{"id":97969,"date":"2024-06-16T22:54:35","date_gmt":"2024-06-17T05:54:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=97969"},"modified":"2024-06-16T22:58:15","modified_gmt":"2024-06-17T05:58:15","slug":"monitors-the-1969","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=97969","title":{"rendered":"Monitors, The (1969)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;The Monitors are your friends. Depend on the Monitors. Work for peace. Violence solves nothing. The Monitors bring peace. Peace brings happiness.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Monitors-Poster.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Monitors-Poster-186x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"186\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-97970\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Monitors-Poster-186x300.png 186w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Monitors-Poster-79x128.png 79w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Monitors-Poster-168x270.png 168w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Monitors-Poster.png 572w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 186px) 100vw, 186px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nDuring a time when the Earth is ruled by benevolent aliens known as the Monitors &#8212; who suppress all negative impulses and force humans to reflect on how great their new lives are &#8212; an actress (Susan Oliver), a bi-plane pilot (Guy Stockwell), and the pilot&#8217;s brother (Avery Schreiber) join forces with an undercover operative (Larry Storch) and a Monitors-trainee (Sherry Jackson) in a group known as SCRAG (the Secret Counter Retaliatory Group).\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Aliens<\/li>\n<li>Black Comedy<\/li>\n<li>Ed Begley Sr. Films<\/li>\n<li>Keenan Wynn Films<\/li>\n<li>Revolutionaries<\/li>\n<li>Science Fiction<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nThis satirical sci-fi flick was made with cast members from Chicago&#8217;s Second City comedy troupe (their first feature together), and was explicitly designed to encourage more people to come and film in Chicago &#8212; which didn&#8217;t happen. The film itself starts off with a promising opening sequence and song, as synthesized voices intone: &#8220;We are here to serve humanity &#8212; here to reaffirm gentility, light the way from fear to sanity, carefully promote tranquility&#8221; while various silhouetted shots (we presume from the film itself) are circulated through in various colors. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Monitors-Opening2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Monitors-Opening2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"956\" height=\"720\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-97973\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Monitors-Opening2.png 956w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Monitors-Opening2-300x226.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Monitors-Opening2-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Monitors-Opening2-768x578.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Monitors-Opening2-359x270.png 359w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 956px) 100vw, 956px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>As soon as we &#8220;land&#8221; on Earth, we see men in black coats and bowler hats walking around monitoring people and situations, with their oath and guidelines repeated ad nauseum, Big Brother-style. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Monitors-Silhouettes.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Monitors-Silhouettes.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"998\" height=\"720\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-97974\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Monitors-Silhouettes.png 998w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Monitors-Silhouettes-300x216.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Monitors-Silhouettes-128x92.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Monitors-Silhouettes-768x554.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Monitors-Silhouettes-374x270.png 374w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 998px) 100vw, 998px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Interspersed throughout the film are commercial-like snippets of citizens sharing why they believe life is better with the Monitors in control. (Below is Alan Arkin playing a sanitation worker with a heavy accent.) <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Monitors-Arkin.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Monitors-Arkin.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"968\" height=\"722\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-97975\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Monitors-Arkin.png 968w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Monitors-Arkin-300x224.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Monitors-Arkin-128x95.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Monitors-Arkin-768x573.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Monitors-Arkin-362x270.png 362w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 968px) 100vw, 968px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The storyline itself loosely follows Oliver, Stockwell, Schreiber, Storch, and Jackson as they navigate romance with one another alongside learning more about the Monitors &#8212; including meeting the head operational manager (Shepperd Strudwick): <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Monitors-Leader.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Monitors-Leader.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"966\" height=\"724\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-97977\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Monitors-Leader.png 966w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Monitors-Leader-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Monitors-Leader-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Monitors-Leader-768x576.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Monitors-Leader-360x270.png 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 966px) 100vw, 966px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8230; and\/or revealing themselves to hold different identities and allegiances; unfortunately, little of this coheres or is very funny. <\/p>\n<p>Howard Thompson of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1969\/10\/09\/archives\/the-monitors-opens.html\">the <em>New York Times<\/em><\/a> referred to the film as &#8220;a one-joke warning that states its case and asks where we go from here,&#8221; which just about sums up my impression as well. In <a href=\"https:\/\/www.moriareviews.com\/sciencefiction\/monitors-1969.htm\">his review for Moria<\/a>, Richard Scheib elaborates a bit more on what doesn&#8217;t work: <\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Much of the film feels like it is trying to be hip and improvisational. It has no real plot, just lots of scenes with the characters running around. It seems to be trying to tap an anti-establishment vibe without actually finding it has anything to say. There is no clear idea in the script what the characters are trying to achieve, what they are running from or even the sense you get in comedies of characters stumbling\/bumbling from scene to scene in a haphazard way. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>It&#8217;s too bad, because the premise is quite intriguing: if well-meaning forces offered to oversee our planet and ensure peace and goodwill, but at the loss of our freedoms and more complex emotions, would we take it? It seems pretty clear that the answer is &#8220;no&#8221; &#8212; but a different film would need to take this up to sufficiently explore it. Watch for bit cameos by Keenan Wynn as The General: <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Monitors-Wynn.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Monitors-Wynn.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"969\" height=\"720\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-97978\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Monitors-Wynn.png 969w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Monitors-Wynn-300x223.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Monitors-Wynn-128x95.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Monitors-Wynn-768x571.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Monitors-Wynn-363x270.png 363w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 969px) 100vw, 969px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8230; and Ed Begley as The President (without nearly enough to do in such a peaceful and boring world). <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Monitors-Begley.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Monitors-Begley.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"988\" height=\"722\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-97979\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Monitors-Begley.png 988w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Monitors-Begley-300x219.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Monitors-Begley-128x94.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Monitors-Begley-768x561.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Monitors-Begley-369x270.png 369w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 988px) 100vw, 988px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Notable Performances, Qualities, and Moments:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The opening sequence<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Monitors-Opening.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Monitors-Opening.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"939\" height=\"718\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-97976\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Monitors-Opening.png 939w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Monitors-Opening-300x229.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Monitors-Opening-128x98.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Monitors-Opening-768x587.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Monitors-Opening-353x270.png 353w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 939px) 100vw, 939px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Some creative imagery<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Monitors-Helicopter.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Monitors-Helicopter.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"972\" height=\"722\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-97980\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Monitors-Helicopter.png 972w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Monitors-Helicopter-300x223.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Monitors-Helicopter-128x95.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Monitors-Helicopter-768x570.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Monitors-Helicopter-363x270.png 363w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 972px) 100vw, 972px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nNo; you can skip this one unless you&#8217;re curious. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0064684\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1969\/10\/09\/archives\/the-monitors-opens.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tvguide.com\/movies\/the-monitors\/review\/2000118916\/\">TV Guide Review (spoiler alert)<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/thespinningimage.co.uk\/cultfilms\/displaycultfilm.asp?reviewid=12508\">Spinning Image Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.moriareviews.com\/sciencefiction\/monitors-1969.htm\">Moria Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;The Monitors are your friends. Depend on the Monitors. Work for peace. Violence solves nothing. The Monitors bring peace. Peace brings happiness.&#8221; Synopsis: During a time when the Earth is ruled by benevolent aliens known as the Monitors &#8212; who suppress all negative impulses and force humans to reflect on how great their new lives are &#8212; an actress (Susan Oliver), a bi-plane pilot (Guy Stockwell), and the pilot&#8217;s brother (Avery Schreiber) join forces with an undercover operative (Larry Storch)&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=97969\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-97969","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97969","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=97969"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97969\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":97991,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97969\/revisions\/97991"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=97969"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=97969"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=97969"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}