The Mamas And The Papas And Their Songs in Cinema. By Jonah Rice.
Active from 1965 until 1971, the American folk rock group The Mamas and the Papas are among the most popular musical acts of all the twentieth century, recording five studio albums in well under a decade. Pretty impressive, and on top of the praise they received when active in the sixties and seventies, The Mamas and the Papas have also been heralded in hindsight as an all-time great band. Consisting of members Cass Elliott, John Phillips, Michelle Phillips, and Denny Doherty, they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998, and songs such as “Monday, Monday” and “California Dreamin’” remain classics of their decade. Their discography has also been featured in dozens of films and television shows in the decades since they disbanded, many “Needle Drops” of which remain venerated by audiences around the world.
Even while they were active, songs like the aforementioned “California Dreamin’” could be heard in films such as Monterey Pop (1968). That song even lent its title to a 2007 film of the same name, and while that particular motion picture remains rather obscure, several other films have taken “California Dreamin’” and helped to render it such an iconic track. Look for instance at Chungking Express, a 1994 film that was written and directed by Wong Kar-wai. It’s among the most lauded movies of the twentieth century, and on multiple occasions throughout its runtime, the filmmaker makes wonderful use of a song by The Mamas and the Papas.
Featuring in a Critical Darling
Written and directed by Wong Kar-wai, the 1994 film Chungking Express used the song “California Dreamin’” as an actual storytelling device. Something of an anthology film, it tells two separate tales of respective policeman as they’re overcoming heartbreak. The two then traverse their own endearing plot points in the urban Hong Kong landscape, eventually finding love once again before their stories conclude. Playing the policemen are Takeshi Kaneshiro and Tony Leung, while other names among the cast of Chungking Express include Brigitte Lin, Faye Wong, and Valerie Chow. Talented names, and they each performed to perfection under Wong Kar-wai’s direction.
Among the most venerated movies of all the 1990s, this utilizes expert shot value from Christopher Doyle in tandem with a carefully curated color palette to result in a bona fide visual spectacle. It’s one of the most beautiful movies ever made, and while much more could be made about the optics of Chungking Express, none of this even mentioned its iconic use of music. Both stories have recurring pieces of music played within the continuity, like with how “Things in Life” by Dennis Brown can be heard in the opening segment. It’s in the second act that “California Dreamin’” by the band of the hour can be heard, and on multiple occasions. The character played by Faye Wong has a particular attachment thereto, and her playing the song on repeat greatly builds on both her personality and her development.
That’s a famous use of “California Dreamin’” being highlighted within a film, and while that particular song has perhaps been used the most when looking at the discography of The Mamas and the Papas being featured within soundtracks, but others such as and “Monday, Monday” and “Twelve Thirty” have been in plenty of films and TV shows, as well. For instance, latter song in “Twelve Thirty” can be heard in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019), the major motion picture by Quentin Tarantino about an aging actor and his stunt double traversing the changing Hollywood landscape of 1969.
Another Iconic Scene
Released theatrically in 2019, the critically acclaimed Once Upon a Time in Hollywood was written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, a lauded American filmmaker who’s known for implementing wonderfully timed needle drops into a given movie. In his film from 2019, famous actors Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt star as an actor and stuntman respectively, the plot revolving around their separate journeys in 1969 throughout the Hollywood streets. That’s the year when the murder of Sharon Tate and Jay Sebring took place in the Hollywood Hills, the perpetrators being members of the infamous Manson family.
Featured as minor characters in the film itself are Michelle Phillips and Mama Cass, two famous members of the band at hand. They were very much in Hollywood at the time, with Denny Doherty revealing down the line that he and the band were actually invited to Ceilo Drive on the night of the notorious murders. Ominous anecdote there, but as for the motion picture: Once Upon a Time in Hollywood also used the song “Straight Shooter” as the tune for its official trailer, while “Twelve Thirty” was even used within the film itself. On top of Michelle and Mama Cass being depicted within the movie, those facts make Once Upon a Time in Hollywood among the most important movies to be mentioned when looking at The Mamas and the Papas and their songs in cinema.
Their ballads have been used in dozens of other films throughout the twenty-first century, even two in the same year: Repo Man (2010) and The Other Guys (2010). There was also “Twelve Thirty” in the critically acclaimed Bad Times at the El Royale (2018), along with “Go Where You Wanna Go” in a film called Ticket to Paradise (2022). Quite the list of films, and in full candor, that’s only scratching the surface of notable motion pictures to utilize the renowned discography of The Mamas and the Papas. Their music has been a staple of cinema since their founding as a band, and that will likely be the case for many years to come.
We hope you're enjoying BRWC. You should check us out on our social channels, subscribe to our newsletter, and tell your friends. BRWC is short for battleroyalewithcheese.
