200 Motels
Directed by	Tony Palmer (visuals) Frank Zappa (characterizations) Charles Swenson (cartoon sequence) Gillian Lynne (choreography)
Produced by	Herb Cohen Jerry D. Good
Written by	Frank Zappa & Tony Palmer Special material by Howard Kaylan, Mark Volman, and Jeff Simmons
Music by	Frank Zappa
Distributed by	United Artists
Release date(s)	November 10, 1971
Running time	98 minutes
Language	English
Budget	$679,000
IMDb profile

200 Motels is a 1971 movie featuring Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention, produced at Pinewood Studios, England. Directed and written by Tony Palmer and Zappa. Actors included Ringo Starr, Theodore Bikel and Keith Moon. A double album of the soundtrack was released in same year. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1268x1746, 443 KB) Summary Frank Zappas 200 Motels movie poster. ... Tony Palmer is an american football guard who was selected by the St. ... Frank Vincent Zappa[1] (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American composer, guitarist, singer, film director, and satirist. ... Please wikify (format) this article as suggested in the Guide to layout and the Manual of Style. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Frank Vincent Zappa[1] (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American composer, guitarist, singer, film director, and satirist. ... Tony Palmer is an american football guard who was selected by the St. ... Howard Kaylan (born June 22, 1947 in New York City) is an American rock and roll musician, best known as a founding member of the 1960s band The Turtles. ... Mark Volman (born April 19, 1947 in Los Angeles, California) is an American rock and roll musician, best known as a founding member of the 1960s band The Turtles. ... Jeff Simmons is a musician and former member of Frank Zappas Mothers of Invention. ... Frank Vincent Zappa[1] (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American composer, guitarist, singer, film director, and satirist. ... The current United Artists logo (a variant was used during the 1980s). ... November 10 is the 314th day of the year (315th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 51 days remaining. ... 1971 (MCMLXXI) was a common year starting on Friday. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Film is a term that encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. ... Frank Vincent Zappa[1] (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American composer, guitarist, singer, film director, and satirist. ... The Mothers of Invention were a rock and roll band active from the 1960s to the 1990s. ... The entrance to Pinewood Studios Pinewood Studios is a major British film studio situated approximately 20 miles west of London among the pine trees on what was the estate of Heatherden Hall, near the village of Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire. ... Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: God Save the King/Queen Capital London (de facto) Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Unification    - by Athelstan AD 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq mi  Population    - 2006 est. ... Tony Palmer is an american football guard who was selected by the St. ... Richard Starkey, MBE (born 7 July 1940 in Liverpool), known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer and actor, best known as the drummer of the Beatles. ... Theodore Bikel. ... Keith John Moon (August 23, 1946 – September 7, 1978) was the drummer of the rock group The Who. ...

Film

The low filming budget involved a reputed $600,000, a seven-day shoot and 11 days editing; these factors contributed to the sort of insanity which the movie attempts to evoke musically. Although the movie's central theme is about "life on the road" for a touring rock musician in the late Twentieth Century, thematic references to Mephisto, Kafka, Kubrick's 2001, work re-education/concentration camps and an animation sequence are featured as part of the video/musical collage. Rock and roll (also spelled Rock n Roll, especially in its first decade), also called rock, is a form of popular music, usually featuring vocals (often with vocal harmony), electric guitars and a strong back beat; other instruments, such as the saxophone, are common in some styles. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s The 20th century lasted from 1901 to 2000 in the Gregorian calendar (often from (1900 to 1999 in common usage). ... Look up Mephisto in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Kafka at the age of five Franz Kafka (IPA: ) (July 3, 1883 – June 3, 1924) was one of the major German-language fiction writers of the 20th century. ... Stanley Kubrick (July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an influential, Academy Award-winning and acclaimed American film director and producer. ... Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of 2-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. ... A collage composed of magazine articles and pictures Collage (From the French: , to stick) is regarded as a work of visual arts made from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole. ...

The film includes the Mothers of Invention and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the actor Theodore Bikel and rock-stars Ringo Starr as Larry the Dwarf and The Who's drummer, Keith Moon in drag as a nun. The plot is either nebulous or nonexistent as a narrative but as a series of vignettes and production numbers. Frank Vincent Zappa[1] (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American composer, guitarist, singer, film director, and satirist. ... The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) is an English orchestra based in London. ... The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964. ...

According to Zappa only a third of the script he wrote ended up being filmed. The director, several actors and a band member quit in the middle of production. These events accounted for changing things radically at the last moments. The movie was all shot on videotape and transferred to film after editing, a cinematographic first. There will probably never be a re-mastered or re-edited version as all of the original master tape and the unused scenes were later erased and sold as bulk video tape.

Soundtrack

Main article: 200 Motels (soundtrack)

The double album soundtrack, like the film, was completed in a week. The production took place at Pinewood studios in England and the recording of the band without the orchestra took place after the day's filming was complete. This was done with a rented remote recording studio/truck owned by the Rolling Stones which was driven into the movie studio and parked there for a week. According to Zappa, not all the music in the movie is on the album, and not all the music on the album is in the movie. The 200 Motels OST is the soundtrack to Frank Zappas 200 Motels. ... This article is about the rock band. ...

A large variety of musical styles and satirical parodies of musical styles on the album, including the faux country "Lonesome Cowboy Burt" with a vocal by Jimmy Carl Black. Rock band selections include "Do You Like My New Car", "She Painted Up Her Face" and "Magic Fingers". Little space is given to guitar solos on the album and lyrics throughout the album are typically obsessed with sexual behaviour, critical of American society. Jimmy Carl Black at Tivoli Gardens, Copenhagen, October 3, 1968. ...

Zappa's orchestral compositions, the first to be recorded, exhibit the influence of composers he admired such as Varèse, Stravinsky and Webern. The soundtrack also includes operatic vocals by a group of "serious" singers on some pieces and the entire panoply of modern chamber music, twentieth century orchestra, avante-garde and twelve-tone repertoire are also represented on the soundtrack. Edgard Victor Achille Charles Varèse (December 22, 1883 – November 6, 1965) was a French-born composer. ... Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (Russian: Игорь Фёдорович Стравинский, Igor Fëdorovič Stravinskij) (June 17, 1882 – April 6, 1971) was a Russian composer, considered by many in both the West and his native land to be the most influential composer of 20th-century music. ... Anton Webern (December 3, 1883 – September 15, 1945) was an Austrian composer and conductor. ... Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. ... Twelve-tone technique (also dodecaphony) is a method of musical composition devised by Arnold Schoenberg. ...

Miscellanea

• This was the first feature film to be filmed on video (PAL format) and then transferred to 35 mm film for its theatrical release.
• The film's closing credits are superimposed over its own expense reports.
• Frank Zappa appears in this film, but only as a musician. The role of "Frank Zappa" as a film character is played by Ringo Starr.
• The role of "Jeff" was to have been played by Mothers bassist Jeff Simmons, who had quit the band days before filming began. His replacement, Wilfrid Brambell (best known for his role in A Hard Day's Night as Paul McCartney's scheming Grandfather), left production after an argument with Frank Zappa. During a crew meeting, a frustrated Frank Zappa announced that the next person who walked through the door would get the part. Thus, Martin Lickert, Ringo Starr's chauffeur, who was returning from the limousine with a pack of cigarettes for Starr, was cast for the role (It was Lickert's only film appearance. He later became a barrister for Her Majesty's Customs and Excise and died in 2006 at the age of 58).
• The film influenced the title of the BBC TV series 500 Bus Stops starring comedian John Shuttleworth [1]
• The musical soundtrack for this film was recorded live as the film was shot; a sharp departure from the traditional method of recording the music beforehand and lipsynching during filming.
• The oft-repeated claim that the film was shot in the same studio as 2001: A Space Odyssey is incorrect. That film was shot at a different, MGM-owned studio on the outskirts of London. The iconic black monolith seen in the film is a visual reference and mock-up, not the actual prop. All the properties from 2001 were destroyed per Stanley Kubrick after the filming was completed.

Television encoding systems by nation PAL, short for Phase Alternating Line, is a colour encoding system used in broadcast television systems in large parts of the world. ... Richard Starkey, MBE (born 7 July 1940 in Liverpool), known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer and actor, best known as the drummer of the Beatles. ... Jeff Simmons is a musician and former member of Frank Zappas Mothers of Invention. ... Wilfrid Brambell (March 22, 1912 - January 18, 1985) was an Irish film and television actor, born in Dublin, best known for his roles in the British television series Steptoe and Son and The Beatles film A Hard Days Night. ... // The British release A Hard Days Night was The Beatles third album, released in 1964 as the soundtrack to their first film of the same name. ... Sir James Paul McCartney MBE (born June 18, 1942) is a Grammy Award-winning English singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who first gained worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles. ... Richard Starkey, MBE (born 7 July 1940 in Liverpool), known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer and actor, best known as the drummer of the Beatles. ... A chauffeur in Japan A driver in Kerala A chauffeur is one who drives an automobile as a job. ... A limousine (or limo) is an unusually long luxury car, traditionally black or white in color. ... English barrister A barrister is a lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions who employ a split profession (as opposed to a fused profession) in relation to legal representation. ... Her Majestys Customs and Excise (HMCE) was, until April 2005, a department of the British Government in the UK. It was responsible for the collection of Value added tax (VAT), Customs Duties, Excise Duties, and other indirect taxes such as Air Passenger Duty, Climate Change Levy, Insurance Premium Tax... Graham Fellows is an English comedy actor and musician, best known for creating the character of John Shuttleworth, an aspiring singer/songwriter in his late 50s from Sheffield, South Yorkshire, with a quiet manner and slightly nerdish tendencies. ... Lip synchronization is the synchronization of audio signals (sometimes with corresponding video signals) so that there is no noticeable lack of simultaneity between them. ...

External link

• 200 Motels at the Internet Movie Database

The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is an online database of information about motion pictures, actors, movie stars, TV shows, TV stars, production crew personnel, movie pictures, cast, crew as well as video games. ...

Frank Vincent Zappa[1] (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American composer, guitarist, singer, film director, and satirist. ... An album is a collection of related audio tracks distributed to the public. ... Freak Out! is the debut album of Frank Zappa and his group, the Mothers of Invention. ... Absolutely Free (1967) is the second album by The Mothers of Invention, led by Frank Zappa. ... Were Only in It For the Money is a rock n roll album by Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention. ... Lumpy Gravy is the first solo album by Frank Zappa, released in 1968. ... Cruising With Ruben & the Jets is an album by Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, released in 1968 (see 1968 in music). ... Uncle Meat, released in 1969, is the soundtrack to Frank Zappas long-delayed film of the same name. ... Hot Rats is an album by Frank Zappa. ... Burnt Weeny Sandwich is an album by Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, released in 1970 (see 1970 in music). ... Weasels Ripped My Flesh is an album by Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, released in 1970 (see 1970 in music). ... Chungas Revenge is an album by Frank Zappa, released in 1970. ... Fillmore East – June 1971 is a live album by Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, released in 1971. ... The 200 Motels OST is the soundtrack to Frank Zappas 200 Motels. ... Just Another Band From L.A. is an album by Frank Zappa, released in 1972 (see 1972 in music). ... Waka/Jawaka is an album by Frank Zappa, released in 1972. ... The Grand Wazoo is a 1972 jazz fusion album by Frank Zappa. ... Apostrophe () is an album by Frank Zappa, who released it in April 1974, in both the stereo and quadraphonic formats. ... Roxy & Elsewhere is a live album by Frank Zappa which was released in 1974. ... Cover of One Size Fits All (1975) One Size Fits All is a 1975 rock album from Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention. ... Cover of Bongo Fury (1975) Bongo Fury is a mostly live album released by Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheart in 1975. ... Zoot Allures is a 1976 rock album by Frank Zappa. ... Zappa in New York is a live album by Frank Zappa. ... Studio Tan is an album by Frank Zappa, first released in September 1978. ... Sleep Dirt is an album by Frank Zappa released in 1979. ... Sheik Yerbouti is a double vinyl live album by Frank Zappa featuring material recorded in 1977 and 1978, released on March 3, 1979 (see 1979 in music) and re-issued on May 9, 1995 (see 1995 in music). ... Orchestral Favorites is a 1979 album by Frank Zappa. ... Joes Garage: Acts I, II & III is a 1979 triple Studio album rock opera by Frank Zappa, featuring such memorable tunes as Catholic Girls, (a sequel to Jewish Princess. ... Cover of Tinsel Town Rebellion (1981) Tinsel Town Rebellion is a nearly all live double-album released by Frank Zappa in 1981. ... Shut Up n Play Yer Guitar is a triple vinyl (two CDs) album featuring live material recorded by Frank Zappa between 1977 and 1980. ... You Are What You Is is an album by Frank Zappa. ... Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch is an album by Frank Zappa, released in May 1982 and digitally remastered in 1991. ... The Man from Utopia is a 1983 album by Frank Zappa. ... Baby Snakes is the is the soundtrack to Frank Zappas film of the same name. ... London Symphony Orchestra, Vol. ... Cover of Them or Us (1984) Them or Us is an album by Frank Zappa released in October 1984. ... Cover of Thing-Fish (1984) Thing-Fish is a 1984 concept album from Frank Zappa. ... Francesco Zappa is a 1984 album by Frank Zappa. ... Frank Zappa Meets the Mothers of Prevention is a 1985 album by Frank Zappa. ... Cover by Cal Schenkel for 1995 re-release Does Humor Belong in Music? is a live album by Frank Zappa. ... Cover of Jazz From Hell (1986) Jazz From Hell is a jazz-rock instrumental album from Frank Zappa. ... London Symphony Orchestra, Vol. ... Guitar is a 1988 album by Frank Zappa. ... Cover of Broadway The Hard Way (1989) Broadway The Hard Way is a live Frank Zappa double-album recorded at various performances along his 1988 world tour. ... The Best Band You Never Heard in Your Life is a double disc live album by Frank Zappa, released in 1991 (see 1991 in music). ... Make a Jazz Noise Here is a live double album by Frank Zappa. ... Playground Psychotics is a two-CD live album by Frank Zappa. ... Ahead Of Their Time is a live album by Frank Zappa and The Mothers Of Invention. ... The Yellow Shark is an album of orchestral music by Frank Zappa, released in 1993, shortly before his death. ... You Cant Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. ... Cover of You Cant Do That On Stage Anymore, Vol 2 (1988) You Cant Do That On Stage Anymore, Vol 2 is an album by Frank Zappa. ... You Cant Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. ... You Cant Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. ... You Cant Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. ... You Cant Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. ... Civilization, Phaze III is a double CD by Frank Zappa. ... The Lost Episodes is an album by Frank Zappa which compiles previously unreleased material and was posthumously released in 1996. ... Läther is an album by Frank Zappa although its history is complex it was eventually released as a set of three CDs in September 1996. ... Mystery Disc is a compilation album by Frank Zappa. ... Everything Is Healing Nicely is an album by Frank Zappa, postumhously released through the Zappa Family Trust in December 1999. ... Halloween is a live album by Frank Zappa, released in DVD-Audio CD format by Vaulternative Records in 2003. ... Joes Corsage CD A collection of early Mothers recordings newly retrieved from the UMRK vault. ... Joes Domage is a Frank Zappa posthumous album, released on October 1, 2004. ... Joes XMASage is a compilation album featuring music by Frank Zappa, posthumously released in December, 2005. ... Track listing All tracks by Frank Zappa Oddients Rollo Been To Kansas City In A Minor Farther OBlivion D.C. Boogie Imaginary Diseases Montreal Personnel Frank Zappa: Conductor/Guitar/Vocals Malcolm McNabb: Trumpet Gary Barone: Trumpet/Flugelhorn Tom Malone: Tuba/Saxes/Piccolo Trumpet/Trumpet Earl Dumler: Woodwinds Glenn Ferris... Trance Fusion A style of music that incorporates the structure and sound of electronica trance, but is played with traditional rock/jazz instruments allowing for more versatility in a live setting. ... Mothermania The Best Of The Mothers (1969) is a compilation album by The Mothers Of Invention, led by Frank Zappa. ... The Guitar World According to Frank Zappa is a 1987 compilation album featuring guitar solos by Frank Zappa. ... Strictly Commercial is a compilation album by Frank Zappa. ... According to the liner notes, Franks son Dweezil talked with his father shortly before Franks death about the songs Frank had written that he would consider to be his signature tunes. ... Have I Offended Someone? is a compilation album featuring music by Frank Zappa, and was posthumously released in 1997. ... QuAUDIOPHILIAc ia album produced by Frank Zappa. ... The Frank Zappa AAAFNRAA Birthday Bundle was released as a digital download on iTunes on December 15, 2006. ... The Old Masters Box One is a box set by Frank Zappa, the first in a series. ... The Old Masters Box Two is a box set by Frank Zappa, consisting of the albums Uncle Meat, Hot Rats, Burnt Weeny Sandwich, Weasels Ripped My Flesh, Chungas Revenge, Fillmore East, June 1971 and Just Another Band From L.A.. Like its predecessor, it featured a bonus Mystery... The Old Masters Box Three is a box set by Frank Zappa, consisting of the albums Waka/Jawaka, The Grand Wazoo, Over-Nite Sensation, Apostrophe (), Roxy & Elsewhere, One Size Fits All, Bongo Fury and Zoot Allures. ... Beat the Boots is a collection of bootleg recordings by Frank Zappa which were originally distributed illegally but were released officially by Rhino Entertainment in 1991. ... Beat the Boots II is a box set by Frank Zappa. ... The Making Of Freak Out! Project/Object (The MOFO Project/Object) is a box set by Frank Zappa. ... Baby Snakes is the live soundtrack to the 1979 Frank Zappa movie of the same name. ... The Dub Room Special is a film produced by Frank Zappa for direct-to-video release in October, 1982. ... Video From Hell is a video released in 1987 by Frank Zappa. ... Does Humor Belong in Music? is a one-hour concert video comprised of live performances at The Pier in New York City (August 26, 1984) along with a few interview segments, was released on VHS by MPI Home Video in 1985 and reissued on DVD in 2003 by EMI. The... The True Story of Frank Zappas 200 Motels is a video released in 1989 by Frank Zappa, detailing the making of Zappas 1971 film 200 Motels. ... The Amazing Mr. ... Uncle Meat is a film by Frank Zappa, released directly to video in 1987. ... The Rage And The Fury is the name of an album of Edgard Varèse songs recorded by the Ensemble Modern and produced by Frank Zappa shortly before his death. ... Dance Me This is the name of an album of Synclavier works completed by Frank Zappa shortly before his death. ... This is a list of tributes and references to the American composer, guitarist, singer, film director, and satirist, Frank Zappa. ... This is a list of albums by Frank Zappa and tribute albums for Frank Zappa. ... The Mothers of Invention were a rock and roll band active from the 1960s to the 1990s. ...