Deal of the Century (1983)

Director:

William Friedkin

Writers:

Paul Brickman (writer)
Bernard Edelman (book)

Release Date:

4 November 1983 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime

Tagline:

Chevy Chase and his partners are arms dealers. They sell second-rate weapons to third world nations. But they're not out to stick it to anyone.

Plot:

Arms dealers from several companies vie to sell the most expensive and highest tech weapons to a South American dictator...

Plot Keywords:

Arms Dealer | Dictator | Spin | Christmas | Military Industrial Complex

Cast

Chevy Chase	...	Eddie Muntz
Sigourney Weaver	...	Catherine DeVoto
Gregory Hines	...	Ray Kasternak
Vince Edwards	...	Frank Stryker
William Marquez	...	Gen. Cordosa
Eduardo Ricard	...	Col. Salgado
Richard Herd	...	Lyle
Graham Jarvis	...	Babers
Wallace Shawn	...	Harold DeVoto
Randi Brooks	...	Ms. Della Rosa
Ebbe Roe Smith	...	Bob
Richard Libertini	...	Masaggi
J.W. Smith	...	Will
Carmencristina Moreno	...	Woman Singer (as Carmen Moreno)
Charles Levin	...	Dr. Rechtin

Runtime:

99 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:L | UK:15 | Singapore:PG | Australia:PG | USA:PG | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Santa Barbara, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Goofs:

Continuity: When Eddie is in the trailer talking to Ray on the radio, he's wearing the headset with the microphone on the left side. In the next shot, it's on the right side.

Quotes:

General Huddleston: [watching the Peacemaker malfunction] This is a great day for the Air Force, Senator.
Sen. Bryce: Why is that, General?
General Huddleston: Because the Navy ordered twenty of those disasters.
Navy Officers: Son of a bitch!

Movie Connections:

Features "All in the Family" (1971)

Soundtrack:

SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN

A dark, 1980s comedy

Deal of the Century is for those with an appreciation of the absurd. A dry, dark comedy, and an ironic portrayal of 1980s American (Reaganite) values. The film is a humorous, critical portrait of the hypocrisy behind Ronald Reagan's deadly cold war shenanigans. Its a political comedy -- very well directed by William Friedkin (The French Connection, The Exorcist). It is also well performed and photographed. Chevy Chase is perfectly cast as a cynical arms dealer. And the late, great, Gregory Hines, as his partner, disenchanted with the arms business and suddenly filled with pathos, desperately and hilariously turns from heavy-weapons to Jesus. It is not a perfectly plotted or written film, but it strives to intelligently portray its era.