The Kentucky Fried Movie (1977)

A series of short, highly irreverent, and often tasteless skits.

Director:

John Landis

Writers:

David Zucker, Jim Abrahams

Stars:

Evan C. Kim, Soo-Han Bong, Bill Bixby

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Marilyn Joi	...	Cleopatra Schwartz (segment "Cleopatra Schwartz")
Saul Kahan	...	Schwartz (segment "Cleopatra Schwartz")
David Zucker	...	Man (segment "His New Car") / Technician #2 (segment "Eyewitness News") / Grunwald (segment "Courtroom")
Marcy Goldman	...	Housewife (segment "Household Odors")
Dulcie Jordan	...	Guest #1 (segment "Household Odors")
Gracia Lee	...	Guest #2 (segment "Household Odors")
Sheila Rogers	...	Guest #3 (segment "Household Odors")
Joseph G. Medalis	...	Paul Burmaster (segment "High Adventure") (as Joe Medalis)
Barry Dennen	...	Claude LaMont (segment "High Adventure")
Colin Male	...	Spokesman (segment "Argon") / Voice Overs
Ed Griffith	...	Host (segment "Danger Seekers")
Robert Starr	...	Rex Kramer (segment "Danger Seekers")
Richard Gates	...	Boy (segment "Eyewitness News") (as Rick Gates)
Tara Strohmeier	...	Girl (segment "Eyewitness News") (as Tara Strohmeir)
Neil Thompson	...	Newscaster (segment "Eyewitness News")

Storyline

Madcap spoof, a collection of comedy skits includes the Kung-Fu parody, "A Fistful Of Yen" and "Catholic School Girls In Trouble." Enjoy the future of movie-going with the "Feel-A-Round" theater experience. See a notable and highly respected actor as the clumsiest waiter in motion picture history. Watch such character as Cleopatra Schwartz and Big Jim Slade tickle your funny bone until it has to be removed surgically!

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Plot Keywords:

pressing breasts against glass | sex scene | large breasts | female nudity | kissing breasts | 

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Taglines:

This movie is totally out of control!

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Korean

Release Date:

4 November 1978 (Japan)

Also Known As:

A Fistful of Yen

Filming Locations:

Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$600,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

KFM Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

83 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The host of the oil commercial appeared in training videos for police departments, that were made by the directing trio at Video Systems, where they met Producer Robert K. Weiss.

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Goofs

When Joyce Wilson gives the astrological report, the padding where the arrow lands is visible.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Newscaster: The popcorn you are eating has been pissed in. Film at eleven.

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Crazy Credits

Before the credits start, there is a short bit with the TV anchorman saying "The popcorn you're eating has been pissed in, film at eleven". For the TV version, this is replaced with "I'm not wearing any pants, film at 11"

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Alternate Versions

UK cinema and video versions were cut by 10 secs due to BBFC regulations on Martial Arts weapons and removed shots of nunchakus from the elevator scene in the "Fistful Of Yens" sequence. The initial Arrow DVD featured the same print though the widescreen Prism release was fully uncut.

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Connections

Referenced in Film Geek (2005)

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Soundtracks

Soft Memories
(uncredited)
Music by James Kenelm Clarke
KPM Music Ltd

User Reviews

You have our gratitude.

This movie was like the Holy Grail of DVDs for me; I couldn't find it for the longest time. Finally I just picked it up off E-Bay (which I should have done from the start, of course) and watched it for the first time in years last night.

In terms of laughs per minute, this one is a strong contender for funniest movie of all time. Written by Zucker Abraham and Zucker, directed by John Landis, and produced by Samuel L Bronkowitz (just kidding), "The Kentucky Fried Movie" is really nothing more than a collection of skits, barely connected by the convention that they're all things you might see on TV (or at the movies). But, oh, the skits. Let's just say that no single episode of "Saturday Night Live" was ever this funny.

Best of the bunch is the movie's centerpiece, "A Fistful of Yen", a dead-on parody of kung fu action movies a la "Enter The Dragon". In this bit, the longest in the film, a Bruce Lee type named Loo has to infiltrate a mountain fortress run by the villainous Dr. Klahn, who is building an army of extraordinary magnitude. The martial arts scenes are hilarious; it may be the most staged-looking fighting of all time. Beginning with Loo training other fighters ("What was that? This is not a chawade. We need total concen-TWAY-tion," he yells at one student) and ending with Loo finally going home (in a completely out-of-left-field ending having nothing to do with the previous action but seeming somehow fitting anyway), the slapstick jokes come fast and furious, even parodying "The Dating Game" at one point. This is a direct precursor to ZAZ's later movies like "Airplane!" and "The Naked Gun".

Then there's the incredible "Catholic High School Girls in Trouble", which aims to parody 70s porno flicks ("More shocking than 'Behind the Green Door'... Never before has the beauty of the sexual act been so crassly exploited!" the announcer screams.) To get an idea of the kind of humor seen here, picture a hot chick approaching a loser and saying in a breathy voice "Show me your nuts!" and the guy proceeding to start acting like a total loon. In "United Appeal for the Dead" Henry Gibson speaks at great length about death, the number one killer in the United States, and what his group can do to help a loved one who has died lead a normal life. "That's Armageddon" features George Lazenby and parodies every Irwin Allen disaster flick made. A young man and woman discover the pleasures of sex through an instructional record in "Sex Record", and "Courtroom" is a hilarious parody of courtroom melodramas featuring Wally (the real Tony Dow) and the Beav (Jerry Zucker mugging it up in place of Jerry Mathers) as observers. The movie begins and ends with two news-themed skits, "AM Today" and the racy "Eyewitness News", in which the newscasters watch a couple with the TV on having sex. And there's much more.

"The Kentucky Fried Movie" is not for all tastes; I've known people who have watched it and just said "This is stupid." It is, indeed, stupid, but within the confines of the genre, it's one of the best. You'll laugh at the stupid jokes and stupid puns and stupid lines and stupid stunts all the way through if you like this sort of thing. The movie is very clever in how it packs the laughs.