Raoul Pagel

200 Motels

"Touring makes you crazy," Frank Zappa says, explaining that the idea for this film came to him while the Mothers of Invention were touring. The story, interspersed with performances by the Mothers and the Royal Symphony Orchestra, is a tale of life on the road. The band members' main concerns are the search for groupies and the desire to get paid.

Jack and the Beanstalk

A retelling of the popular fairy tale that mixes live action and animation.

The McGurk Way

At the dedication of a new road sign, Dan McGurk tells the story of his forebears and how they helped transform rutted dirt roads into the modern highways of today. He speaks of the benefits of the trucking industry and how it depends on the nation's roadways, and he rails against regulations that make the industry less efficient and profitable. After recounting the amounts the trucking industry pays in taxes, he watches the unveiling of the sign naming the highway The McGurk Way.

Our Very Own

During a heated argument with her sister Joan, Gail discovers the shocking news that she is adopted. With the reluctant support of her adoptive parents and baby sister Penny, Gail goes in search of her biological mother and true identity.

The Bishop's Wife

An Episcopal Bishop, Henry Brougham, has been working for months on the plans for an elaborate new cathedral which he hopes will be paid for primarily by a wealthy, stubborn widow. He is losing sight of his family and of why he became a churchman in the first place. Enter Dudley, an angel sent to help him. Dudley does help everyone he meets, but not necessarily in the way they would have preferred. With the exception of Henry, everyone loves him, but Henry begins to believe that Dudley is there to replace him, both at work and in his family's affections, as Christmas approaches.

Copacabana

A talent agent sells his girlfriend to a nightclub – as two separate acts. The deception and constant costume changes are too much for his girl, and the men who have fallen for the different performers.

Romance of the West

The happy Indians live in Antelope Valley and Eddie is the new Indian Agent. Everything seems fine until the town selectmen want the valley occupied by the Indians because it contains silver. So they hire outlaw Indians and Chico to start trouble hoping that the army will forcibly remove them from the valley and they will claim it. But Father Sullivan and Eddie believe the Indians are being wronged even though they cannot convince anyone else.

Danny Boy

A U. S. Marines dog is returned to his young owner in the small town of Monrovia at the end of WWII, but a grouchy neighbor believes the animal's military training makes him a threat to the community and files charges to have the dog destroyed.

Detour

The life of Al Roberts, a pianist in a New York nightclub, turns into a nightmare when he decides to hitchhike to Los Angeles to visit his girlfriend.

I'm from Arkansas

A town in Arkansas makes national headlines when a local sow gives birth to 18 piglets.

The Promoter

Benny Rubin promotes a wrestling show but ends up wrestling Constantine "Strangler" Romanoff himself.