National Film Unit road safety film with monkeys | Stuff.co.nz
Just monkeying around on bikes
Sixty years ago, children got the safe cycling message from Charlie the chimpanzee in Monkey Tale, a 1952 road safety movie from the National Film Unit.
The movie can now be seen as one of the short films on nzonscreen.com.
Current reaction to Monkey Tale ranges from animal cruelty at its worst to, "When is the remake?"
What was considered acceptable two or three generations ago is not when judged by 2012 standards.
Monkey Tale comes from an era when chimpanzees provided popular mass entertainment.
Zoos held chimps' tea parties and former United States president Ronald Reagan starred in a movie comedy called Bedtime for Bonzo.
The National Film Unit had a contract with the Transport Department to produce something about teaching children the rules of the road and looking after their bicycles.
Geoffrey Scott, the film unit's manager, got the idea for Monkey Tale while watching some chimps riding their bicycles on the Opera House stage during a performance of The Tourist Trade.
After the show, he went backstage and met Gene Detroy to discuss the possibility of using his chimps in a film.
Mr Detroy said he had two or three spare days for filming the following week.
Monkey Tale was written and directed by Kathleen O'Brien, who worked with the unit's senior director, Michael Forlong, and Mr Scott on the script over a weekend.
The chimps started filming on the streets of Miramar without any rehearsal.
Ten-year old Marquis, the oldest chimp from Mr Detroy's troupe, played Charlie, who learned the safe cycling habit.
Marquis' cycling skills had already been seen in a few British movies, including Stop Press Girl, which was then screening in New Zealand cinemas.
Gender-bending was the order of the day on the Monkey Tale set.
Marquis was really a female and played both Charlie and his mother, Mrs Chimp, in the movie.
Charlie's younger sister, Chloe, and the fairy were played by Baron, who was a male.
Five-year-old Baroness, another female, was Chester, Charlie and Chloe's younger brother.
In one scene, Charlie dubs Chloe home after school. They take a nasty tumble because Charlie fails to slow down when he sees a car backing out of a driveway.
The angry driver is the chief cameraman, John Hutchinson.
Mr Scott said the film "was great fun to make" and "filled the bill for the Transport Department very well".
"It even got released commercially in one or two cinemas."
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Heather Mair (nee Thorn), one of New Zealand's four women traffic officers in the late 1950s, approved of Monkey Tale.
She said it was "a well received story which the children loved ... a good story for road safety".
But children could be overexposed to Charlie's cycling message. Lorraine Williams recalled she and some classmates actually cringed each time the flickered print was shown.
