My Chauffeur
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| My Chauffeur | |
|---|---|
 My Chauffeur DVD cover |
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| Directed by | David Beaird |
| Produced by | Marilyn Jacobs Tenser |
| Written by | David Beaird |
| Starring | Deborah Foreman E.G. Marshall Howard Hesseman Penn and Teller Julius Harris Sam J. Jones |
| Music by | Paul Hertzog |
| Cinematography | Harry Mathias |
| Editing by | Richard E. Westover |
| Distributed by | Rhino Home Video Brentwood Home Video |
| Release date(s) | January 24, 1986 |
| Running time | 97 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Gross profits | $3,883,652 (USA) (sub-total) |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
My Chauffeur is an American comedy-drama starring E.G. Marshall, Deborah Foreman, and Howard Hesseman. It was released on January 24, 1986.
[edit] Plot
Casey Meadows is a free-spirited young woman working as a dishwasher in an upscale southern California restaurant when one day she receives a hand-delivered calligraphy letter with a job offer as a driver for Brentwood Limousine Service. McBride (Hesseman), the company's manager, is appalled at Casey's loud, upbeat presence...and the fact that she's a woman in an all-male establishment. Incredulous at her claims of being offered a job, McBride picks up the phone and speaks to Mr. Witherspoon (Marshall), the company owner. When he learns that Witherspoon handpicked her as an employee, McBride reluctantly agrees to hire her, but warns her that she will be fired if she steps out of line.
Casey's presence is immediately resented by her chauvanistic fellow drivers, who resent the presence of a woman in a male-dominated profession. She manages to find some kindness in Jeremy O'Brien (Sean McClory), a burly Irish driver who first brought the letter from Witherspoon to Casey's former job. Frustrated at her lack of acceptance among her new co-workers, Jeremy convinces her to tough it out and give the change-hating men time to adjust to her presence by telling her that the job she is doing is one of creativity...the vehicles that they drive are rolling works of art, designed to bring beauty to an otherwise ugly world. She agrees to stay, on the condition that she doesn't have to "suck up" or say "sir" to anyone.
Casey has her work cut out for her, as she is routinely given bad assignments that are engineered to get her fired. Her first job is driving for "Cat Fight" (Leland Crooke) a hung-over British rock singer who tells her "take off your clothes and get into bed" upon her arrival. Knowing she'll get fired if she doesn't deliver him to a concert he's to give that evening, she takes a cooler full of ice, water and cigarette butts and throws is onto his bed. Cat Fight lunges towards her, but she steps out of the way just in time as he plunges over the railing. Now awake, Cat Fight and the two women in bed with him (who are part of the act) are ready to go.
On the way, Cat Fight orders the car stopped as he spots an overweight older woman dressed in blue (with matching hair) walking a small dog. Told that he needs her panties to collect 20,000 points for "a blue woman walking a dog", Cat Fight and the women ambush the woman to get her underwear. The old woman attempts to defend herself with brass knuckles and even swinging her dog by the leash to fend them off, but her attempts are futile. They take her panties and drive off. Casey manages to bring Cat Fight into the arena just as the curtain is going up.
The following day, McBride learns of the incident involving the woman and the dog. As he's getting ready to fire her, Cat Fight's manager comes in and personally thanks both McBride and Casey for delivering Cat to the concert on-time...a first for him. The manager hands Casey a large amount of cash and thanks her again. McBride tells her "Don't get your nipples hard...you have a long way to go before you're hired!"
A rare shining moment for Casey is during a dinner break, when she sees a young couple arguing over transportation. The young man, LaRue, informs his girlfriend that he was unable to get a loan to buy a car, so they'll be forced to take a bus to attend a party. He also tells her he tried to get a ride from his uncle, but he never showed. Feeling sorry for the passive young man taking endless verbal abuse from his girlfriend, Casey decides to save him. She approaches them and tells him that his uncle hired her to drive them to the party, but she got there a little late and asks for forgiveness. The girlfriend, immediately taken aback, says "no harm done", and both get inside. Knowing that his uncle could never engineer such a plan as this, LaRue whispers a sincere thanks to Casey, who responds by saying "You're welcome, sir," contrary to her earlier statement that she doesn't call anyone "sir".
Another problematic encounter is when Casey meets Battle Witherspoon (Sam J. Jones), a distant, heartless workaholic executive, as he's following his angry girlfriend, telling him she can no longer stand to be with him, and is willing to do whatever she has to in order to get him out of her life. She claims she is pregnant with another man's child. She gets out of the car and tells Casey to "take care of him". Casey offers Battle some liquor in the passenger compartment. He refuses, telling her that he doesn't drink. He changes his mind suddenly and adds "until now."
After consuming a large amount of alcohol, Battle runs out of the car and strips his clothes off, running through a park. After making a huge nuisance of himself to others in the park, he's finally run off and gets back into the car, where he passes out. Not wanting to leave him alone in his condition, Casey takes him home with her and loads him into her bed. He wakes up the following morning, and is back to his old hateful self, immediately gathering his clothes and leaving.
Shortly after this incident, it is revealed (unknown to Casey) that Battle Witherspoon is actually the son of the mysterious Mr. Witherspoon, the owner of the company who personally hired Casey. Knowing his son's workaholic nature and the dangers therein, Mr. Witherspoon orders Battle to check out another of his companies upstate in Sonoma, saying a change in venue is the closest he'll ever get him to take a vacation. Casey is assigned to drive Battle up north, much to their displeasure. But, because of her perseverance, Jeremy allows her to drive his coveted Rolls Royce Silver Cloud for the trip.
Halfway through the trip, the car overheats and breaks down. Frustrated at no mobile phone service, Battle immediately starts off walking to find a phone, intending to leave Casey with the car. Casey follows him. After walking for hours and finally getting caught in a rainstorm, Casey sprains her ankle. Crying, Casey tells him to leave her there. Battle at first does, but after taking a few steps, turns around and takes her in his arms. They finally seek refuge in a rustic cabin occupied by a hillbilly couple, who invite them to spend the night. Both are put in a bedroom with a single bed, and after another one of their arguments, Battle kisses her. Both finally acknowledge their passions and make love. As Battle starts to doze off, Casey shakes him awake, telling him "you've done this to me before...you're going to wake up in the morning and be an asshole." Battle promises not to, and the following morning he makes good on it.
Realizing that he's falling for Casey, Battle starts making some changes in his life. Georgia, his overworked secretary, nervously hands him another report she failed to complete. Rather than admonish her as he's done in the past, he asks her when the last time was that he gave her raise. When she remains silent, he realizes he hasn't given her a raise in the five years she's worked for him. With a newfound appreciation for the people he depends on, he tells Georgia to visit the controller and set her own salary per his request.
