it. They come upon a dilapidated old house and settle in. Kirby kills their burro for food and Julie finds a white dress (while whining in the desert she wished for one). Everyone acts crazy. Julie Ann and Kirby have sex in a barn where the dead mule is rotting. Ritt seems to be dying constantly and Nell admits the only reason she wanted her brother to marry Julie Ann is so the could have a child and keep their screwed up bloodline going. When Julie Ann runs away, Nell sends Kirby to kill her. Meanwhile the still dying Ritt realizes what's going and denounces his whole family, Nell in particular. He demands she go out and stop the killing. Too late. Although Kirby loses his nerve at putting an axe in Julie Ann’s back, he winds up strangling her. While lifting her dead body the poor lug falls on his ax. However he has enough strength to carry Julie back to house and die in front of Nell. Then somehow the dying Ritt manages to hang himself leaving Nell the last of the Hagers. She runs into the desert. 

Today the only reason most people want to see this minimalist parable western is for the soundtrack by the pre-Mothers of Invention founder Frank Zappa. The film was written and produced by Don Cervaris, one of Zappa's high school teachers. The director of this annoying talk-fest was Tim Brenner, a guy who never directed another movie. He must of suspected something was up. He hides behind the pseudonym Tim Sullivan in the credits (he also plays Mr. Gately who's killed at the beginning of the story). Linda Scott Gaye had small roles in TV shows before and after this but actor Allen Richards never made another movie appearance before or since. Both his and Scott's acting resembles a school play! Gary Kent would go to make movies for Al Adamson, TV Mikels and co-star in a lot of low budget features. His acting here is ok but it takes him the whole movie to die which becomes increasingly frustrating as the movie wears on. I've done some research on lead actress Mercedes McCambridge who won a best supporting actress Oscar in 1949 for ALL THE KING'S MEN. She appeared in high profile movies like GIANT, SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER and JOHNNY GUITAR and wound up in RUN HOME,SLOW.! I've read she battled alcoholism in the '60's and went through a messy divorce. She was later known for having dubbed Linda Blair's demon voice in THE EXORCIST (and had to sue to get credit). A few years after RUN she was in JUSTINE for director Jess Franco. Future director and actor Bud Cardos was on the production staff and has a small role. The soundtrack by FZ has much of the themes he used later on “Burnt Weeny Sandwich” and “Lumpy Gravy”.

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Head

HEAD-1968-Deranged out-dated psychedelic non-movie from the once popular TV pop band. Written by Jack Nicholson, who has a cameo and Bob Rafelson, who also directed, the whole thing is designed to make fun of their "pre-packaged" image. It's chaotic and off the wall (loyal fans of the show, if there were any left, might have been disappointed) but it does feature faded Hollywood star Victor Mature as the villain and appearances by Frank Zappa (pulling a donkey), Sonny Liston, Timothy Carey & Tiger Joe Marsh (not Tor Johnson). 

Nicholson and Rafelson's next project together would be FIVE EASY PIECES in 1970. 

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Rock and Religion

THE WORLD’S GREATEST SINNER-1962-Rock god or sinner? 

Bored insurance salesman Clarence Hilliard (Timothy Carey) quits his job to write a book. That doesn’t work out so after seeing a rock band perform (the musician looks like he’s 12 years old) he decides to start his own group and throw some bible thumping in besides. He stands on street corners with his faithful friend Alonzo (Gil Barreto) and gets some followers (one of them is Titus Moede, later in some Ray Dennis Steckler movies).

He forms a kind of cabal with a bunch of nitwits to devise a plan (“Let’s be different. Let’s not hate anybody”). He seduces an old lady for money then dons a phony goatee and plays some numbers with his band (it’s very noisy) and shakes and yells like he’s having a fit. He preaches a loony kind of Nietzsche like philosophy that man is the only god and his followers run riot in the town. After his followers start calling him “God” the devil (who also narrates) visits him and convinces him to enter politics (“Just get rid of your guitar, Clarence”). He starts “The Eternal Man’s Party” and a montage of scenes depict how he’s corrupted by sex and power while campaigning as “God” Hilliard. After he loses the election it all goes down the drain and he cracks up, loses his family and blasphemes God. In the finale the devil as a snake is super-imposed around his body and the screen turns red negative!

For years I read all sorts of stuff about this movie. Michael Wheldon of “Psychotronic Video” fame gushed over it many times. It is entertaining. If more people get to see it (TCM showed one night at 2 AM) it could become the "PLAN 9" of the21^st Century!

Star Carey (a familiar and weird character actor who had scenes in the bigger budgeted films HOUSE OF NUMBERS and CONVICTS 4 the same year) wrote, produced and directed. It’s badly edited and some of the acting is quite funny. In his scenes before he becomes “God” Carey seems like he’s drunk. Paul Frees is the voice of Satan.

Frank Zappa wrote and performed the theme song and some incidental music is also obviously his (some of it sounds like his “Holiday In Berlin”, a theme he used many times over).

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Does This Kind of Review Look Interesting To You?

200 MOTELS-1971-Chaotic eclectic psychedelic musical from the brain of Frank Zappa that purports to show how “touring can make you crazy”.

Ringo Starr headlines as Larry the Dwarf who spends most of the movie disguised as Zappa (did Dylan see this before making RENALDO & CLARA?). Theodore Bikel is Rance Mohammed, a devil type character who tries to buy several souls. All the scenery and props are deliberately phony looking and it was originally shot on video then transferred to film. Howard Kaylan & Mark Volman (the future Flo & Eddie, form-erly of The Turtles), at the time front men for the reconstituted Mothers band are the other nominal stars but the other then current mem-bers (Ian Underwood, George Duke, Anysley Dunbar) also participate. The biggest role goes to the unknown bassist Martin Lippert, Starr’s real life chauffeur who got the role by default when original bass player Jeff Simmons quit the group right before filming began. Three original ex-Mothers (Motorhead Sherwood, Don Preston and Jimmy Carl Black who sings “Lonesome Cowboy Burt”) are also featured. Keith Moon is a harp-playing nun. Other characters include some real groupies, a newt and a vacuum cleaner. 

The story concerns wrecking hotel rooms, stealing towels, smoking dope, getting laid and selling out. The Mothers are constantly referred to as playing “Comedy Music”. Zappa (who’s barely seen at all) is viewed as the guy who is controlling everything and making serious musicians do things they wouldn’t normally do (much as it was in real life!). 

There’s a lot of strange video FX and a crude cartoon segment (The Dental Hygiene Dilemma) is fairly humorous. The Mothers play enough music but to be honest, and this is coming from a fan, Zappa has produced better music. Stuff like “Penis Dimension”, “She Painted Up Her Face” and “20 Provocative Squats” are some of his weakest ever. The finale of “Strictly Genteel” starts off ok but lapses into a mess as the film ends. He has more success with the neo-clas-sical soundtrack.

Credited director Tony Palmer had made CREAM’S FAREWELL CONCERT in 1969 and later worked on several BBC specials.





Not content to rest on his laurels Frank Zappa returned to the big screen in 1979 with BABY SNAKES, a three hour opus he refused to edit in order to get a distributor. Undaunted he rented out movie theaters in LA and NYC and showed it himself (George C. Scott did a similar move with his THE SAVAGE IS LOOSE). He also made the documentary THE REAL STORY OF 200 MOTELS in 1981.

Weird personal footnote: The day after I watch 200 MOTELS (only the second time in 12 years) I learned of the passing of the aforementioned Martin Lickett. His 15 minutes of fame long gone, he died in London after many years as a barrister. He was believed to be in his late 50’s.

Another personal note: Zappa appeared on TV to promote the film. He performed two songs with the band on THE DICK CAVETT SHOW, which is the only time "the Flo & Eddie"  Mothers appeared on TV in The US!

"Rock journalism is people who can't write interviewing people who can't talk for people who can't read"-Frank Zappa

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