Monkeys, Go Home!

I don't have any negative feelings towards this, yet I have nothing for it positively either - there's no real enjoyment or entertainment to be had. 'Monkeys, Go Home!' starts off intriguingly, but to me as soon as the monkeys turn up it loses all interest - which, as you can imagine, isn't great considering the title. It just sleepwalks through its run time. Dean Jones (Hank), Maurice Chevalier (Sylvain) and Yvette Mimieux (Maria) all give decent performances, but unfortunately for them everything else about the film is just so average. As for the other cast members, Bernard Woringer (Marcel) & Clément Harari (Emile) are OK antagonists. The score is solid while the locations look pretty good. However, sadly, I can't really majorly praise much else about this. Even if there are worse films out there, of course.

Residents of a French village attempt to stop an American from using monkeys in place of human workers on his newly-acquired olive farm. Poor screenplay from G.K. Wilkinson's book "The Monkeys" actually wants us to sympathize with the land-owner, who should perhaps be forced to do his own olive picking! Forgettable Disney product with the expected slapstick interludes is well-made, if not fresh. OK performances by Dean Jones, Yvette Mimieux and wily Maurice Chevalier (in his final film), but the argument at the center of the story isn't expanded upon, and the romance which sketchily develops between Dean and Yvette seems like an afterthought as well. Obviously, this was aimed at a younger crowd, but why not give kids something to think about as well as to laugh at? *1/2 from ****

I loved watching this as a kid. It was in two parts on Sunday nights on "The Wonderful World Of Disney" or whatever name the show was using at the time. And our country (New Zealand) only had B&W. As a young lad, I was particularly impressed by Yvette Mimieux. Drop dead gorgeous. Seeing it again a few years later, it didn't feel the same but the movie is still good light entertainment. I guess all shows seem a lot better when you're young. Nevertheless, its better than some other stuff out there that I've revisited, hence the 7 rating. If I see it out on DVD on a cheap label I plan to buy it.

Not the best film ever, but with this many monkeys it can't be at all bad. Definitely worth watching. I suppose maurice chevalier also lends some class to the film. But the monkeys are the real reason for watching it. They're great. It can't be long until someone remakes this.