February 15, 1951 (1951-02-15) (Circle Theatre, Indianapolis)[1]
April 5, 1951 (1951-04-05) (United States)
[2]
Running time
83 minutes
Country
United States
Language
English
Box office
$1,225,000 (US rentals)[3]
The film's trailer
Bedtime for Bonzo is a 1951 American comedy film directed by Fred de Cordova and starring Ronald Reagan, Diana Lynn, and a chimpanzee named Peggy as Bonzo.[4] Its central character, psychology professor Peter Boyd (Reagan), tries to teach human morals to a chimpanzee, hoping to solve the "nature versus nurture" question. Boyd hires Jane Linden (Lynn) to pose as the chimpanzee's mother while he plays father to it and uses 1950s-era child-rearing techniques.[5]
A sequel was released titled Bonzo Goes to College (1952), but it featured none of the three lead performers from the original film. Peggy, who had also appeared in My Friend Irma Goes West (1950), died in a fire on March 4, 1951,[6] so another chimpanzee was hired for the second film. Reagan did not want to appear in the second film as he thought that the premise was unbelievable.[7]
^"'U' Sets Premieres For First Quarter". Motion Picture Daily: 2. February 7, 1951.
^Bedtime for Bonzo at the American Film Institute Catalog
^'The Top Box Office Hits of 1951', Variety, January 2, 1952
^"Francis Awarded Humane Society's Top Prize". Spokane Daily Chronicle. 1951-03-07. p. 8.
^Rickey, Carrie. "Reagan's film persona: Cheerful, humble, kind." The Philadelphia Inquirer. June 6, 2004. National A22.
^"A 5-year-old chimp named Peggy made a monkey out of her human co-star Ronald Reagan". www.latimes.com. Archived from the original on June 23, 2014. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
^Bergan, Ronald (September 19, 2001). "Frederick De Cordova: Film director famed for embarrassing Ronald Reagan with a chimp".
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