The Monkees At The Movies

Written by Gerald Gardner&Dee Caruso

Directed by Russell Mayberry

Produced by Robert Rafelson&Bert Schneider

Songs: "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You" by Neil Diamond, "Last Train To Clarksville"& "Valleri" by Tommy Boyce&Bobby Hart

Guest Appearances

Kramm                              Jerry Lester

Philo                            Hamilton Camp

Frankie                        Bobby Sherman

                                Tina                             Linda Albertano

Photographer                    David Frank

Girl                               Pamelyn Ferdin

                                Mother                           Aileen Carlisle

Premiered on April 17, 1967

Summary

A Hollywood producer/director Lester Kramm spots the Monkees on the beach hopping up and down bare footed on the hot sand and viewing them as typical teenagers decides he wants them as extras for his beach flick "I Married A Creature From Out Of Town".  He along with is nephew/assistant Philo asks the guys but they want no part of it until he tells the salary is $30 a day, in which the guys in a few seconds are in bathing suits on top of surf boards.

Later while on the set, the guys are admiring the scenery including beautiful beach babes when Kramm announces the star of the movie, teen idol Frankie Catalina, a blonde with a Frankie Avalon-type hair do that the Monkees discover is an arrogant, rude and egotistical young man who can’t sing, fears the ocean and is allergic to girls.  While shooting a volleyball scene with Frankie, he gets angered accusing Davy of up-staging for not allowing him to catch the ball and soon starts belittling each of them.  Angered by his insults, the guys decide to strike back by ruining his scenes with Davy applying mon-ster make-up, Micky switching his cue cards during a love scene and Mike speeding up and slowing down the record that Frankie is lip-synching to during a scene with beauty contestants.  While viewing the scenes from the film with Kramm and Philo during the song “A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You”, Frankie sees his sequences are repeatedly sabotaged and upstaged by the Monkees, as the foursome also watch on hidden.  He angrily accuses Kramm of conspiracy to ruin the film and his million dollar image and decides to walk out on his contract and the set.  Back at their pad, the guys discuss over who should replace Frankie and the select Davy.  Then to a silent film cliffhanger movie, the guys romp to “Last Train To Clarksville” with Micky as the villain in black, Mike his sidekick, Peter the victim tied to train tracks and Davy the hero in white in which Davy thwarts Micky and Mike’s attempts to run Peter down with the train and rescues Peter who now geared with a villain’s moustache, knocks Davy out and ties him to the train tracks.

The guys then drag Davy, who’s been hiding in the bedroom back in as Davy he protests against being a star and the guys decide to draw straws (literally!) and Davy loses.  Then they set out to make Davy look like the latest teen idol with Mike and Peter as record traders handing Kramm a David Jones album, then trio as magazine reporters and Micky as a DJ hosting the Crazy Micky The D Show introducing Davy’s three songs “Teardrops In The Playground”, “These Boots Are Made Kicking” and “It’s Been Lonesome In My Saddle Since My Horse Died” which has Davy singing the same verse.  Krammis so impressed that he selects Davy as a replacement.  After introducing Davy on the set, the guys discover Davy now drabbed in the same blonde wig Frankie wore is acting just as arrogant and egotistical as Frankie having developed a big ego too.  So the others take action and during a volleyball scene, they quickly grab Davy and flee of the set and leave him tied in volleyball net on the sand. 

The next day, Davy tells Kramm that he’s quitting the starring role because it’s spoiling his character and the next moment the Monkees are doing a rendition of the song “Valleri”.

This episode ends with the guys giving an interview regarding playing their own instruments at live concerts.  Click here_____ for transcripts.

Trivia Notes

This episode mistakenly credits “When Love Comes Knockin’ (At Your Door)”

by Neil Sedaka& Carole Bayer instead of “A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You”.

The Monkees’ famous Monkeewalk shown for the opening credits for it’s second

Season was originally aired during the “A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You” romp but was deleted because it was taken too much air time.  The scenes of them on the surfboards were also used for the second season’s opening.

Also experts from Jan& Dean’s 1964 top 40 hit “New Girl In School” by Brian Wilsonand three brief versions of Stu Phillips “I Really Love You” sung by Davy under three different titles are included.

The characters of the girl (Pamelyn Ferdin) and her mother (Aileen Carlisle) that were credited as guest appearances but were never seen when this episode aired.  The originalstoryline had the girl shove her mother forward and announces she sings in which theMother sings so loudly ringing everyone’s ears.  Ferdin later appeared as Peggy in NBC’s “Sigmund And The Sea Monsters”, Lucy Baker in CBS’s long running series “Lassie” and Edna Unger in CBS’s The Odd Couple.  She was also best remembered as the voice of Lucy in the Peanut Gang’s first feature length film “A Boy Named Charlie Brown” and Charlie Brown’s early TV specials.

Teen idol Bobby Sherman (Frankie) got his big break on the 1960’s musical television show “Shindig”.  He got his second big break as Jeremy Bolt in the 1968 TV series “Here Comes The Brides”.  After his appearance on the “The Partridge Family” in starred in spin-off “Getting Together” in 1971 which only ran for a season.