The Toy

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The Toy

Directed by	Richard Donner
Produced by	Phil Feldman & Ray Stark
Written by	Carol Sobieski & Francis Veber
Starring	Richard Pryor, Jackie Gleason, Ned Beatty, Scott Schwartz
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date(s)	December 10, 1982
Running time	102 min.
Language	English
Budget	n/a
IMDb profile

The Toy is a 1982 comedy film starring Richard Pryor, Jackie Gleason, Ned Beatty and Scott Schwartz. It is an adaptation of the 1976 French film Le Jouet.

1 Plot summary
- 1.1 Trivia
2 Reaction
3 External link

[edit] Plot summary

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Richard Pryor plays Jack Brown, a thirty-something African-American man living in Baton Rouge, Louisiana (or a suburb). Brown is an unemployed writer looking for work, and in danger of losing his house to the bank. After numerous unsuccessful attempts to get a job working for the local newspaper, the Bugle, he becomes desperate for a job and ends up taking one as a part-time hostess and "cleaning lady" for U.S. Bates (Jackie Gleason), who owns the paper and many other local businesses. Brown is humiliated as he clumsily attempts to serve food at a dinner party. He is quickly fired, but stubbornly stays in a department store owned by Bates to clean up that night.

Enter "Master" Eric Bates (Scott Schwartz), the young son of the boss. He is also called "Master Bates" as a joke and a word play on the word "masturbates". As Jack Brown goofs around late at night in the store's toy section, Sydney Morehouse (the boss's right hand man, played by Ned Beatty) tells Eric that he can have anything in the store for his birthday present. Eric, of course, chooses Jack. In exchange for a generous financial settlement, Jack agrees to be Eric's live-in friend (or as they put it, his "toy") during Eric's two-week summer vacation from military school.

Eric, emotionally estranged from his father, takes a liking to Jack but still manages to humiliate him with numerous pranks. Jack finally grows tired of Eric's antics and leaves the mansion. He agrees to return only when Morehouse (on behalf of U.S. Bates) offers Jack enough money to pay the bank what is owed on his house. When he returns, he is determined to teach Eric how a friend is supposed to be treated.

The pair decide to start a newspaper of their own for fun. After witnessing multiple examples of U.S. Bates' cruelty towards his employees, they dig up dirt on him, such as a story of how he won his butler, Barkley, in a card game. They publish their paper, called "The Toy," and distribute it throughout the city. U.S. Bates is expectedly humiliated and angered.

Surprisingly, Bates offers Jack a reporting job with his newspaper, which is what Jack wanted all along. When he accepts, Eric is upset because he thinks Jack is selling out.

The movie's climax takes place at a swanky party being held at Bates' home. The party is attended by big-name businessmen and politicians, who are unaware that the party is actually a fundraising event for the Ku Klux Klan. Jack and Eric, teaming up one last time, disrupt the party and expose the real purpose behind it. Bates chases after Jack in a golf cart but ends up crashing into his own pool. Jack saves him from drowning, and it seems all is forgiven.

At the end of the movie, Eric and his father finally start to connect emotionally. As he prepares to return to school, Bates promises Eric that next year he can spend one week with him and one with Jack. Bates thanks Jack for all he has done and drives away.

[edit] Trivia

Richard Donner had previously directed Ned Beatty in the film Superman: The Movie.

Richard Donner directed Superman: The Movie. Richard Pryor starred in Superman III.

[edit] Reaction

Upon its release, The Toy was roundly panned by critics. At best, some felt that the movie was a waste of the comedic talents of Pryor and Gleason. At worst, others viewed Pryor's portrayal of an essentially modern-day slave as degrading.

Nevertheless, the film fared much better with audiences. It earned roughly $47 million at the box office, making it the 14th-highest grossing movie of 1982 (when adjusted for inflation this equates to roughly $95 million in 2005 amounts).

According to a 2004 Variety magazine report, a remake of The Toy is in production.[1]