Stir Crazy (1980)

Skip and Harry are framed for a bank robbery and end up in a western prison. The two eastern boys are having difficulty adjusting to the new life until the warden finds that Skip has a ... See full summary »

Director:

Sidney Poitier

Writer:

Bruce Jay Friedman

Stars:

Gene Wilder, Richard Pryor, Georg Stanford Brown

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Gene Wilder	...	Skip Donahue
Richard Pryor	...	Harry Monroe
Georg Stanford Brown	...	Rory Schultebrand
JoBeth Williams	...	Meredith
Miguel Ángel Suárez	...	Jesus Ramirez (as Miguelangel Suarez)
Craig T. Nelson	...	Deputy Ward Wilson
Barry Corbin	...	Warden Walter Beatty
Charles Weldon	...	Blade
Nicolas Coster	...	Warden Henry Sampson
Joel Brooks	...	Len Garber
Jonathan Banks	...	Jack Graham
Erland van Lidth	...	Grossberger (as Erland Van Lidth De Jeude)
Lewis Van Bergen	...	Guard #1
Karmin Murcelo	...	Teresa Ramirez
Franklyn Ajaye	...	Young Man in Hospital

Storyline

Skip and Harry are framed for a bank robbery and end up in a western prison. The two eastern boys are having difficulty adjusting to the new life until the warden finds that Skip has a natural talent for riding broncos with the inter-prison rodeo coming up.

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Plot Keywords:

prison | bank | rodeo | bank robbery | gay | 

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Taglines:

Two jailbirds who just want out of the cage.

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 December 1980 (USA)

Also Known As:

Locos de remate

Filming Locations:

Florence, Arizona, USA

Box Office

Gross:

$101,500,000 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film's title is from an expression which is similar to the meaning of Cabin Fever, itself the title of a movie. Wikipedia define 'Stir Crazy' as being "... a phrase that dates to 1908 according to the Oxford English Dictionary and the online Etymology Dictionary. Used among inmates in prison, it referred to a prisoner who became mentally unbalanced because of prolonged incarceration. It is based upon the slang stir (1851) to mean prison".

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Goofs

A boom mic ducks into view in the long shot of the scene where Skip talks to the woman in the department store.

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Quotes

Skip Donahue: I want a bigger cell! With better ventilation!
Deputy Ward Wilson: Why? Grossberger been fartin' on ya?

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Connections

Referenced in Richard Pryor Live on the Sunset Strip (1982)

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Soundtracks

"Eat Your Heart Out"
Composed and Produced by Tom Scott
Lyrics by Rob Preston
Sung by Leata Galloway
Courtesy of Ariola-Eurodisc, GMBH

User Reviews

'Arrrgh! I can't feel one of my legs!'

Stir Crazy was one of the first films I ever remember watching, it came out the year I was born and I always associate 1980 with the time I came into the world and Stir Crazy. I was about 3 or 4 and my grandfather rented the video (back in the early 80s, this was INCREDIBLY sophisticated). Even though it's pretty much an adult film, with swearing, nudity and adult themes, I found it to be hilarious at such a young age and I watched it few times. Over the years I've watched it more and more and I only just got round to buying the DVD a few days ago. And now, at 26, the film is still just as funny as it always was. There is not a single unfunny moment from the beginning to the end, even though the last act gets serious and suspenseful.

Gene Wilder and the late Richard Pryor play Skip Donahue and Harry Munro, two NYC losers who are making no money in their dream jobs of play-write and actor. Stuck with insulting service jobs they both get fired on the same day, at the same moment, for various reasons. Skip, the apparent ladies man and ever the delusional optimist, talks Harry into seeing it as their big chance to escape NYC and head for LA 'where you smile and they just POUR money on you'.

In their rusted, derelict combi, they make it as far as Glenboro, a hicksville backwater desert town, where they are promptly framed for bank robbery. Their lawyer is utterly useless and they are in jail before they know it, literally. Skip only realizes the seriousness of the situation as they are being shown into their cell. But when Skip shows he has undiscovered talents as a rodeo champ the crooked Warden forces him to compete in the annual rodeo competition, giving Skip, Harry and some others a chance to escape.

The chemistry between Wilder and Pryor is insane. Skip is innocent, optimistic, romantic and sees the good in everything. Harry is cynical and reactionary and is frequently the real victim of Skip's impossibly good-natured personality. Everything they say and do is brilliant and every scene has something special about it that you'll remember always. It's literally impossible for me to pick out one in particular as they are all as great as each other.

It's hard to believe that auteur actor Sidney Poiter directed this movie. I've never really seen in do a crazy, comedic performance, so for him to be so on-the-ball and humorous behind the camera is always a surprise when watching Stir Crazy.

There's so many things that Stir Crazy has going for it. It's not just a crazy comedy, it's also a character drama with wonderfully surreal and authentic moments (mass-mass-mass murderer Grossberger sining 'Down in the Valley' and proving to be as timid as a kitten being one of them).

If you don't find Stir Crazy funny, you're dead. And if you've never seen it...you're certainly no movie buff.