The Survivors (1983)

Director:

Michael Ritchie

Writer:

Michael Leeson (written by)

Release Date:

25 November 1983 (Denmark)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

Once they declare war on each other, watch out. You could die laughing.

Plot:

Having both lost their jobs, two strangers become unlikely friends after a run in with a would be robber, who is actually a hitman with a grudge against the two.

Plot Keywords:

Gas Station | Secret Life | Unemployment | Robbery | Jimmy Hoffa

Cast

Walter Matthau	...	Sonny Paluso
Robin Williams	...	Donald Quinelle
Jerry Reed	...	Jack Locke
James Wainwright	...	Wes Huntley
Kristen Vigard	...	Candice Paluso
Annie McEnroe	...	Doreen
Anne Pitoniak	...	Betty
Bernard Barrow	...	TV station manager
Marian Hailey	...	Jack's Wife
Joseph Carberry	...	Detective Matt Burke
Skipp Lynch	...	Wiley
Marilyn Cooper	...	Waitress
Meg Mundy	...	Mace Lover
Yudie Bank	...	Accosted Old Lady
Michael P. Moran	...	Gun Salesman (as Michael Moran)
Norma Pratt	...	Armed Little Lady
John De Bello	...	Salesman (as John DeBello)
Del Hinkley	...	Wes Man #1
Morgan Upton	...	Cost-Conscious Survivalist
John Goodman	...	Commando
Regina David	...	Nose Biter
Francisco Prado	...	Illegal Alien
J.B. Waters	...	Interviewer
Indira Manjrekar	...	Indian Woman
Tiffany Clark	...	Tiffany Clark
Marc Stevens	...	Marc Stevens
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Gary Cobbs	...	(uncredited)
Jery Hewitt	...	(uncredited)
William Magerman	...	Old man in diner (uncredited)
Dennis O'Neill	...	(uncredited)
Paul Stader	...	(uncredited)
Mark Robert Sutton	...	(uncredited)

Directed by
Michael Ritchie

Writing credits
Michael Leeson		(written by)

Produced by
Howard Pine	....	executive producer
William Sackheim	....	producer

Original Music by
Paul Chihara

Cinematography by
Billy Williams

Film Editing by
Richard A. Harris

Production Design by
Gene Callahan

Art Direction by
John Jay Moore		(as Jay Moore)

Set Decoration by
Herbert F. Mulligan		(as Herb Mulligan)

Costume Design by
Ann Roth

Makeup Department
C. Romania Ford	....	makeup artist
Craig Lyman	....	additional makeup artist
Werner Sherer	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Howard Pine	....	unit production manager
John H. Starke	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
William M. Elvin	....	second assistant director (as Bill Elvin)
Thomas J. Mack	....	first assistant director (as Tom Mack)
Peter Norman	....	second unit director
Ken Ornstein	....	dga trainee
Louis Race	....	second assistant director
Joseph P. Reidy	....	second assistant director (as Joseph Reidy)

Art Department
Joseph M. Caracciolo Jr.	....	property master (as Joe Caracciolo Jr.)
Edward Garzero	....	scenic artist (as Ed Garzero)

Sound Department
Ken Dufva	....	foley artist
Gregg Landaker	....	sound re-recording mixer
Dennis Maitland	....	sound mixer
Kim Maitland	....	sound recordist
Steve Maslow	....	sound re-recording mixer
Kay Rose	....	sound editor
Danny Rosenbloom	....	boom operator
Victoria Rose Sampson	....	sound editor
Karen Spangenberg	....	additional dialogue editor
Bill Varney	....	sound re-recording mixer

Stunts
Gary Combs	....	stunts
Jery Hewitt	....	stunts
Dennis O'Neill	....	stunt double
Dennis O'Neill	....	stunts
Paul Stader	....	stunts
Mark Robert Sutton	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Sandy Brooke	....	first assistant camera
James Dolan Sr.	....	gaffer
James Finnerty	....	grip
James Finnerty	....	key grip (as James Finnerty)
Sherman Kunkel	....	director of photography: second unit
John C. Moulds	....	first assistant camera
Randy Munkacsi	....	unit still photographer
Peter Norman	....	additional photographer: New York
George Patsos	....	best boy grip
Tom Priestley Jr.	....	camera operator (as Tom Priestly Jr.)
Robert Stocklin	....	best boy (as Bobby Stocklin)
John Verardi	....	second assistant camera

Casting Department
Sylvia Fay	....	extras casting
Sue Hessel	....	casting: New York
Patricia Mock	....	casting: Los Angeles

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Mark Burchard	....	costumer
Michael Dennison	....	costume supervisor
Mary Malin	....	costume supervisor

Editorial Department
Ronald Jacobs	....	assistant editor (as Ron Jacobs)
John Nutt	....	additional editor
Ralph Wikke	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Daniel Allan Carlin	....	music editor

Transportation Department
Alan Falco	....	transportation captain (as Allan Falco)
Edward Iacobelli	....	transportation captain (as Ed Iacobelli)

Other crew
Edwin 'Itsi' Atkins	....	assistant location manager (as Itsy Atkins)
Edwin 'Itsi' Atkins	....	location manager
Kirk Borcherding	....	auditor
Tommy Burns	....	production assistant
Donna Carrier	....	assistant auditor
Pamela Easley	....	assistant: Michael Ritchie
Wendy G. Glickstein	....	production office coordinator (as Wendy Glickstein)
Chris Johnson	....	production assistant
David R. Lawson	....	medic
Sheila Paige	....	script supervisor
Mark Rutenberg	....	assistant: Robin Williams
David Sardi	....	production assistant
David A. Starke	....	location manager
Nancy Willen	....	unit publicist
Janice Yarbrough	....	assistant: Michael Ritchie

Production Companies

• Columbia Pictures Corporation
• Rastar Films

Distributors

• Columbia Pictures (1983) (USA) (theatrical)
• Warner-Columbia Film (1984) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1987) (USA) (TV) (broadcast premiere)
• Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment (2002) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• GoodTimes Home Video (1989) (USA) (VHS)
• RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video (19??) (USA) (VHS)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2013) (Germany) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Pacific Title  titles and opticals

Also Known As:

Runtime:

103 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:15 | USA:R | West Germany:16 | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Canada:R (Nova Scotia) | Iceland:L | Sweden:15 | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Fairlee, Vermont, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Production Designer Gene Callahan used a closed employment office in New York as a studio sound stage for this film. The facility provided the picture with five sets, one of which was actually for an employment office.

Goofs:

Continuity: During the robbery, the teenagers remove their jackets just before the gunman moves to the counter and tells the old man on the till to join the others. In the next shot, when the old man joins the group, the teenagers can be seen removing their jackets again.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Betty:Mr. Quinelle!
Donald Quinelle:Morning, Betty!
Betty:Mr. Stoddard would like you to step into the board room.
Donald Quinelle:He wants to see me?
Betty:You can go right in.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Saturday Night Live: The Best of Robin Williams (1991) (V)

Soundtrack:

LIFE IS JUST A BOWL OF CHERRIES

A superb comedy

When you come across one of those moments in life when you really need to catch hold of a spark of brilliance you should hold onto it and glow warmly in its presence. This film is one of those moments. It sparks and creates a wonderful mix of tragic characters interacting in a modern world, confused and not sure about their place, shattered by stupid events that happen around them to place them together. Robin Williams decent into understandable weakness provides cream for your coffee – sacked by a parrot, driving the same car as all his fellow corporate colleagues he blunders into a world he only read about and slipped and scrawled crashing into a frightened world where the big cesspool awaits. Walter in a parallel world falls lower and lower creating empathic moments trying to get by in a simple world where his daughter strolls in his shadow in adolescence. This film contains some superb dialogue and creative comedy that charm the watcher. Robin is sublime and Walter makes sense where there is none. Jack is colossal as a nemesis and indefatigable in his pursuit until his humanity appears on the floor of a wood cabin when all the characters come together. Do not listen to those who believe this is poor, they have not watched and wondered at the connections. Brilliance and eclectic!