Moon Over Parador (1988)

Director:

Paul Mazursky

Writers (WGA):

Charles G. Booth (story)
Leon Capetanos (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

9 September 1988 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance | Adventure

Tagline:

Welcome to Parador. The Dictator's cold, the First Lady's hot, the people are revolting... and Jack Noah just got the role of his life.

Plot:

Little known actor, Jack Noah, is working on location in the dictatorship of Parador at the time the dictator dies...

Plot Keywords:

Dictator | Actor | Geofiction | Substitution | Impersonation

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Golden Globes.

Cast

Richard Dreyfuss	...	Jack Noah / President Alphonse Simms
Raul Julia	...	Roberto Strausmann
Sonia Braga	...	Madonna Mendez
Jonathan Winters	...	Ralph
Fernando Rey	...	Alejandro
Michael Greene	...	Clint
Polly Holliday	...	Midge
Milton Gonçalves	...	Carlo
Charo	...	Madame Loop
Marianne Sägebrecht	...	Magda
Reinhard Kolldehoff	...	Gunther
Richard Russell Ramos	...	Dieter Lopez
José Lewgoy	...	Archbishop
Dann Florek	...	Toby
Roger Aaron Brown	...	Desmond

Runtime:

103 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Singapore:PG | Iceland:L | Australia:M | UK:15 | USA:PG-13 | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

Ralph, the Jonathan Winters' character, tells a long story concerning an English pirate who founded the country of Parador, to explain why Alphonse Simms has an Anglo-Saxon surname. The real reason is that the film was shot in Brazil, and director Paul Mazursky needed a shot of a crowd of Brazilian extras chanting the dictator's name. When the crowd is calling out "Simms! Simms!", they are actually chanting "Sim! Sim!". "Sim" is "yes" in Portuguese, the language of Brazil.

Quotes:

Roberto Strausmann: Who sent for you?
Dieter Lopez: His Excellency.
Jack Noah: Mr. Lopez... uh... Dieter.
Dieter Lopez: These documents need your signature.
Roberto Strausmann: He has to read them first.
Dieter Lopez: But of course.
Roberto Strausmann: Leave us!
Dieter Lopez: But, these papers are very urgent, your Excellency. It's for the new dam.
Roberto Strausmann: Damn the dam! Get out!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: Hercules Against the Moon Men (#5.10)" (1992)

Soundtrack:

Besame Mucho

Wildly Funny Send-Up of 'Royal Pretender' Theme...

MOON OVER PARADOR, Paul Mazursky's follow-up to the brilliant 'social class' comedy, DOWN AND OUT IN BEVERLY HILLS (1986), reteams the director with star Richard Dreyfuss, in one of the funniest 'Look-alike on the Throne' comedies of the past two decades.

The theme (a stand-in replaces an incapacitated or unavailable leader) has been a popular subject in film for years (THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER, THE PRISONER OF ZENDA, I WAS MONTY'S DOUBLE, THE EAGLE HAS LANDED, and DAVE are just a few examples), but Mazursky gives it a novel twist by making the 'hero' a ham actor of epic proportion (and NOBODY plays an egotistical actor better than Dreyfuss!), and the 'villain', a ruthless advisor who is a frustrated director, as well (Raul Julia, who is wickedly funny in the role).The comic chemistry between the pair works so well that you could easily mistake the film as being written by Neil Simon!

Parador, a tiny Caribbean nation where English is the national language, and revolution, the national pastime, is ruled with an iron hand by President Simms (Dreyfuss, with a moustache, paunch, and swarthy complexion). A larger-than-life, womanizing scoundrel, Simms is controlled, in turn, by opportunistic Secret Police chief Roberto Strausmann (Julia). Making a social visit to a American movie set, the dictator meets the picture's star, Jack Noah (Dreyfuss, again), who is goaded by his castmates into doing his popular over-the-top impression of the leader (fortunately for Noah, Simms finds it amusing).

After the shooting wraps, Noah, encouraged by a local American 'businessman' (Jonathan Winters, in a funny cameo), decides to stay for a few days to indulge at a national festival. Meanwhile, Simms is being soundly condemned by Strausmann for his public affair with Madonna, a notorious prostitute (played by Sonia Braga), as well as for his unhealthy lifestyle...and the dictator keels over and dies!

Things look bad for Strausmann, until he remembers the American...and Jack Noah is about to be 'drafted' to play the role of his career...

Full of humorous references to Broadway (Strausmann has reviews of EVERY play Noah had ever appeared in...and quotes some of the more 'colorful' ones, to the actor's chagrin), sight gags (Noah, as Simms, starts the befuddled household staff on a program of aerobics), and cameos (Sammy Davis Jr. sings Parador's 'National Anthem', and Mazursky, himself, appears in drag, as Simm's mother), MOON OVER PARADOR is a comic gem, with an over-the-top climax (which would be 'lifted' for Ivan Reitman's 'American President' comedy, DAVE), and a bittersweet ending that will certainly bring a smile to all but the most jaded viewer.

This film is DEFINITELY a keeper!