Head (1968)

The Monkees are tossed about in a psychedelic, surrealist, plotless, circular bit of fun fluff.

Director:

Bob Rafelson

Writers:

Bob Rafelson, Jack Nicholson,

Stars:

Peter Tork, Davy Jones, Micky Dolenz

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Peter Tork	...	Peter
Davy Jones	...	Davy (as David Jones)
Micky Dolenz	...	Micky
Michael Nesmith	...	Mike
Victor Mature	...	The Big Victor
Annette Funicello	...	Minnie
Timothy Carey	...	Lord High 'n Low
Logan Ramsey	...	Off. Faye Lapid
Abraham Sofaer	...	Swami
Vito Scotti	...	I. Vitteloni
Charles Macaulay	...	Inspector Shrink
T.C. Jones	...	Mr. and Mrs. Ace
Charles Irving	...	Mayor Feedback
William Bagdad	...	Black Sheik
Percy Helton	...	Heraldic Messenger

Storyline

Running in from seemingly nowhere, Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones, Michael Nesmith & Peter Tork - better known collectively as The Monkees - disrupt a bridge opening ceremony. From where and why did they come to disrupt the proceedings? They were filming a series of vignettes in several different genres, including a wild west sequence, a desert war sequence, a Confederate war sequence, and a science fiction sequence. They disagree with much of what is happening around them, and try to figure out how to escape the oppression they feel - symbolized by a big black box in which they are seemingly imprisoned - by the forces around. That oppression is often shown in the form of "The Big Victor Mature".

---

Plot Keywords:

the monkees | box | desert | psychedelic | bridge | 

---

Taglines:

What is HEAD all about? Only John Brockman's shrink knows for sure!

---

Genres:

Comedy | Musical | Fantasy

---

Certificate:

G

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Italian

Release Date:

20 November 1968 (USA)

Also Known As:

Changes

Filming Locations:

Bahamas

Box Office

Budget:

$750,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Raybert Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

86 min 110 min (director's cut)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Veteran actor Victor Mature agreed to appear in the movie after reading the script, admitting none of it made sense to him: "All I know is it makes me laugh." His character "The Big Victor" is presumed to be a comic jab at RCA Victor Records, which was the distributors for The Monkees records, and which also owned NBC, which aired their TV series.

---

Goofs

As the Black Sheik rides across the desert sand, it's obvious from the already present hoofprints that we're not looking at the first take.

---

Quotes

Interviewee: Are you telling me that you don't see the connection between government and laughing at people?

---

Crazy Credits

There are no credits at the beginning. They all appear at the end of the film.

---

Connections

Referenced in Vanilla Sky (2001)

---

Soundtracks

"As We Go Along"
Written by Carole King & Toni Stern
Performed by The Monkees (uncredited)

User Reviews

A Triumph

To experience Head you really need to understand where the Monkees were when they filmed it.

This was as their series was coming to a close and the group was near break up. Their inventive and comedic series (sort of an American Idol of their day) took four unknown actors and formed a manufactured supergroup around them.

This is their take on their "manufactured image" and status as the 2nd tier Beatles. They always felt they were in a box, trapped, and unable to find credibility despite their talents.

It is also a hell of a musical-trippy, inventive (I have the soundtrack) and full of surprises.

See it with an open mind.