bedtime for bonzo
Added 1/31/2010
I love this movie. I got it so quick and in great condition. Amazon did it again. I love the selection and the fact I can get old movies I remember as a child.
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Too much science, not enough fiction!
Added 11/24/2009
It is often speculated that Truffaut, a lifelong admirer of De Cordova, was inspired to adapt the story of Victor into The Wild Child after seeing this film in his early 20's. While that remains one of art history's great mysteries, it can certainly be said that Truffaut's lighthearted take on the nature/nurture debate is infinitely preferable to this dark, slow and often brooding psychodrama.
The question of whether or not a chimp can learn morals is an appropriately bland philosophical premise for a film like this to jump off from, but filmmakers have to realize that when animal actors appear, the audience is expecting antics. I can't be too harsh as de Cordova could not draw inspiration from the pioneering works that would follow (see: Dunston Checks In), but this film really shows its age. Rather than using the scientific undertaking as a backdrop to a heartwarming tale of the bond between a future president and his kidnapped chimpanzee, the film delves into every small and disturbing detail of the experiments carried out, with almost no dialogue or voice-over narration to give context to the images we see. While someone with a richer background in experimental psychology might have a different reading of these scenes, I think they are something the average viewer neither wants nor needs to sit through. It was especially hard for me to see how 13 minutes of a chain-smoking, sweat-drenched Reagan poking the chimp with a cattle prod while exposing it to commercials for household products had any bearing on his moral development, or why the lab assistant continually addressed Reagan's character as "mother."
That being said, I am very much looking forward to the special two-disc re-release and hope the supplementary materials will shed some light on the enduring enigma that is this film, as painful as it will be to endure again. In the meantime, do not watch this with your family. Do not watch this period.
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Great for the whole family
Added 6/14/2009
I am a huge Ronald Reagan fan and many criticized him for this role but, I myself, think he did a wonderful job and it was a very funny movie!! My kids have enjoyed watching it several times! The movie being put on DVD transferred well...very clear.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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Reagan and the Chimp
Added 10/4/2008
Professor Peter Boyd (Ronald Reagan) is all set to marry the Dean's daughter until the Dean discovers that there is a history of crime in Boyd's family. Backed by the arguement that environment shapes behavior, Boyd argues for the hand of the woman he loves, but the Dean insists on proof. Boyd then borrows the University chimp named Bonzo and sets out to teach him to behave like a human, thus proving that behavior is learned. He hires a young girl (Diana Lynn) to behave as the "Mama" of the family unit and to coach Bonzo. Will the experiment work?
A cute and breezy comedy, Bedtime For Bonzo is best known for Reagan's appearance. He isn't a great actor, but he is adequate in his role and has some truly funny moments with the chimp. The script is rather trite; we know what will happen when it happens, but it is charming just the same. This is a great film to show kids to introduce them to black and white movies too because it lacks smut.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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Is the environment or the heredity responsible for our own facts?
Added 9/23/2008
Beneath the pleasant and funny moments we will have with this sympathetic chimpanzee, underlies the initial premise in the air. This original movie quickly states and even bets for the first option. In this sense, the kind manners and the good intentions are quite enough to change and shape what most of people use to think; opening a gate for the possibility to be a better human being if the conditions permit it.
Far beyond the anecdotic proposal, there is a lesson of ethic and moral that hovers the movie. There is a bit of surrealistic sequences (something absolutely necessary into a comedy) and the way he changes her initial election between the dean's daughter for his disinterested and new assistant Jane, seem to remark underlines that nobody is written or even predetermined by the destiny, we have the will and ways to make the destiny plays under our favour .
A legendary cult comedy movie.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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bedtime for bonzo
Added 1/31/2010
I love this movie. I got it so quick and in great condition. Amazon did it again. I love the selection and the fact I can get old movies I remember as a child.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Too much science, not enough fiction!
Added 11/24/2009
It is often speculated that Truffaut, a lifelong admirer of De Cordova, was inspired to adapt the story of Victor into The Wild Child after seeing this film in his early 20's. While that remains one of art history's great mysteries, it can certainly be said that Truffaut's lighthearted take on the nature/nurture debate is infinitely preferable to this dark, slow and often brooding psychodrama.
The question of whether or not a chimp can learn morals is an appropriately bland philosophical premise for a film like this to jump off from, but filmmakers have to realize that when animal actors appear, the audience is expecting antics. I can't be too harsh as de Cordova could not draw inspiration from the pioneering works that would follow (see: Dunston Checks In), but this film really shows its age. Rather than using the scientific undertaking as a backdrop to a heartwarming tale of the bond between a future president and his kidnapped chimpanzee, the film delves into every small and disturbing detail of the experiments carried out, with almost no dialogue or voice-over narration to give context to the images we see. While someone with a richer background in experimental psychology might have a different reading of these scenes, I think they are something the average viewer neither wants nor needs to sit through. It was especially hard for me to see how 13 minutes of a chain-smoking, sweat-drenched Reagan poking the chimp with a cattle prod while exposing it to commercials for household products had any bearing on his moral development, or why the lab assistant continually addressed Reagan's character as "mother."
That being said, I am very much looking forward to the special two-disc re-release and hope the supplementary materials will shed some light on the enduring enigma that is this film, as painful as it will be to endure again. In the meantime, do not watch this with your family. Do not watch this period.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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Great for the whole family
Added 6/14/2009
I am a huge Ronald Reagan fan and many criticized him for this role but, I myself, think he did a wonderful job and it was a very funny movie!! My kids have enjoyed watching it several times! The movie being put on DVD transferred well...very clear.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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