Documentary:Mondo Hollywood

Mondo Hollywood is a documentary film by Robert Carl Cohen introduced in 1967.

The film begins with the myth:

"All persons and events depicted herein are real. Any similarity to fictitious persons or events is purely coincidental."

The film presents a number of vignettes of the more extraordinary aspects of life in Hollywood - and Los Angeles overall - of the period, focussing on "the Hollywood the public does not know" Personalities who happen in the movie contain proto-hippie Gypsy Boots, stripper Jennie Lee, S&H Green Stamps heir Lewis Beach Marvin III, celebrity hair stylist Jay Sebring (later murdered by the Manson gang), psychedelic pioneer Richard Alpert (in the future generally known as Ram Dass), vocalist Bobby Jameson (with his then-girlfriend Gail Sloatman), housekeeper Estella Scott, actors Margaretta Ramsey, Theodore Charach and Valerie Porter, fashion designer Rudi Gernreich, artist Vito Paulekas, surfer Dale Davis, skydiver Jim Arender, and beautician Sheryl Carson. Each persona provides a narrative for their unique scenes. The film additionally demonstrates various social and political events, such as an anti-communist crusade, Grauman's Chinese Theatre, a visit to Universal Studios by Princess Margaret, the aftermath of the Watts riots, a UCLA peace rally, along with a children's fashion show.

Mondo Hollywood

Other individuals shown quickly in the movie included :
Frank Zappa and Jimmy Carl Black seen but not heard as the music applied in...
--The movie was provided by The Mugwumps
Bobby Jameson and Gail ....walk along a beach with each other
Vito Paulekas
Carl Franzoni
Bobby Beausoleil
Sonny and Cher,
Bobby Beausoleil,
Alfred Hitchcock,
Brigitte Bardot,
Jayne Mansfield,
Ronald Reagan
and others.





Robert Carl Cohen:

"Among the various misrepresentations made about my film are the following:
That the music of Frank Zappa and his group, The Mothers of Invention, was edited out of the film. He and his group were, indeed, filmed by me at one of several parties, scenes from which are intercut in the film’s final 'Freakout' sequence, but I did not record their music at any time. I shot them silent, using a non-blimped Arriflex 35-C. The few shots of them seen in my film constitute all the footage recorded. There were no out-takes.
A certain 'Kim Fowley' claims to have recorded Zappa and his group during the Mondo Hollywood party; and has been selling what he claims is the music from that party. The truth is that there was no one professionally recording the music performed at that event. I am in possession of signed releases from everyone who was present. I have no idea where Fowley acquired the music he is selling as 'The sound track from the Mondo Hollywood party scene, or whose music it is, but it was never a part of my film."