200 Motels is a 1971 surrealist musical film written and directed by Frank Zappa and Tony Palmer, and featuring music by Zappa. An international co-production of United States and the United Kingdom, the film stars the Mothers of Invention, Theodore Bikel and Ringo Starr. A soundtrack album was released in the same year, with a slightly different selection of music. Plot The film attempts to portray the craziness of life on the road as a rock musician, and as such consists of a series of unconnected nonsense vignettes interspersed with concert footage of the Mothers of Invention. Ostensibly, while on tour The Mothers of Invention go crazy in the small fictional town of Centerville ("a real nice place to raise your kids up"), wander around, and get beaten up in "Redneck Eats", a cowboy bar. In an animated interlude passed off as a "dental hygiene movie", bassist "Jeff", tired of playing what he refers to as "Zappa's comedy music", is persuaded by his bad conscience to quit the group, as did his real-life counterpart Jeff Simmons. Simmons was replaced by Martin Lickert (who was Starr's chauffeur) for the film. Almost every scene is drenched with video special effects (double and triple exposures, solarisation, false color, speed changes, etc.) which were innovative in 1971. The film has been dubbed a "surrealistic documentary". Cast Frank Zappa as himself The Mothers of Invention as themselves Theodore Bikel as Rance Muhammitz, the narrator/Master of Ceremonies (possibly the devil himself (or herself), he "is known by many names") Ringo Starr as Larry the Dwarf, dressed as Frank Zappa Keith Moon as the hot nun Howard Kaylan as himself Mark Volman as himself Ian Underwood as himself Ruth Underwood as herself Don Preston as himself Jimmy Carl Black as Lonesome Cowboy Burt Euclid James 'Motorhead' Sherwood as himself (uncredited) Aynsley Dunbar as himself George Duke as himself Jim Pons as himself (uncredited) Pamela Des Barres as the interviewer Martin Lickert as Jeff Janet Neville-Ferguson as Groupie #1 Lucy Offerall as Groupie #2 Dick Barber as Chunga – The Vacuum Cleaner Judy Gridley as the chorus leader Royal Philharmonic Orchestra as the bewildered orchestra Production Principal scenes of 200 Motels, including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, were filmed in a week at Pinewood Studios outside London, and featured The Mothers of Invention, The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Ringo Starr, Theodore Bikel, and Keith Moon. Tensions between Zappa and several