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Stir Crazy(film)

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For the television series, seeStir Crazy (television).
Stir Crazy
Two men dressed in bird costumes
Theatrical release poster
Directed bySidney Poitier
Written byBruce Jay Friedman
Produced byHannah Weinstein
Starring
CinematographyFred Schuler
Edited byHarry Keller
Music byTom Scott
Production
company
Distributed byColumbia Pictures
Release date
  • December 12, 1980(1980-12-12)
Running time
111 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$10 million[1]
Box office$101 million (USA)

Stir Crazyis a 1980 Americancomedy filmdirected bySidney Poitier,written byBruce Jay Friedman,produced byHannah Weinstein,[2]and starringGene WilderandRichard Pryoras two unemployed friends who are given 125-year prison sentences after getting framed for a bank robbery. While in prison they befriend other prison inmates. The film reunited Wilder and Pryor, who had appeared previously in the 1976 comedy thriller filmSilver Streak.The film was released in the United States on December 12, 1980 to mixed reviews, and was a major financial success.

Plot

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AspiringactorHarold "Harry" Monroe is fired from his job as a waiter when cooks accidentally use his stash ofmarijuanaasoreganoat a dinner party. His friend, aspiringplaywrightSkipper "Skip" Donahue, is also fired from his job as a store detective when he accuses a woman of shoplifting. Skip, the optimist of the two, spins their shared unemployment positively and convinces Harry that they should travel to California, and they leaveNew York Cityin a battered Dodge camper-van.

InArizona,Skip gets the pair a gig performing a song and dance routine dressed in woodpecker costumes as a promotion for a bank. While they are on a break, two other men steal the costumes and rob the bank, and Harry and Skip are arrested and convicted of the crime. They are given 125-year sentences and sent to a maximum-security prison.

In prison, they make friends with bank robber Jesus Ramirez and openly-gayRory Schultebrand, who killed his stepfather. After three months, Skip and Harry visit Warden Walter Beatty and Deputy Warden Ward Wilson, the head guard, with a list of grievances. The unsympathetic Wilson orders Skip to ride amechanical bull,and to everyone's surprise, Skip is able to ride the bull at full power. Beatty immediately orders Wilson to "invite" Skip to compete in the prison's annual rodeo competition.

Jesus and Rory inform Harry and Skip that the rodeo is a crooked operation run by Beatty and the neighboring prison: the money from the rodeo, which is supposed to go to the prisoners, ends up in the wardens' pockets. However, the four hatch a plan for escape involving Skip refusing to participate until the warden provides concessions. They warn Skip that he will be tortured by the warden, and Skip manages to withstand the abuse, including a week in the "hot box" and he and Harry being forced to share a cell with hulking, seemingly-mute serial killer Grossberger.

Harry and Skip are visited by their lawyer, Les Garber, who introduces them to his law partner, his cousin Meredith, to whom Skip is immediately attracted. Later, Skip meets with Beatty to make a deal: In exchange for his rodeo participation, Skip requests his own crew (Harry, Jesus, Rory and Grossberger), along with a shared cell for the five of them, and various other amenities. Beatty agrees, later ordering Wilson to have a guard watch them at all times. Wilson orders his inmate ally, former rodeo champion Jack Graham, to monitor Skip and his team, and assures Graham that Skip will not survive the rodeo.

Skip, Harry, Jesus, Rory, and Grossberger acquire tools they need for their escape; meanwhile, Meredith gets a job as a waitress in a localstrip clubsearching for possible suspects and encounters the real bank robbers. At the rodeo stadium, each member of Skip's team but Grossberger retreats through a secret path, taking them through air vents to be met by either Jesus' wife or brother. Once through, they put on disguises and re-enter the grounds as audience members.

Skip ends up in a tie with rival champion Caesar Geronimo, and the two enter a "sudden death" event to win the prize: a bag of money tied to the horns of a large,Brahmanbull. Skip suggests that they work together and give the money to the prisoners; while Skip distracts the bull and Caesar wins and throws the bag to the inmates, enraging the two wardens and allowing Skip the opportunity to escape.

At a secret meeting spot, Jesus and Rory bid Harry and Skip farewell as they leave forMexico.Harry and Skip get in their car but are intercepted by Garber and Meredith. She tells Harry and Skip that the police have arrested the real bank robbers, and the pair decide to return to their original idea of going to Hollywood. Skip asks Meredith to go with them, and she agrees.

Cast

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Production

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The film was shot inManhattan, New York;Burbank, California;St. George, Utah[3]FlorenceandTucson, Arizonain 56 days from March 13 to May 23, 1980.

WithStir Crazy,Pryor became the first black actor to earn a million dollars for a single film.[4]

Reception

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Box office

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The film was a box office success, setting a record opening week for Columbia Pictures of $12,972,131 and then setting a studio record $15,336,245 the following week, including a studio record single day gross of $3,237,279.[5]It went on to gross $101,300,000,[6]being thethird-highest-grossing film of 1980,behindThe Empire Strikes Backand9 to 5.[7]It was Columbia's third film to gross $100 million and third highest-grossing film of all time, afterClose Encounters of the Third KindandKramer vs. Kramer.[8]The box office total marked the first time a film directed by anAfrican-Americanearned more than $100 million.[9]

Critical response

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OnRotten Tomatoes,Stir Crazyhas an approval rating of 69% based on 16 reviews.[10]OnMetacriticit has a score of 56% based on reviews from 6 critics.[11][12]

Roger Ebertgave the film two stars out of four and wrote that it "starts strong", but "once Wilder and Pryor are thrown into prison, it seems to lose its way" as "the movie gets bogged down in developing its own plot. That is not always the best thing for a comedy to do, because if we're not laughing, it hardly matters what happens to the plot."[13]Vincent CanbyofThe New York Timespanned the film as "a prison comedy of quite stunning humorlessness" which "appears to have been improvised, badly, more often than written."[14]Kevin Thomasof theLos Angeles Timeswrote, "Sidney Poitier has directedStir Crazyas if it were as much fun as his previous comedies—e.g.,Uptown Saturday Night.But no amount of bouncy good-naturedness can disguise the stretched-thin quality of the material. "[15]Gene Siskelof theChicago Tribunewas positive, giving the film three stars out of four and writing, "There are explosively funny moments in this prison comedy that wouldn't be there without Pryor, who radiates a comic energy in a scene even when he's merely standing still."[16]Varietywrote, "The extensive comic talents of Richard Pryor take a below average film likeStir Crazyand make it into an often funny and saleable picture. "[17][18]Gary Arnold ofThe Washington Postalso liked the film, stating that it "blends several inventive, high-spirited performing talents into a tangy, cheerful entertainment."[19][20][21]David AnsenofNewsweekfound the film "only intermittently funny", remarking that writer Bruce Jay Friedman is "trying for a formula film and can't land on the right formula. Is it a buddy movie, a caper comedy, a parody of prison films, an urban-cowboy neo-Western, a New York vs. Sun Belt comedy? Unfortunately it's more of a shambles than any of the above, albeit a fairly genial one."[22]

The film was nominated for aRazzie Awardfor Worst Supporting Actress for Georg Stanford Brown in drag.[23]

Television series

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CBS[24][25]adaptedStir Crazyas atelevision seriesas part of its1985 fall lineup.[26][27]This version starredLarry Rileyas Harry Fletcher and Joseph Guzaldo as Skip Harrington, who werewrongfully convictedand sentenced to 132 years in prison. While working on achain gang,they escape and set out after Crawford (Marc Silver), the man who had actually committed the crime for which they had been sentenced.

None of the people involved in the film had a major role in this series. It was pulled from the CBS fall lineup in October 1985, the month after its premiere,[28]and put on hiatus. It returned in a new time slot in December 1985 and a few more episodes were aired, also to lowratings.The program was permanently cancelled[29]after the January 7, 1986 broadcast.

See also

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References

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  1. ^Epstein, Andrew (12 May 1980). "A Pryor Decision Stirs Controversy".Los Angeles Times.p. g5.
  2. ^"Stir Crazy".TCM database.Turner Classic Movies.RetrievedFebruary 28,2016.
  3. ^D'Arc, James V. (2010).When Hollywood came to town: a history of moviemaking in Utah(1st ed.). Layton, Utah: Gibbs Smith.ISBN978-1423605874.
  4. ^Harmetz, Aljean (5 May 1981)."Stir Crazy Grosses $100M".The New York Times.
  5. ^"Stir Crazy advertisement".Variety.January 21, 1983. pp. 22–3.
  6. ^"Stir Crazy (1980)".Box Office Mojo. 1982-01-01.Retrieved2010-08-27.
  7. ^"1980 Domestic Grosses".Retrieved1 January2011.
  8. ^Harmetz, Aljean (May 5, 1981)."Stir Crazy Grosses $100 million at the Box Office".The New York Times.p. 7 section C.RetrievedMay 9,2020.
  9. ^George, Nelson(2004).Post-Soul Nation: The Explosive, Contradictory, Triumphant, and Tragic 1980s as Experienced by African Americans {Previously Known as Blacks and Before That Negroes}.Viking. p. 18.ISBN0670032751.
  10. ^"Stir Crazy (1980)".Rotten Tomatoes.RetrievedJune 17,2022.
  11. ^"Stir Crazy".Metacritic.RetrievedMay 4,2020.
  12. ^"Pryor and Wilder Inside in 'Stir Crazy'".The New York Times.Archived fromthe originalon 2013-10-08.Retrieved2012-07-09.
  13. ^Ebert, Roger(December 15, 1980)."Stir Crazy".Chicago Sun-Times.RetrievedApril 23,2019.
  14. ^Canby, Vincent (December 12, 1980). "Movie: Pryor and Wilder Inside in 'Stir Crazy'".The New York Times.C10.
  15. ^Thomas, Kevin (December 13, 1980). "'Stir Crazy': Not Too Laughable".Los Angeles Times.Part II, p. 8.
  16. ^Siskel, Gene (December 16, 1980). "'Stir Crazy': Prison film is a riot thanks to Pryor".Chicago Tribune.Section 3, p. 5.
  17. ^"Film Reviews: Stir Crazy".Variety.December 3, 1980. 24.
  18. ^Variety Staff (1 January 1980)."Stir Crazy".Variety.
  19. ^Arnold, Gary (December 12, 1980). "Slapstick in the Slammer".The Washington Post.E1.
  20. ^Arnold, Gary (12 December 1980)."Slapstick In the Slammer".Washington Post.
  21. ^Summers, K. C. (12 December 1980)."'Stir Crazy': Moments Amid Mediocrities ".Washington Post.
  22. ^Ansen, David (December 15, 1980). "Lives of a Cell".Newsweek.111.
  23. ^Wilson, John (2005).The Official Razzie Movie Guide: Enjoying the Best of Hollywood's Worst.Grand Central Publishing.ISBN0-446-69334-0.
  24. ^Kelley, Bill (September 22, 1985)."Network Losers Face Swift Ax".Sun Sentinel.
  25. ^Rosenberg, Howard (September 18, 1985)."CBS Debuts 4 New Series Tonight: The New Fall TV Season".Los Angeles Times.
  26. ^O'Connor, John J. (September 18, 1985)."TV Reviews: New CBS Wednesday Night Lineup".New York Times.
  27. ^Margulies, Lee (May 8, 1985)."'Jeffersons' Out of CBS Lineup ".Los Angeles Times.
  28. ^Brioux, Bill (July 26, 2010)."TCA Press Tour: Still a Kick 25 Years Later".brioux.tv.
  29. ^Mednick, Brian Scott (December 2010).Gene Wilder: Funny and Sad.
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