| The Naked Gun series | |
|---|---|
Region 1 DVD cover for the film series box set |
|
| Directed by | Films: 1, 2 David Zucker Film: 3 Peter Segal |
| Produced by | David Zucker Jim Abrahams Jerry Zucker Robert K. Weiss |
| Written by | David Zucker Jim Abrahams Jerry Zucker Pat Proft |
| Based on | Police Squad! created by Zucker, Abrahams, and Zucker |
| Starring | Leslie Nielsen Priscilla Presley O. J. Simpson George Kennedy Ed Williams |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
| Release date(s) | 1988 –1994 |
| Running time | 253 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Naked Gun is a series of crime comedy films written and produced by the comedy filmmaking trio Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker and distributed by Paramount Pictures. All three films were based on their short-lived 1982 ABC television series Police Squad!, which was cancelled after six episodes. The first two films were directed by David Zucker, and the third film was directed by Peter Segal.
Contents |
Detective Frank Drebin (Leslie Nielsen) tries to uncover a plan to assassinate Queen Elizabeth II, who is on a state visit to the USA. The main suspect is Vincent Ludwig, a rich businessman (played by Ricardo Montalbán), (who works with Papshmir, a recurring villain) who has a way of turning anyone into an unknowing assassin at the press of a remote control. It appears that the victims are responding to a post-hypnotic suggestion, but the film makes no effort to clarify the point. As with previous ZAZ spoof comedies, the ostensible "plot" was mostly culled from another—more serious—movie. In this case, it was Telefon wherein people were triggered into assassins via hypnotic phone calls (indeed, dialogue in the post-hypnotic suggestion demonstration scene is copied word-for-word from Telefon).
On the case, Drebin falls in love with Ludwig's assistant Jane Spencer (played by Priscilla Presley). She knows nothing about Ludwig's plot, and after the pair spend the night together, Jane helps with Frank's investigation.
Frank discovers that Jane's new boyfriend, Quentin Hapsburg (played by Robert Goulet), is involved in an evil plan to kidnap Dr. Albert S. Meinheimer (portrayed by Richard Griffiths), a scientist whom President George H. W. Bush (portrayed by John Roarke) has chosen to determine a new national energy policy. Hapsburg plans to kidnap the real Dr. Meinheimer and replace him with a look-a-like named Earl Hacker (also portrayed by Griffiths) who will endorse an energy policy according to the dictates of the energy lobby.
In the third film of the saga Frank is married to Jane, and he has retired from Police Squad. The film introduces the criminal Rocco Dillon (played by Fred Ward), who is stuck in prison. He's contacted by Papshmir to be given a target for a bombing. Frank is pulled out of retirement. He goes undercover pretending to be a prisoner named "Nick 'The Slasher' McGuirk Jr., III" at the jail where Dillon is being held, and they break out of jail. Outside they are escorted by Dillon's gangster mother (Kathleen Freeman) to his country retreat, where Frank also meets Rocco's voluptuous moll (Anna Nicole Smith). The gang plots to blow up the Academy Awards. When Jane arrives looking for Frank, she is taken hostage.
A fourth film was first mooted while Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult was still in production. In a 1992 interview, the Zuckers said they were determined to follow up with a fourth film called Naked Gun 4: This Is Really It.[1] Leslie Nielsen suggested the title of Naked Gun 4: The Second Final Insult, "because then everybody will be asking what 'the first final insult' was."[2]
In 2003, David Zucker said of a making another Naked Gun film that "We would really like to. The studio just doesn’t get the joke though. They’re not interested in the franchise."[3]
In a 2007 radio interview, "Weird Al" Yankovic, who had cameos in all three Naked Gun films, confirmed that he had been approached about appearing in a fourth.[4]
In 2008, a direct to DVD Naked Gun film was reportedly in development for the Paramount Famous Productions label.[5] In 2009, California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced that 25 films and television series had qualified for production tax credits, including Naked Gun 4.[6][7] In a May 2010 interview, Nielsen said he had heard about plans for a fourth film but was "not yet involved".[8]
Naked Gun 4: Rhythm of Evil was reported to be in the early stages of production at the time of Nielsen's death in November 2010.[9]
| Character | Film | Fate | Played by: |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vincent Ludwig | From the Files of Police Squad! | Falls from a stadium, then is run over by a bus, a steam roller, and the USC Trojan Marching Band. | Ricardo Montalbán |
| Quentin Hapsburg | The Smell of Fear | Falls from a great height (due to Ed accidentally pushing him out the window) but bounces off an awning and walks away, only to be mauled to death by a lion. | Robert Goulet |
| Rocco Dillon | The Final Insult | Falls from a catwalk in a theater, but because he has a cord attached to his ankles, the recoil elevates him and is sent flying away through the roof and into Papshmir's overflying private helicopter, which explodes seconds later (he was holding a ticking bomb). | Fred Ward |
| Character | Portrayer | Film | Other Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Man fixing a picture up onto the wall of his house[17] | David Zucker | The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! | David Zucker directed the first two films |
| Driving Instructor[18] | John Houseman | The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! | Final appearance[17] |
| Baseball Announcer | Dr. Joyce Brothers | The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! | Also made a cameo in Police Squad! |
| Himself | James Earl Jones | Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult | Also made a cameo in Scary Movie 4 |
| Character | Portrayer | Other notes |
|---|---|---|
| Papshmir | Raye Birk | Was the only actor to play the same villain twice in the saga, appearing as "Papshmir" in the first and last movie. His name is a play on the pap smear gynecological test. |
| Himself | "Weird Al" Yankovic | Has appeared in all three films—as himself in the first and last, and cameoing as a holdup man in the second. |
In the original film, veteran sports broadcasters Mel Allen, Curt Gowdy, Dick Enberg, Dick Vitale, Tim McCarver and Jim Palmer are among those in a crowded booth. The baseball game features former Major League players like Jay Johnstone and, as an unexpected assassin, Reggie Jackson.
In the second film, Zsa Zsa Gabor has a cameo as herself, slapping the police car siren featured in the intro. Singer Mel Torme dances with Jane. And veteran character actors Lloyd Bochner, Tim O'Connor and Peter Mark Richman attend the climactic banquet, Bochner spoofing a classic Twilight Zone episode of his called "To Serve Man".
In the third film, at the Academy Awards, a musical number is performed by Pia Zadora and an award presented by Raquel Welch. Others seen at the ceremony include Vanna White, Mary Lou Retton, Florence Henderson, Morgan Fairchild, Shannen Doherty and Elliott Gould.
|
||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||