Get Shorty (1995)

Director:

Barry Sonnenfeld

Writers (WGA):

Elmore Leonard (novel)
Scott Frank (screenplay)

Release Date:

20 October 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Thriller

Tagline:

Drug smuggling. Racketeering. Loan sharking. Welcome to Hollywood!

Plot:

A mobster travels to Hollywood to collect a debt and discovers that the movie business is much the same as his current job.

Plot Keywords:

Debt | Producer | Mobster | Movie Business | Thug

Awards:

Won Golden Globe. Another 6 wins & 11 nominations

Cast

John Travolta	...	Chili Palmer
Gene Hackman	...	Harry Zimm
Rene Russo	...	Karen Flores
Danny DeVito	...	Martin Weir
Dennis Farina	...	Ray 'Bones' Barboni
Delroy Lindo	...	Bo Catlett
James Gandolfini	...	Bear
Jon Gries	...	Ronnie Wingate
Renee Props	...	Nicki
David Paymer	...	Leo Devoe
Martin Ferrero	...	Tommy Carlo
Miguel Sandoval	...	Mr. Escobar
Jacob Vargas	...	Yayo Portillo
Linda Hart	...	Fay Devoe
Bobby Slayton	...	Dick Allen
Ron Karabatsos	...	Momo
Alison Waddell	...	Bear's Daughter
Amber Waddell	...	Bear's Daughter
John Cothran	...	Agent Curtis (as John Cothran Jr.)
Jack Conley	...	Agent Dunbar
Bernard Hocke	...	Agent Morgan
Big Daddy Wayne	...	Ray Barboni's Bodyguard
Jay Montalvo	...	Big Guy with Escobar (as Xavier Montalvo)
Carlease Burke	...	Rental Car Attendant
Vito Scotti	...	Manager at Vesuvio's
Rino Piccolo	...	Waiter at Vesuvio's
Alfred Dennis	...	Ed the Barber
Ralph Manza	...	Fred the Barber
Zed Frizzelle	...	Kid at Lockers
Harry Victor	...	Limo Driver with Sign
Patrick Breen	...	Resident Doctor
Barry Sonnenfeld	...	Doorman
Donna W. Scott	...	Screaming Woman
Zack Phifer	...	Ivy Restaurant Maitre d'
Greg Goossen	...	Duke, Man at the Ivy (as Gregory B. Goossen)
Stephanie Kemp	...	Ivy Restaurant Waitress
Rebeca Arthur	...	Las Vegas Waitress
Jeffrey J. Stephen	...	Bones' Buddy (as Jeffrey J. Stephan)
Ernest 'Chili' Palmer	...	Bones' Buddy #2
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Leslie Bega	...	Vikki Vespa (uncredited)
Marlene Dietrich	...	Tanya (archive footage) (uncredited)
Brian Reed Garvin	...	Plane Guy (uncredited)
David Groh	...	Buddy Lupton (uncredited)
Charlton Heston	...	Mike Vargas (archive footage) (uncredited)
Harvey Keitel	...	Himself (uncredited)
David Letterman	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Penny Marshall	...	Herself (Director) (uncredited)
Dean Martin	...	Dude (archive footage) (uncredited)
Bette Midler	...	Doris Saphron (uncredited)
Alex Rocco	...	Jimmy Capp (Ray Bones' boss) (uncredited)
John Wayne	...	Sheriff John T. Chance (archive footage) (uncredited)
Orson Welles	...	Police Captain Hank Quinlan (archive footage) (uncredited)
Lenny Wilson	...	Pilot in Airport (uncredited)

Directed by
Barry Sonnenfeld

Writing credits (WGA)
Elmore Leonard		(novel)
Scott Frank		(screenplay)

Produced by
Danny DeVito	....	producer
Graham Place	....	co-producer
Susan Ringo	....	associate producer
Michael Shamberg	....	producer
Stacey Sher	....	producer
Barry Sonnenfeld	....	executive producer

Original Music by
John Lurie

Cinematography by
Donald Peterman

Film Editing by
Jim Miller
Ted Woerner		(video)

Casting by
David Rubin
Debra Zane

Production Design by
Peter S. Larkin

Art Direction by
Steve Arnold

Set Decoration by
Leslie E. Rollins

Costume Design by
Betsy Heimann

Makeup Department
Kareen Boursier	....	hair stylist
Michelle Bühler	....	makeup artist
Jene Fielder	....	makeup artist
Audrey Futterman-Stern	....	personal hair stylist: Mr. Travolta (as Audree Futterman)
Ron Scott	....	key hair stylist
Ellen Wong	....	makeup department head
Natalie Wood	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Amy Ness	....	production supervisor
Graham Place	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
John Cameron	....	first assistant director: reshoots
Alan B. Curtiss	....	first assistant director
Scottie Gissel	....	dga trainee
Robert Huberman	....	second assistant director
Scott Andrew Robertson	....	second second assistant director

Art Department
William Acedo	....	lead man (as William Xavier Acedo)
Scott Blakney	....	set dresser
Charles Daboub Jr.	....	assistant art director
Scott Farber	....	set dresser
Emily Ferry	....	property master
Rob Garlow	....	propmaker foremen
Otniel Gonzalez	....	assistant property master
Robby Green	....	art department coordinator
Tom Hrupcho	....	paint supervisor
Kristin Frances Jones	....	set dresser
Erin Kemp	....	set designer
Douglas McKay	....	key set dresser
Jim Ondrejko	....	construction coordinator
Joe Ondrejko	....	general foreman
Eric Rosenberg	....	assistant art director
Cole Taylor	....	set construction foreman
Joy Taylor	....	assistant property master
Michael Vojvoda	....	set dresser
Justin Walker	....	labor foreman
Regina Lee Alonte	....	swing gang (uncredited)

Sound Department
David Boulton	....	adr mixer
Kam Chan	....	foley editor
Benjamin Cheah	....	sound effects recordist
Marko A. Costanzo	....	foley artist
Don Coufal	....	production sound
Lee Dichter	....	sound re-recording mixer
Ezra Dweck	....	foley mixer
Juno J. Ellis	....	adr editor (as Juno Ellis)
Chris Fielder	....	sound assistant
Eugene Gearty	....	sound effects editor
Lewis Goldstein	....	sound effects editor
Gary Holland	....	production sound
Frank Kern	....	foley editor
Annette Kudrak	....	adr assistant
Jeff Levison	....	stereo sound consultant: DTS
Blake Leyh	....	sound effects recordist
Skip Lievsay	....	supervising sound editor
Julie Lindner	....	sound assistant
Eliza Paley	....	dialogue editor
Glenfield Payne	....	sound effects editor
Gail Showalter	....	adr supervisor (as Gail Stockton)
Philip Stockton	....	supervising sound editor
Steven Visscher	....	foley editor
Jeff Wexler	....	production sound
Robert Gravenor	....	multi-track mixer (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Gary D. Bierend	....	special effects coordinator (as Gary Bierend)
Robert DeVine	....	special effects
Danny Gill	....	special effects coordinator

Visual Effects by
David Lingenfelser	....	digital artist
Michael J. McAlister	....	visual effects coordinator (as Micheal McAlister)
Alan McFarland	....	miniature plane lighting effects
Stephanie Powell	....	blue screen supervisor
Mykel Denis	....	model maker (uncredited)

Stunts
Jophery C. Brown	....	stunts (as Jophery Brown)
Oscar Dillon	....	stunts
Doc Duhame	....	stunts
Dane Farwell	....	stunts
John T. Grantham	....	stunts (as John Grantham)
Gary Guercio	....	stunts (as Gary L. Guercio)
Gordon Hansen	....	stunts
Eric Mansker	....	stunts
Jeff Podgurski	....	stunts
Mark Riccardi	....	stunts
Brian Smrz	....	stunt coordinator
Mark Riccardi	....	stunt double: John Travolta (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Rob Abbey	....	video operator
Michael Anderson	....	second company grip
Brian Bernstein	....	assistant camera
Mark 'Boylee' Boyle	....	loader
Linda R. Chen	....	still photographer
Steve Craft	....	camera loader
Thomas M. Dangcil	....	lighting technician
Rick Davis	....	additional key grip
Dhamarata Dhiensuwana	....	rigging key grip
Malcolm Doran II	....	dolly grip
Raymond Gonzales	....	electrician
Dan Kerns	....	rigging gaffer
John T. Martin	....	dolly grip
David McMillan	....	rigging best boy (as Dave McMillan)
Brian Mills	....	rigging grip
Jeff Murrell	....	chief lighting technician
Jay Peterman	....	first assistant camera
Paul Plannette	....	second assistant camera
David Schmalz	....	video assist operator
Stephen St. John	....	Steadicam operator
Stephen St. John	....	camera operator
Calvin Sterry	....	key grip
Don Tomich	....	assistant lighting technician
Tony Varuola	....	lighting technician
Zoran Veselic	....	Steadicam assistant
Zoran Veselic	....	first assistant camera
Paul Wilkowsky	....	grip
Michael Adler	....	electrician (uncredited)
Dan Riffel	....	electrician (uncredited)

Casting Department
Rosie Heeter	....	casting assistant
Julia Kim	....	casting assistant
David H. Kramer	....	adr voice casting

Costume and Wardrobe Department
David Rawley	....	costumer supervisor
Sabrina Rosen	....	assistant to costume designer
Lori Stilson	....	set costumer
Joan Thomas	....	costumer
Phyllis Thurber-Moffit	....	costume textile artist

Editorial Department
Gary Burritt	....	negative cutter
Stephen Fishman	....	post-production assistant
John Steele Hill	....	assistant editor
Mike Koz	....	second assistant editor
Beriau Picard	....	assistant editor
Suzanne Pillsbury	....	first assistant editor
Ken Schretzmann	....	assistant editor: avid
Mike Stanwick	....	color timer

Music Department
Dondi Bastone	....	music coordinator
Steven Bernstein	....	conductor
Steven Bernstein	....	orchestrator
Patrick Dillett	....	score mixer
Frankii Elliott	....	music coordinator
Steve Elson	....	musician
Tony Faulkner	....	music coordinator
Tony Faulkner	....	music coordinator
Alex Gibson	....	music editor
Bobby Mackston	....	music editor
Denise Okimoto	....	assistant music editor
Karyn Rachtman	....	music supervisor
Satsunderta Reid	....	assistant music editor

Transportation Department
Rick Chouinard	....	transportation co-captain
Lyle Christensen	....	shotmaker driver
Buddy Hunter	....	driver
David Jernigan	....	transportation captain
James C. Taylor	....	transportation coordinator

Other crew
Todd J. Adelman	....	production medic
Trisha Barnhart	....	accounting clerk
Jeffrey Berk	....	assistant production coordinator
David M. Bernstein	....	key set production assistant
Becky Brake	....	assistant location manager
Kathleen Campbell	....	assistant: Ms. Russo
Lance Doty	....	assistant: Barry Sonnenfeld
Wilma Garscadden-Gahret	....	script supervisor
Robbie Goldstein	....	location manager
Greg Goossen	....	stand-in: Mr. Hackman
Melinda A. Grieger	....	stand-in: Rene Russo
Mindy Grieger	....	stand-in: Ms. Russo
Michael Haddad	....	craft service
Michael Hubert	....	business affairs representative
David Kaufman	....	assistant location manager
Tony Kerum	....	caterer
Corinna M. Korpi	....	production secretary
Ed Lipscomb	....	assistant location manager
Richard Lorenzana	....	accountant
Susan M. Lorenzana	....	assistant accountant
Marcel Lundberg	....	production assistant
Sherry Marshall	....	production coordinator
Bertram McCann	....	marine coordinator
Michelle Minyon	....	assistant: Mr. Shamberg
Amy Pearson	....	assistant production coordinator
Jane E. Russell	....	unit publicist
Nina Saxon	....	title designer
Fred Scialla	....	stand-in: Mr. DeVito
Scott Sener	....	utility stand-in
Jeffrey Stephan	....	stand-in: Mr. Travolta
Lisa Thomas	....	payroll accountant
Alison Treleaven	....	assistant: Stacey Sher
Bob Ader	....	adr loop group (uncredited)
Jaap Broeker	....	stand-in: Ned Beatty (uncredited)
Paul Kruhm	....	location services: EastWest Locations (uncredited)
B.J. Smith	....	construction medic (uncredited)

Thanks
Nikki Allyn Grosso	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures) (presents)
• Jersey Films

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1995) (USA) (theatrical)
• Chapel Distribution (1997) (Australia) (theatrical) (35mm print)
• Filmes Lusomundo (1996) (Portugal) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1996) (Germany) (theatrical)
• United International Pictures (UIP) (1995) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• United International Pictures (UIP) (1996) (Spain) (theatrical)
• United International Pictures (UIP) (1996) (UK) (theatrical)
• United International Pictures (UIP) (1996) (Greece) (theatrical)
• United International Pictures (UIP) (1996) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (Brazil) (DVD)
• Argentina Video Home (1996) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Audio Visual Enterprises (1996) (Greece) (VHS)
• MGM / UA Home Video (199?) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• MGM Home Entertainment (Europe) (2000) (UK) (DVD)
• MGM Home Entertainment (1996) (Germany) (VHS)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2005) (Germany) (DVD)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (USA) (DVD)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (USA) (VHS)
• National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (1998) (USA) (TV)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)

Special Effects

• Anatomorphex
• Sessums Engineering (miniature visual effects)

Other Companies

• Antilles Records  soundtrack published by
• C-5  foley recorded at (as C5)
• Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment  camera equipment provided by (as Chapman)
• DeLuxe Laboratories  color timing (as Deluxe)
• Direct Tools & Fasteners  expendables
• Encore Video  telecine and non-linear technical support
• Grips Unlimited  grip equipment
• Hansard  front projection (as Hansard Enteprises Inc.)
• Hollywood Title  end titles (as Hollywood Title Services)
• J.L. Fisher  camera dollies
• Nina Saxon Film Design  main titles
• Out of the Blue  blue screen
• Pacific Title  opticals
• Paskal Lighting  grip and lighting equipment
• Post-Productions  post-production supervision
• Sound One  sound post-production
• Technocrane Ltd.  remote crane
• Unique Recording  music recorded and mixed at
• Wescam USA  wescam provided by (as Wescam Inc.)

Also Known As:

MPAA:

Rated R for language and some violence

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Australia:MA | Canada:14A (DVD rating) | Denmark:16 | Finland:K-16 | France:U | Germany:12 (f) (w) | Ireland:15 | New Zealand:R16 | Norway:15 | Peru:14 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:NC-16 | South Korea:15 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | Taiwan:R-18 | UK:15 | Iceland:12 | USA:R (certificate #33866) | Philippines:PG-13 | Netherlands:12

Filming Locations:

1017 N Crescent Drive, Beverly Hills, California, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

John Travolta was paid $3.5 million for this film.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): When Harry is in the emergency room, Doris reveals that Sergeant Randall's first name is Todd. In the next scene, if paused, the text in the article Catlett is reading, says Randall's name is Edward Randall. (Perhaps his initials are ETR.)

Quotes:

[first lines]
Tommy Carlo:It's fucking cold outside.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Episode #19.134" (2011)

Soundtrack:

Panacea

Like an ol' familiar song, done with some twists. Nice casting

Barry Sonnenfeld was and maybe wasn't the right choice to make Get Shorty. He's a great visualist, and his films (Adams Family, Men in Black) are also very funny, but it's hard to say whether or not another director might've taken Elmore Leonard's sly comic novel more seriously or with less depth. As it is, however, Get Shorty is a cool little treat that doesn't over-stay its welcome, and provides its cast a plethora of witty dialog. John Travolta brings on some sharp attitude, knowing the angles and wanting, as his character Chili Palmer, to get into Hollywood and out of loan sharking. Gene Hackman's funny as a fledgling producer with his first, true big hit in his lap. And supporting parts from Delroy Lindo, Renne Russo, Danny De Vito (as 'Hollywood' as you'll ever see him), and James Gandolfini, are all very worthy. It's a worthwhile watch, with a dead-on score from John Lurie. But I would reccomend Out of Sight or Jackie Brown to Leonard fans looking for a great adaptation. It's a very good Hollywood picture (reflective of what it's about), though it's not a masterpiece. A-