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Monkey Tale
Short Film (Full Length) – 1952
In the anthropomorphic (and non-PC) tradition of the chimpanzee tea party and PG Tips ads comes this contribution from the National Film Unit. Here chimpanzees provide safe cycling lessons for children. Chaplin-esque scenes ensue as Charlie the Chimp disregards road-rules: "if that young monkey gets to school in one piece he'll be lucky ... he'll get killed sure as eggs". Directed by pioneering woman filmmaker Kathleen O'Brien — who got the idea after seeing them in a visiting variety act — the film contrasts vividly with the brutality of contemporary road safety promos.
..Miss O'Brien was fortunate that she had the use of a troupe of highly intelligent chimpanzees that were visiting Wellington as part of a variety act. For their on stage performance the chimpanzees rode bicycles and motorcycles with great elan, giving Miss O'Brien the idea of incorporating them into the film she was making.– Betty McKinnon in The Weekly News, 18 February 1959, page 10
Key Cast & Crew
Briton Chadwick
Kathleen O'Brien
Marquis the Chimpanzee
Michael Forlong
Geoffrey Scott
John Hutchinson
Acknowledgements
Produced by NFU for the Transport Department
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