Customer Reviews

Monkeys, Go Home!

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I remember seeing this movie at school in the 4th grade in 1974! I hadn't seen it again until now. It brought back a lot of memories.
It is fair to say that this movie "mainly" works because of the four monkeys involved. The film is quite funny at times with the story ever innocent and delightful. Only the Disney team can dream up a plot involving NASA trained monkeys to work on an olive farm in small town France! The film was shot at the Disney Studios but still looks and sounds good. This is mainly thanks to matte artist Peter Elleshaw and the Sherman Brothers song writing team for the nicely sounding "Joire de Vivre". Mauice Chevalier is ever upbeat and smiling. This was his last movie appearance but he did come out of retirement to sing the opening credits song for The Aristocats. Dean Jones is fine in this movie...his style seems to suit this type of light Disney comedy. If you love family movies, this will definitely suit...and the kids will love it to. If you are a Disney fan...then this is a must.
Note that there are no extra or bonus features on this DVD but for the price you will be getting a fun Disney film.

I loved this movie. The cast is wonderful, especially Yvette Mimieux and those darling chimps. The scenery is very beautiful and evokes a safe and light-hearted mood. Disney has made some very good movies involving animals (others being "The Three Lives of Thomasina" and "The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit.") True, the DVD does not have a lot of the extras that people are used to, but if you are a Disney fan who enjoys a good clear picture, don't let that bother you.

DVD quality - Disney lost stars with me for not putting any effort into the DVD release, I reviewed the film separately below. The lack of widescreen, extras, re-mastering, trailers, or high quality sound is really sad for a company that makes more money than any other at re-releasing its old material. They can make them great when they want to, check the "Vault Disney Collection" at Amazon to see just how good they can be.

THE STORY - An American farmer named Hank (Dean Jones) inherits a big farm when his Uncle passes away, but it is in the Provence region of France. Upon crossing the ocean and inspecting the farm in person, the local easygoing priest warns him that a farm of this size cannot be run without enough employees or family members. In the meantime he sends Maria to help set the farmhouse straight, and of course they begin to fall in love. Hank decides to operate the farm himself, but local labor costs are outrageous so Hank trains a group of monkeys to pick the olives and infuriates the locals who have been scheming to get him. First is the rival for Maria, but worse is a local land buyer who wants the farm to resell for a profit. He sabotages Hank a few times. Even the labor union is after him trying to initiate a strike, and he better think fast if he is to keep ahead of them and win the girl.

BEHIND THE SCENES & TRIVIA: Maurice Chevalier returns to Disney to star and sing as Father Sylvian. He also appeared in "In Search of the Castaways" and sung the title song in "The Aristocats". The studio's famous composers, the Sherman brothers, wrote his song in the movie, "Joie de Vivre". The movie poster promoting the film had a tagline that said, "L'aughter, L'amour, and le monkey business". Released to theatres on February 2, 1967 as a romantic comedy, filmed in 35mm Technicolor the movie was directed by Andrew McLaglen in his first film for the studio. Maurice Tombragel wrote the screenplay based on the book, "The Monkeys" written by G.K. Wilkinson. Films that featured monkeys was a popular fad at the time, so why not a whole group of monkeys since kids went bananas (sorry) whenever they came onscreen. Most of the comedy is reserved for the chimp antics. While the studio used extensive matte effects by Peter Ellenshaw to give the viewers the feeling the village really was in France, the film did use an extensive outdoor set. If it looks familiar, the French village is the same set as the old "El Cuartel de Los Angeles" set from Disney's "Zorro" TV show, which was a permanent feature of the studio's back lot for some time. The set dressers did what they could to change the overall look to French village. The director even arranged for a grove of olive trees to be planted at the studio for filming, and after filming wrapped up the grove was left in place for many years. This was aired on television in 2 parts on the "Wonderful World of Disney" television show, on November 15, and 22, 1970. First released on vhs in 1987.

What can you expect from any movie with Dean Jones and monkeys? So it is a bit silly but this is still a classic of that era and worth watching if you like Disney comedies from the 1960s.

Why can't Disney get it right? I realize this is a not-so special comedy. But wouldn't it be nice to have some bonus features. Perhaps a couple of interviews. Maybe a trailer. How about the film in it's proper ration? Not the full screen mess they give us. Oh well, maybe the next release (if there's to be one).

My 6 year old son loves this movie!! He watches it every day and is learning some french words from it. The monkeys are adorable!

This was an enjoyable film. Even though it was in the VHS format the color was clear, the sound quality was good and the price was right!!!!

I love this movie! I grew up on Walt Disney shows and Dean Jones. This movie has it all. Animals, a love story and comedy. I highly recommend this movie.

Service was great and the movie came in plenty of time before Christmas. The only problem is the cover of the DVD is out of registration; meaning it is out of focus and looks wierd.

Dean Jones is suppurb, in every thing he does.I've never seen a movie of his that was't rated 5 stars in my book.Excellent,just excellent. Walt Disney movies were the best. Also Norman Tokar did excellent work in Don Knotts movies. Erleen