Stir Crazy (1980)

Director:

Sidney Poitier

Writer:

Bruce Jay Friedman (written by)

Release Date:

12 December 1980 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime

Tagline:

Only these two pigeons could dress up as woodpeckers...

Plot:

Skip and Harry are framed for a bank robbery and end up in a western prison. The two eastern boys are...

Plot Keywords:

Bank Robbery | Rodeo | Bank | Prison | Robber

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

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
Estelle Omens	...	Mrs. R.H. Broache
Peter Looney	...	Kicker #1
Cedrick Hardman	...	Big Mean
Doug Johnson	...	Guard #2
Henry Kingi	...	Ramon
Joe Massengale	...	Caesar Geronimo (as Joseph Massengale)
Herman Poppe	...	Alex
Luis Avalos	...	Chico
Esther Sutherland	...	Sissie
Pamela Poitier	...	Cook's Helper
James Oscar Lee	...	Kicker #2
Rod McCary	...	Minister
Claudia Cron	...	Joy
Bill Bailey	...	Announcer
Donna Kei Benz	...	Nancy (as Donna Benz)
Grand L. Bush	...	Big Mean's Sidekick (as Grand Bush)
Alvin Ing	...	Korean Doctor
Thomas Moore	...	Judge
Danna Hansen	...	Mrs. Sampson
Gwen Van Dam	...	Mrs. Beatty
Herb Armstrong	...	County Jail Guard
Herbert Hirschman	...	Man at Dinner Party
Don Circle	...	Bank Teller
Madison Arnold	...	Guard #3
Gene Earl	...	Sheriff (as Gene Earle)
Mickey Jones	...	Guard #8
Tracy Lee Rowe	...	Little Girl
Essex Smith	...	Blade's Friend
Kenneth Menard	...	Repairman
Billy Beck	...	Flycatching Prisoner
Lee Purcell	...	Susan
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Tony Burton	...	Guy who Punches Big Mean (uncredited)
Jim Henry	...	Rodeo Cowboy (uncredited)
Drasha Meyer	...	Lady in Restaurant (uncredited)
John Richard Petersen	...	Rodeo Spectator (uncredited)
Al Silvani	...	Inmate (uncredited)
Earl W. Smith	...	Jack Graham's Enforcer (uncredited)
Brien Varady	...	Young Inmate (uncredited)
Wendy Wells-Gunkel	...	Rodeo Guest (uncredited)

Directed by
Sidney Poitier

Writing credits
Bruce Jay Friedman		(written by)

Produced by
François De Menil	....	associate producer (as Francois deMenil)
Melville Tucker	....	executive producer
Hannah Weinstein	....	producer

Original Music by
Tom Scott

Cinematography by
Fred Schuler		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Harry Keller

Casting by
Toni Howard
Lynn Stalmaster

Production Design by
Alfred Sweeney

Set Decoration by
Arthur Jeph Parker

Costume Design by
Patricia Edwards

Makeup Department
Richard Cobos	....	makeup artist
Lola Kemp	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Mickey McCardle	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Daniel McCauley	....	first assistant director (as Daniel J. McCauley)
Joseph Paul Moore	....	second assistant director (as Joseph Moore)
Don Wilkerson	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Harold Broner	....	construction coordinator
Donald B. Nunley	....	property master (as Donald Nunley)
Santos Raspa	....	construction coordinator
Gary Zink	....	welder/fabricator
William Ladd Skinner	....	set designer (uncredited)

Sound Department
Glenn E. Anderson	....	sound mixer (as Glen Anderson)
Glenn E. Anderson	....	sound (as Glen Anderson)
Wayne Artman	....	sound re-recording mixer
Tom Beckert	....	sound re-recording mixer
Jeff Bushelman	....	sound effects
Michael Jiron	....	re-recording mixer
Pat Somerset	....	sound effects

Special Effects by
Larry L. Fuentes	....	special effects (as Larry Fuentes)

Stunts
John Ashby	....	stunts
Kerrie Cullen	....	stunts
Mickey Gilbert	....	stunt coordinator
Chuck Henson	....	stunts
Larry McKinney	....	stunts
Stoney Neufang Jr.	....	stunts
Scott Raftery	....	stunts
Gene Walker	....	stunts
Alex Green	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Sidney Ray Baldwin	....	still photographer (as Sidney Baldwin)
Dustin Blauvelt	....	first assistant camera
Keith Lundy	....	second assistant camera
Joe R. Marquette Jr.	....	camera operator (as Joe Marquette Jr.)
Rick Martens	....	gaffer (as Richard Martens)
Robert Moore	....	grip
Randall Robinson	....	first assistant camera: "b" camera
Dennis Smith	....	camera operator: "b" camera

Casting Department
Jack N. Young	....	extras casting (as Jack Young)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Marie Brown	....	wardrobe: women (as Marie V. Brown)
David Rawley	....	wardrobe: men

Editorial Department
Thomas G. Jingles	....	assistant editor
Bruce Pearson	....	color timer

Music Department
Cliff Kohlweck	....	music editor (as Clif Kohlweck)

Transportation Department
James Langhorne	....	transportation coordinator

Other crew
Ronald L. Carr	....	location manager (as Ron Carr)
Herb Honis	....	unit publicist (as Herbert Honis)
Harold Hourihan	....	production accountant
Claire Mactague	....	production coordinator
Jimmy Medearis	....	head wrangler (as James Medearis)
Patricia J. O'Donohue	....	research consultant
Ray Quiroz	....	script supervisor
Scott Salmon	....	choreographer
Robert Milicevic	....	stand-in (uncredited)
B.J. Smith	....	first aid (uncredited)
Eliot Yaffe	....	location projectionist (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Columbia Pictures Corporation

Distributors

• Columbia Pictures (1980) (USA) (theatrical)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1983) (USA) (TV) (broadcast premiere)
• Warner-Columbia Film (1981) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment (2002) (UK) (DVD)
• Egmont Film (1996) (Sweden) (VHS)
• LK-TEL (198?) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Nordisk Film (2002) (Sweden) (DVD)
• Universal Pictures Nordic (2004) (Sweden) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Burbank Editorial Service Inc.  sound effects (as Burbank Editorial Services Inc.)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)  titles and opticals
• William F. White International  grip and lighting equipment

Also Known As:

Runtime:

111 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-12 | Norway:16 | Singapore:NC-16 | UK:15 | USA:R | Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | Netherlands:MG6 | Canada:14A (Ontario) | Australia:M | Sweden:15 | Argentina:13

Filming Locations:

Florence, Arizona, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Of the four movies Pryor and Wilder teamed together, Stir Crazy (1980) was the most successful of the four at the box-office.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): Meredith gets a job as a waitress in a "raunchy strip club", yet she is fully clothed (long-sleeved shirt and jeans).

Quotes:

Rory:That's Grossberger. The biggest mass murderer in the history of the southwest. He killed his entire family and all of his relatives in one weekend and then he killed some more people that reminded him of his family.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Beauty (1981)

Soundtrack:

Down in the Valley

All right collaboration movie for Gene Wilder and Richard Pyor.

This film was okay and mildly amusing, however I prefer "See No Evil, Hear No Evil" and "Silver Streak" as far as movies I have seen with both of them in it. This one just seems like it could have been really funny, but it simply took the wrong direction for my tastes. The movie is about two men who do a little act at a local bank. They perform this act while wearing bird costumes and they really entertain the crowd. Unfortunately, two other men dressed exactly the same go into the bank and proceed to rob it. Of course, Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder's characters get the blame and proceed to have a super fast trial and are sent to prison. Soon after they arrive Gene's character gets on a mechanical bull and the whole film takes the wrong turn. I so would have rather seen these two innocent men adjusting to prison life rather than having the whole prison rodeo thing. Not saying it was bad, just not what I expected. There are some funny scenes as the warden does things to try and make Gene's character agree to ride during this rodeo, but Gene tries to hold out so he can make a few demands of his own so that he and his prison buds can plan an escape. Like I said some humor in the film, but I think it could have been much better.