Bye Bye Monkey (1978)
"Ciao maschio" (original title)

A man walking on the beach near New York City finds the corpse of King Kong. He also finds Kong's orphaned son, and takes it to a friend who lives in the city, and they decide to raise it.

Director:

Marco Ferreri

Writers:

Marco Ferreri (idea), Gérard Brach (scenario & adaptation),

Stars:

Gérard Depardieu, Marcello Mastroianni, James Coco

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Gérard Depardieu	...	Gerard Lafayette
Marcello Mastroianni	...	Luigi Nocello
James Coco	...	Andreas Flaxman
Geraldine Fitzgerald	...	Mrs. Toland
Abigail Clayton	...	Angelica (as Gail Lawrence)
Stefania Casini	...	Feminist Actress
Francesca De Sapio
Mimsy Farmer	...	Feminist Actress
Avon Long	...	Miko
Nathalie Bernart
Sandra Monteleoni
Enrico Blasi
Anselma Dell'Ollo
Luciano Pallocchia
Achille Antonaglia

Storyline

Immigrants Luigi and Lafayette work for Andreas Flaxman at his wax museum in Lower Manhattan. Luigi, an asthmatic middle-aged romantic, works as an artist/sculptor while the Lafayette functions as a jack-of-all trades for Flaxman, who is obsessed with Ancient Rome, a preoccupation that most of his exhibits reflect. Lafayette lives in a rat-infested basement some blocks away and carries a whistle with to scare the rodents, which seem to be endemic to the area. He also works as a stagehand for a feminist theater group in their Off-off Broadway theater where he suffers their sexist abuses including being forced to wear a leotard. Angelica, one of the beautiful actresses in the troupe is attracted to him, and they begin a relationship. At the same time Luigi comes across the 50 foot model of King Kong in a Hudson River landfill, apparently discarded after the 1976 movie version of "King Kong." There he finds an orphaned baby chimpanzee which he takes to be the giant simian's son. Allergic...

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Plot Keywords:

ancient rome | asthmatic | landfill | leotard | wax museum | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Fantasy | Romance

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Details

Country:

Italy France

Language:

English

Release Date:

24 February 1978 (Italy)

Also Known As:

Bye Bye Monkey

Filming Locations:

11th Avenue, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

18 Dicembre, Prospectacle, Action Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min 94 min (cut)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.75 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

The baby chimp is assumed to be the son of King Kong. Disregarding the size difference, it would be impossible for a gorilla to father a chimpanzee.

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Quotes

Gerard Lafayette: Okay. See you tomorrow.
Luigi Nocello: Maybe.

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Connections

References King Kong (1976)

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Soundtracks

"Tea for Two"
(uncredited)(1925)
Music by Vincent Youmans
Lyrics by Irving Caesar
Marcello Mastroianni does a soft shoe to a hummed version

User Reviews

Curious Imagery keeps this film entertaining.

Is it another world, or our world gone mad? Ferreri has quite an imagination, especially his use of juxtaposition: a rotting carcass of King Kong, a wax museum where James Coco reenacts parts of history, and an underground society where rats prevail. Depardieu, who's lines are badly dubbed, manages to get through this yarn uncomfortably gripping a chimp where he found beside the dead Kong. Mastroianni is always at his best, altho this time presenting a more cartoonish characterization. However, despite the exotic idiosyncrasies, this film can be rather dull at moments. Nevertheless, I enjoyed a large percentage of this movie, ad hominem the ambiguous finale which may help clarifies the film's bizarre symbolism. Watch this one on a rainy day.