IMDb > 200 Motels (1971)
200 Motels
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200 Motels (1971) More at IMDbPro »


Overview

User Rating:
5.6/10   870 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 50% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Writers:
Frank Zappa (story)
Tony Palmer (shooting script)
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Contact:
View company contact information for 200 Motels on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
10 November 1971 (USA) more
Genre:
Comedy | Fantasy | Music more
Plot:
"Touring makes you crazy," Frank Zappa says, explaining that the idea for this film came to him while the Mothers of Invention were touring... more | full synopsis
User Comments:
extremely weird and silly with some good music more (37 total)

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)
The Mothers of Invention

Theodore Bikel ... Rance Muhammitz / Dave

Keith Moon ... The Hot Nun
Janet Neville-Ferguson ... Groupie (as Janet Ferguson)
Lucy Offerall ... Groupie
Jimmy Carl Black ... Lonesome Cowboy Burt
Martin Lickert ... Jeff
Dick Barber ... Bif Debris - The Vacuum Cleaner
Don Preston ... Don
Pamela Des Barres ... Interviewer (as Pamela Miller)
Ruth Underwood ... Fake Drummer
Judy Gridley ... Chorus Leader

Ringo Starr ... Larry The Dwarf / Frank Zappa
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Additional Details

Also Known As:
Frank Zappa's 200 Motels (USA) (complete title)
Two Hundred Motels
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Runtime:
98 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
1.66 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
People offered parts in the movie included Vivian Stanshall, Mick Jagger, 'John Lennon', Pete Townshend, George Harrison, Bob Dylan and Eric Idle. more
Quotes:
Lonesome Cowboy Burt: So long as I get some beer and I get paid, you can make me do anything, I'm professional! more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in John's Arm: Armageddon (2008) more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
8 out of 9 people found the following comment useful.
extremely weird and silly with some good music, 30 July 2000
5/10
Author: Dr.X from parts unknown

Should you watch this film? I believe the following questions may be a decent guide to making this decision. Are you a Zappa fan who likes many of his different musical phases? If so, then this is a must. Are you a casual Zappa fan, partial to newer stuff only? If so, then approach with caution. Do you like very bizarre sequences put together seemingly at random? If so, this is a must. If you hate that kind of thing, then you will probably hate this. When in doubt, have a backup ready so you can switch to that if you lose patience. Oh, and guys out there, I wouldn't recommend showing this to your girlfriend unless she is a big Zappa fan. By all means, I do NOT recommend planning a romantic evening with a girl with standard pop culture tastes that is bookended by playing her samples of your Magma and King Crimson collection and then ending with a screening of 200 Motels, not even as an experiment. Trust me, I have tried this (once) and the results were not good. But I digress...

What do you get from 200 motels? Random weirdness and silliness with a very 1965-1970 feel to it, kind of like a strangely lighthearted feverish dream. You also get some very interesting music of highly variable quality and some great in-jokes that you will find hilarious if you have followed Zappa's career. I will never again be able to drive past a town named "Centerville" (there are lots of these in the midwest USA) without having that Flo and Eddie zombie-like sequence flash through my head. I would certainly not consider this a good film or anywhere close to a good film. But it is certainly oddly interesting.

Was the above comment useful to you?
more (37 total)

Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for 200 Motels (1971)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
Unwatchable parillamilt
New print in circulation! The Hoyk
Best 200 Motels Music musicbymartin
Set your TiVos and praise TCM! Also, a DVD dream.. mpb922-1
winged eel fingerling joint-2
Please explain... Rauck_Stah
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