Naked gun: from the archives of the police!based on the cult TV series Police Squad!it’s a successful film that spawned two sequels and hooked the actor Leslie Nielsen at the peak of his comic talent. From start to finish, there’s literally something funny happening every moment of the movie. It’s a comedy in the same vein as its cousin Airplane!created by the same crazy team David Zucker, Jim Abrahamsand Jerry Zucker (also known as ZAZ) but arguably has a more cohesive storyline tying together its non-stop puns, puns and gags. So why doesn’t it roll on your tongue when you retell the greatest comedies in Hollywood history?
ZAZ’s comedic power comes from its dramatic cast
Airplane! was very successful for ZAZ, and one of the reasons for this came from an unexpected source: Leslie Nielsen. The actor had a long career in dramatic roles and earned his reputation through films such as the 1956s. forbidden planet1966 Plainsand the 1972 disaster classic Poseidon Adventureto name a few. He was looking to expand his reach into comedy, and ZAZ was looking for actors not known for comedy, a stroke of genius that included actors like Nielsen, Robert Stackand Lloyd Bridges play against type by playing with type in absurd situations. It was the perfect timing, and Nielsen will stand out in the film as Dr. Rumak, delivering dramatic, deadpan lines such as the iconic response to “Surely you can’t be serious?”: “I’m serious, and don’t call me Shirley.” Deciding to use humor Airplane! for the television series, they took their Nielsen star and cast him as Lieutenant Frank Drebin, the lead in a police parody of legal proceedings, Police Squad! And it worked, perhaps even too well. Six episodes were filmed, but only four aired before the series was canceled, for the nonsensical reason that viewers had to “pay too much attention” to the show to understand the jokes.
ZAZ has transformed the “Police Outfit!” In “The Naked Gun”
So ZAZ took the show, the concept and the characters to the big screen. Naked gun was released in 1988. At the center of the film are Drebin’s attempts to stop the murder. Queen Elizabeth II (Jeannette Charles) from the hands of Vincent Ludwig (Ricardo Montalban), through baseball cool Reggie Jackson, hypnotized by Ludwig’s pager to perform an action. It was a wild success, grossing over $78 million worldwide, and spelled the end for the network executives who canceled the show in 1982.
There are many reasons why the film has become so popular. Leslie Nielsen was at the height of his newfound fame in comedy. The casting of dramatic actors for comic roles, which at that point was no longer a surprise, was still very effective, with two outstanding personalities (and we’ll get one more). Priscilla Presley came out from under the shadow of some guy named Elvis play Jane Spencer, Ludwig’s assistant and Drebin’s love interest, and showcase some serious comic chops. Montalban is full of jokes, giving Ludwig all the charisma and danger Star TrekKhan among the absurdities surrounding him. There is not one sentimental moment, not a single dramatic moment that slows the film down. From “The Good Beaver” to seeing Ludwig killed by falling to the ground from the top of the stadium, being run over by a bus, being flattened by a steamroller and, worst of all, being trampled by a marching band (also Ed (George Kennedy) father died), literally every second is fraught with something funny. Naked gun is a movie where every time you watch it, some pun or visual joke pops up that was missed the last time. Finally, the film’s humor is, for the most part, timeless (two people practicing safe sex in full-body condoms will never be funny).
“Naked Gun” trapped in the shadow of “Airplane!”
However, there are a few things that limit the film’s recognizability. For starters, how cool how Naked gun always seems to fall into the shadows Airplane!placing on many “Best Comedy Movies” lists (AFI’s “100 Years…100 Laughs” lists) Airplane! at number 10 and Naked gun not even a place), and significantly less impact on pop culture, with quotes from Airplane!, like the aforementioned “Shirley”, is more common in society today. Also, while the film’s humor is largely timeless, it has some dated elements that, while still funny, don’t have the same impact today. Using Reggie Jackson as a hypnotized assassin is a lot more fun when you know his place in baseball history…or even who he is, period. Similarly, the opening scene where Drebin disrupts a meeting of America’s enemies such as go amin, Mikhail Gorbachev (“They think I’m a nice guy”), and Yasser Arafat. Again, funny, but it is unlikely that today you will find people who know them. But the only thing that affected Naked gunLegacy, most of all, is something over which the film has no control: OJ Simpson.
Perhaps you have heard of him? Simpson plays Detective Nordberg in the film, who gets shot, kicked in a hospital bed, and falls down the stairs in his wheelchair before rolling over the edge onto a baseball field. It was a great casting decision at the time, in the same vein as Kareem Abdul Jabbarcasting Airplane! Then came 1994, when Simpson was arrested and charged with the murder of his ex-wife. Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman. He was acquitted of these charges, but in the court of public opinion and civil court where he was convicted of their deaths, Simpson’s involvement quickly proved problematic for businesses associated with him, including, unfortunately, Naked gun.
Considering all these things, Naked gun is still a masterful comedic move, and even its few flaws aren’t enough to baffle it. If you haven’t seen it, take a look. If yes, look again. To paraphrase Frank Drebin, you’ll notice things you didn’t know before… birdsong, glistening dew on a newly formed leaf, traffic lights. It is also the most touching performance of the American anthem ever caught on film.
Source: Collider
