Private Parts (1997 film)

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Private Parts
Directed by Betty Thomas
Produced by Ivan Reitman
Written by Len Blum and Michael Kalesniko (screenplay)
Howard Stern (book)
Starring Howard Stern
Robin Quivers
Mary McCormack
Music by Porno for Pyros
Marilyn Manson
Dust Brothers
Howard Stern
Cinematography Walt Lloyd
Editing by Peter Teschner
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Release date(s) March 7, 1997
Running time 109 min.
Language English
IMDb profile

Private Parts is a 1997 biographical film of Howard Stern's rise to shock jock success. The film is based on Stern's autobiography Private Parts which was released in 1993.

Stern's love for his then-wife Alison is a central theme in the movie, and she even has a bit role as one of the receptionists at WNBC during the "Lance Eluction" segment. Unfortunately and ironically, Howard and Alison divorced two years after the movie. Some Howard Stern fans have suggested that the movie reflects the matrimonial difficulties that would result in their divorce.

Contents

[edit] Cast

Actor Role
Howard Stern Himself
Robin Quivers Herself
Mary McCormack Alison Stern
Fred Norris Himself
Paul Giamatti Kenny 'Pig Vomit' Rushton
Gary Dell'Abate Himself
Jackie Martling Himself
Carol Alt Gloria
Richard Portnow Ben Stern
Kelly Bishop Ray Stern
Michael Murphy Roger Elick
Reni Santoni Vin Vallesecca

[edit] Trivia

  • Stern, Quivers and the rest of the cast of The Howard Stern Show were still broadcasting five days a week during the production of the film. At the end of every show, they would immediately drive to the film's set.
  • Julia Louis-Dreyfus was originally cast as Stern's wife, Alison, but later backed out because she wanted to spend time with her family.
  • Producers originally considered Jeff Goldblum to play Stern.
  • LL Cool J is featured on the film's soundtrack album with Red Hot Chili Peppers in the song "I Make My Own Rules". But he had not gotten Def Jam Records' permission to perform on it. His name was blanked out on the album's track listing but he is still credited as a composer under his real name "James T. Smith".
  • In the film Stern drives a 1970 Plymouth Valiant four-door sedan.

[edit] Reception

The film premiered at the top of the box-office in its opening weekend with a gross of $14.6 million. It grossed slightly more than $41 million in total, with $23 million of the film's gross going to movie theaters and a production budget of $20 million.[1]

It received mostly positive reviews from critics, most notably from Siskel and Ebert who were frequent guests of Stern's radio show. Some critics claimed that film glossed over his use of sexual and racial humor.[2]

For his performance, Stern won the Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Male Newcomer. The awards are given by the result of write-in votes from fans and Stern won by a wide margin. Stern was nominated for a Golden Satellite Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy. He was also nominated for a Razzie Award for Worst New Star.

[edit] Other versions

[edit] USA Network version

For the film's basic cable premiere on USA Network in 2000, Stern appeared in new taped segments in which he occasionally pauses the film to comment on it. In a relatively bold move, USA premiered the film even though no alternate scenes had been filmed to replace the nudity nor had any alternate dialogue been recorded to replace the profanity for television broadcasts. The nudity was simply pixelizated and the profanity bleeped.

[edit] Rough cut

Deleted scene
Deleted scene

A substantially different version of Private Parts appeared on Internet fan sites devoted to Stern sometime in May 2006. The newly-found version is an early rough cut of the film with substantially different dialog and music, several deleted scenes, and a very different ending. Some of the deleted scenes, such as Howard being fired and escorted out of WNBC, appeared in the film's original trailer and publicity materials before being cut. The picture quality of the Internet version is very poor with compression artifacts, VHS artifacts, and visible dust on the print. However, this version allows a glimpse into the film's creative process.

[edit] Video cover

Alternate VHS cover
Alternate VHS cover

When the film was released on video, some store customers objected to the original cover featuring Stern with no clothes on. An alternate version of the cover was produced featuring Stern fully clothed.

[edit] External links

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