| The Kentucky Fried Movie | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | John Landis |
| Written by | |
| Produced by | Robert K. Weiss |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography |
|
| Edited by | George Folsey Jr. |
| Music by | Igo Kantor |
Production company | Kentucky Fried Theater |
| Distributed by | United Film Distribution Company |
Release date |
|
Running time | 83 minutes[1] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $650,000[2] |
| Box office | $7.1 million[3][4] |
The Kentucky Fried Movie is a 1977 Americansketchcomedy film directed byJohn Landis, and written by the trio ofZucker, Abrahams and Zucker (ZAZ). It comprises 26 segments parodying a variety of styles and formats, includingtelevision commercials,news broadcasts,exploitation films, andpublic service announcements.
The film was based upon sketches originally created by ZAZ as part of their live comedy show, the Kentucky Fried Theater.[5] Producedindependently on a low-budget,[6] the film features a largeensemble cast with star cameos includingGeorge Lazenby,Bill Bixby,Henry Gibson,Barry Dennen,Donald Sutherland,Tony Dow,Stephen Bishop, and the voice ofShadoe Stevens. The "feature presentation" segment, amartial arts film satire, starsEvan C. Kim andhapkido grand masterHan Bong-soo.
The Kentucky Fried Movie was released on August 10, 1977. It was both a critical and commercial success,[7] and launched the careers of Landis and ZAZ as mainstream comedy filmmakers.[8]
The Kentucky Fried Movie contains largely unconnectedsketches that parody various film genres, includingexploitation films. The film's longest segment spoofs earlykung fu films, specificallyEnter the Dragon; its title,A Fistful of Yen, refers toA Fistful of Dollars. Parodies ofdisaster films ("That's Armageddon"),blaxploitation films ("Cleopatra Schwartz"), and softcore porn/women-in-prison films ("Catholic High School Girls in Trouble") are presented as "Coming Attraction"trailers. The fictional films are produced by "Samuel L. Bronkowitz" (a conflation ofSamuel Bronston andJoseph L. Mankiewicz, but also a spoof of B-movie producer andAmerican International Pictures co-founderSamuel Z. Arkoff).[citation needed]
The sketch "See You Next Wednesday" mocks theater-based gimmicks likeSensurround by depicting a dramatic film presented in "Feel-a-Round", which involves an usher physically groping a theater patron. Other sketches spoof TV commercials and programs, news broadcasts, and classroom educational films. The city ofDetroit and itshigh crime rate are a running gag portraying the city as a hell on Earth; in "A Fistful of Yen", Dr. Klahn orders a captured CIA agent to be sent to Detroit after which the agent screams and begs to be killed instead.
| Title | Runtime | Details |
|---|---|---|
11 O'Clock News (Part 1) | :04 | A news announcer tells the film's viewers the popcorn they are eating has been urinated in, then says there will be "Film at 11", which he then says at the end of each subsequent appearance. |
| Argon Oil | 1:13 | A commercial for a company that found ways to produce oil fromacne, Italian people's hair (taken from combs in their trash), andAmerican fast food. |
| A.M. Today | 6:05 | A morning TV news show with hosts and several segments: a news correspondent, unable to hear the announcers, scratches his buttocks and picks his nose on-camera, and a studio debate between two conservative and liberal pundits ends in an obscene personal attack. The show'sastrologer declares that astrology is meant to support people who cannot take responsibility for their own lives. An animal segment introduces a rare hamster followed by a gorilla. The gorilla, which has been unable to mate, becomes progressively enraged by its female handler's explanations, goes berserk, and tears off her shirt. Studio hands try unsuccessfully to restrain the gorilla as it runs amok and finally smashes the camera. (The gorilla's name, "Dino," is named forDino De Laurentiis, who produced the then-recent version ofKing Kong in which Rick Baker portrayed the titular ape.) |
| His New Car | :24 | When a man enters a car, multiple alarms sound. As he goes through a succession of actions (locking his door, buckling his seat belt, and so on) the alarms shut off one by one until only one remains. Eventually he reaches down and zips thefly on his jeans. The last alarm then stops. |
| Catholic High School Girls in Trouble | 2:00 | A parody ofsexploitation films, including a topless conversation among three young, large-breasted "Catholic high school girls". The first film-within-the-film to be produced by Samuel L. Bronkowitz. (The film's star, "Linda Chambers," is named after adult film starsLinda Lovelace andMarilyn Chambers.) |
| Feel-A-Round | 4:52 | A man watches a movie entitledSee You Next Wednesday presented in "Feel-A-Round." In the lobby appears a poster for the Landis film,Schlock.[9] The usher takes the role of the on-screen female lover. As she asks her male lover to smell her perfume, the usher sprays the viewer with said perfume. It eventually proceeds to chest rubbing and then to a quarrel. The latter culminates with a knife to the throat, but ends with a quick kiss. The cinema's announcer invites the man to also stay over for the next film –Deep Throat. As the usher grins, the viewer runs away screaming. |
| Nytex P.M. | :35 | A commercial for a drug that cures headaches by rendering the purchaser unconscious. |
High Adventure | 3:01 | A talk show'sboom operator uses a boom mike to cause on-air problems for both the guest and the host. |
| 11 O'Clock News (Part 2) | :05 | The news announcer reports thatMoscow is "in flames" andmissiles are flying towardsNew York City. |
| Headache Clinic | :40 | A commercial hosted byBill Bixby shows a clinic's scientists demonstrating their headache-curing drugSanhedrin by pounding on people's heads. The commercial claims the people are not affected by the pain. |
| Household Odors | :40 | A commercial for household deodorizer that claims that if you do not buy it, guests will bluntly state that your house smells terrible in a variety of humiliating ways. |
| The Wonderful World of Sex | 4:55 | A couple plays a phonograph record of a how-to guide for sex. After the couple disrobe, the record instructs them to kiss and beginforeplay. After the male experiencespremature ejaculation, the recording sends Big Jim Slade, a briefs-wearing, muscular "tight end for theKansas City Chiefs" to carry the woman away and finish her humiliated partner's job, backed by a vigorous choral rendition of the song "Heiveinu Shalom Aleichem." Also listed in some locations (such asIMDb) as "Sex Record." |
| A Fistful of Yen | 31:34 | One missile from the previously announced dual U.S.S.R/U.S. attack is revealed to be Chinese-made. The Chinese government denies any involvement. The mastermind behind the attack turns out to be a master criminal named Dr. Klahn.[Note 1] In a parody ofEnter the Dragon, the U.K. government hires Loo (aBruce Lee lookalike withrhotacism) to penetrate Dr. Klahn's mountain fortress and destroy his operation. Loo refuses the mission at first but happily agrees when told that he can kill dozens of people. The fortress is so organized that it even has its own guided tours for its storage of drugs andweapons of mass destruction. When Loo is discovered, he defeats waves of thugs before he is captured by Dr. Klahn. The next morning, Loo defeats Dr. Klahn's bodyguard Butkus[Note 2] in a death match[Note 3], forcing the tyrant to order his underlings to kill Loo. Meanwhile, Big Jim Slade appears and frees the fortress' prisoners, who rush to engage in battle as well. Loo confronts and kills Dr. Klahn with abucket of water. In an homage toThe Wizard of Oz, Loo is sent back to Kansas after his victory and learns that it may have all been a dream. |
| Willer Beer | :58 | A beer commercial featuringHare Krishna monks. |
| 11 O'Clock News (Part 3) | :05 | The news announcer says that theRams football team were plagued by fumbles as an earthquake has struckLos Angeles. |
| Scot Free | :58 | A commercial for a board game based on US presidentJohn F. Kennedy assassination conspiracy theories. |
| That's Armageddon | 2:17 | A parody of the then-commondisaster film genre, withDonald Sutherland as the clumsy waiter andGeorge Lazenby as the architect. |
| United Appeal for the Dead | 1:42 | A commercial featuringHenry Gibson for an association that supports keeping corpses of deceased family members and treating them like part of the family. |
| Courtroom (Part 1) | 4:35 | A spoof of a courtroom trial that takes every word literally and runs like a game show while"The Beaver" andWally Cleaver (Tony Dow, reprising his role from the originalLeave It to Beaver) get into trouble in the jury stand. |
| Nesson Oil | :14 | A commercial for cooking oil in which a little girl is "cooking the cat in pure Nesson oil". |
| Courtroom (Part 2) | 3:02 | Beaver and Wally continue to make trouble, while the trial's "surprise" witness recognizes the TV announcer himself as the offender in a car accident. (The announcer's name, "Steve McCroskey," would later be given toLloyd Bridges' character inAirplane!.) |
| Cleopatra Schwartz | 1:24 | A parody ofblaxploitation films: A love and marriage story of aPam Grier–like action heroine and a rabbi. Despite their differences, they live a passionate life (highlighted by the couple sitting in bed with satisfied expressions, with her topless). |
| Zinc Oxide and You | 1:59 | A parody of classroom educational films (likeA Case of Spring Fever from The Jam Handy Organization) and a 1974 commercial for metal products manufacturerNorris Industries, it shows what happens to a housewife who has everything, who relies onzinc oxide; her possessions disappear or malfunction one by one, with increasingly undesirable results. Among other things, her bra disappears, and her breastsinstantly sag under her shirt. Her car crashes through her house as it has no brakes, and her husband's pacemaker stops working. Eventually, thegas control valves on her stove disappear, her kitchen catches on fire, and everything that can stop the fire also disappears. The segment ends with a brief announcement of a later film in the series,Rebuilding Your Home. |
| Danger Seekers | 1:02 | A parody of the 1973–1974 television series,Thrill Seekers: Part-time airline mechanic, full-timedaredevil Rex Kramer (Robert Starr) vows to take on the most dangerous situations possible "for the sake of adventure". Rex, wearing protective gear, walks to the middle of a group of African-American men playingCee-lo in an alley and screams the racial epithet "Niggers!" whereupon he flees as they angrily pursue him. (The name Rex Kramer would later be given toRobert Stack's character inAirplane!.) |
| Eyewitness News | 4:24 | A couple stops watching the TV news to have sex. In a parody ofNineteen Eighty-Four's two-way television, as soon as the man exposes the woman's breasts, the TV news announcer starts stuttering and is joined by the leering news station crew. |
| 11 O'Clock News (Part 4) | :09 | The news announcer declares he is not wearing any pants. |
The film does not present the sketches in their originally-intended order. The end credits reveal the original order as follows:Cleopatra Schwartz,His New Car,Household Odors,High Adventure,Argon,Danger Seekers,Eyewitness News,Scot Free,Nytex P.M.,Feel-A-Round,That’s Armageddon!,United Appeal for the Dead,Headache Clinic,A.M. Today,Catholic High School Girls in Trouble,Courtroom,Willer Beer,Nesson Oil,Sex Record,Zinc Oxide,A Fistful of Yen.
| Segment | Performer | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 11 O'Clock News | Neil Thompson | Newscaster |
| Argon Oil | Colin Male | Spokesman |
| John Cassisi | Teenage Volunteer | |
| A.M. Today | Janice Kent | Barbara Duncan |
| Michael Laurence | Frank Bowman | |
| Larry Curran | Tom Leclair | |
| Mike Hanks | Ron Butler | |
| William Tregoe | John Fitzsimmons | |
| Eloise Hardt | Sheila Hamilton | |
| Mallory Sandler | Astrologer | |
| Ellen Regan | Judy Morton | |
| Rick Baker | Dino, the gorilla | |
| His New Car | David Zucker | Driver |
| Catholic High School Girls in Trouble | Lenka Novak | Linda Chambers |
| Betsy Genson | Nancy Reems | |
| Nancy Mann | Susan Joyce | |
| Stephen Bishop | Charming Guy | |
| Gwen Van Dam | Mrs. Burke | |
| Uschi Digard | Girl in Shower | |
| Michael Kearns | Man in Shower | |
| Felix Silla | Crazed Clown | |
| Feel-A-Round | Jeff Maxwell | Moviegoer |
| Michael Alaimo | Usher | |
| Tina Louise | Woman in Movie | |
| Nytex P.M. | Jerry Zucker | Husband |
| Katherine Wooten | Wife | |
| High Adventure | Joe Medalis | Paul Burmaster |
| Barry Dennen | Claude LaMont | |
| Headache Clinic | Bill Bixby | Himself |
| Household Odors | Marcy Goldman | Housewife |
| Dulcie Jordan | Guest | |
| Gracia Lee | ||
| Sheila Rogers | ||
| The Wonderful World of Sex | John Anthony Bailey | Boy |
| Sharon Kaough | Girl | |
| Manny Perry | Big Jim Slade | |
| A Fistful of Yen | Evan C. Kim | Loo |
| Han Bong-soo | Dr. Klahn | |
| Agneta Eckemyr | Ming Chow | |
| Ingrid Wang | Ada Gronick | |
| Nathan Jung | Butkus | |
| Derek Murcott | Pennington | |
| George Cheung | Long Wang | |
| Marcus K. Mukai | Hung Well | |
| Norman Tse | Enormous Genitals | |
| Phillip Rhee | Klahn's Guard | |
| Cho Hee-il | ||
| Branscombe Richmond | ||
| Jun Chong | ||
| Rollin Moriyama | Prisoner | |
| Tad Horino | Technician | |
| Lance LeGault | Voice of Toy Robot | |
| That's Armageddon | George Lazenby | The Architect |
| Victoria Carroll | The Nurse | |
| Jack Roberts | The Governor | |
| Donald Sutherland | The Clumsy Waiter | |
| United Appeal for the Dead | Henry Gibson | Himself |
| Roberta Kent | Mrs. Hefsteder | |
| Johnny Hefsteder | Christopher Hanks | |
| Courtroom | Boni Enten | Rita Filagree |
| Dick Yarmy | Taylor | |
| Michael McManus | Hornung | |
| Ross Durfee | Judge Colis D. Smizer | |
| Stephen Stucker | Gordon Smiley | |
| Tony Dow | Wally Cleaver | |
| Jerry Zucker | Beaver Cleaver | |
| Forrest J Ackerman | Juror | |
| Jim Abrahams | Stephen McCroskey | |
| David Zucker | Grunwald | |
| Cleopatra Schwartz | Marilyn Joi | Cleopatra Schwartz |
| Saul Kahan | Mr. Schwartz | |
| Zinc Oxide and You | Nancy Steen | Housewife |
| Danger Seekers | Ed Griffith | Host |
| Robert Starr | Rex Kramer | |
| Eyewitness News | Tara Strohmeier | Girl |
| Richard Gates | Boy | |
| Neil Thompson | Newscaster |
Additionally,voiceovers in multiple segments are performed byShadoe Stevens,Bob Holt, andRobert K. Weiss.[6]
David Zucker,Jerry Zucker andJim Abrahams made the rounds of the Hollywood studios with the concept and were rejected by all of them, being told, "audiences didn't like movies composed of sketches". Since the three believed in their material, which they had honed in front of the audiences with theirimprovisational troupe "Kentucky Fried Theater," they decided to make the movie on their own.[5]
A wealthy real estate investor offered to finance the film if they would write a script. After completion of the screenplay, the investor had second thoughts and decided he did not want to finance the film alone. He said he would try to attract other investors if the three filmmakers would produce a 10-minute excerpt of the film, which he would finance. When the trio presented a budget of the short film to the investor, he backed out.[3]
The prospect of shooting the short film so excited the trio that they decided to pay for it themselves. The 10-minute film cost $35,000, and with it they again approached the Hollywood studios. This time, they attached a young director namedJohn Landis to the project, who came to their attention after an appearance onThe Tonight Show promoting his first filmSchlock.[9] However, once again, the studios turned them down.[3]
According to writerDavid Zucker on theDVD commentary track,David Letterman auditioned for the role of the newscaster, but was not selected. The film's largeensemble cast also features many former members ofThe Groundlings andThe Second City, while most of the extras in theA Fistful of Yen segment were recruited from local martial arts gyms, among themHan Bong-soo's hapkido dojang.[6] Several prominent martial artists, including Han,Jun Chong,Cho Hee-il andPhillip Rhee would appear.
BothJerry Mathers andTony Dow were approached to reprise their roles asBeaver andWally Cleaver in theCourtroom segment. Talks with Mathers fell through, and Beaver was played by writerDavid Zucker instead.
The film's estimated production budget was between $650,000[2] and $1 million.[6] Much of the film was shot at an estate inPasadena, where multiple sets could be constructed. Due to the film's low budget and the high, varied number of sets required, many of them were built outdoors without ceilings so they could be lit naturally withsunlight, reducing the need to construct and maintain lighting equipment.
The exteriors of Dr. Klahn's lair inA Fistful of Yen were filmed atYamashiro Historic District.[10]
Curious as to how audiences would react to their film, they persuaded exhibitor Kim Jorgensen to show it before one of his regularly scheduled films. When Jorgenson saw the short, he "fell out of his seat laughing." He was so impressed that he offered to raise the money needed to make the full-length version. By having his fellow exhibitors screen the film before audiences in their theaters, he convinced them to put up the $650,000 budget. When released,Kentucky Fried Movie was a box-office success, returning domestic American rentals of $7.1 million.[3]
Anchor Bay Entertainment released aregion 1 DVD in 2000. This release is presented in widescreen (1.85:1)aspect ratio and full-frame (1.33:1). It includes commentary by Landis; writers ZAZ; and producer Robert K. Weiss.
On July 4, 2011,Arrow Video in region 2 released a two-disc special edition DVD with the following special features:
On July 2, 2013,Shout! Factory released the film onBlu-ray in a 1.85:1 aspect widescreen transfer. This version includes the original theatrical trailer, Arrow DVD release filmmaker commentary, and Zucker Bros. interview.
OnRotten Tomatoes, the film has a score of 83%, based on reviews from 35 critics. The site's critical consensus reads: "The now obscure pop culture references and spoofed commercials add toKentucky Fried Movie's [sic] anarchic, anything-goes spirit and wit."[7] OnMetacritic it has a score of 61% based on reviews from 10 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[11]
At the time,Variety described the film as having "excellent production values and some genuine wit" but also noted that the film was juvenile and tasteless.[12]Lawrence Van Gelder ofThe New York Times wrote, "Lots of people will probably likeThe Kentucky Fried Movie, just as they likeKentucky Fried Chicken andMcDonald's hamburgers. But popularity is still no reason for deifying mediocrity."[13]Gene Siskel of theChicago Tribune gave the film two stars out of four and wrote that the best moments were "one-joke gags; its writers can't sustain their humor for longer pieces. So, what you're left with is a half-dozen decent gags, one overlong karate flick, and a few shots of bare breasts thrown in to titillate teenage boys."[14] Gary Arnold ofThe Washington Post called it "a diverting hit-and-miss satirical anthology."[15]Kevin Thomas of theLos Angeles Times wrote, "As is inevitable in such undertakings there are some sophomoric moments, but on the whole 'Kentucky Fried Movie' is, amazingly enough, almost continually funny in its ribald way."[16]
Writing three decades later in 2008, Ian Nathan ofEmpire magazine calls the film "occasionally funny"... "in a scattershot and puerile way", and he concludes the film is "smart and satirical, but very dated".[17] J. C. Maçek III ofPopMatters wrote, "The Kentucky Fried Movieis, however, profane, experimental, violent, silly, hilarious, and occasionally quite sexually explicit (all of which surely helped its success over the years)."[18]
The film ranks number 87 onBravo's 100 Funniest Movies list.[8]
John Landis was recommended to directNational Lampoon's Animal House in 1978 based on his work withThe Kentucky Fried Movie.[8]
The film also launched the careers ofDavid Zucker, Jim Abrahams and Jerry Zucker, who subsequently wrote and directedAirplane!,Top Secret! and thePolice Squad! television series and its film spin-offs,The Naked Gun films.
