Stir Crazy (1980)

Set up and wrongfully accused, two best friends will be sent to prison for a crime they didn't commit. However, no prison cell could keep them locked in.

Director:

Sidney Poitier

Writer:

Bruce Jay Friedman

Stars:

Gene Wilder, Richard Pryor, Georg Stanford Brown

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Gene Wilder	...	Skip Donahue
Richard Pryor	...	Harry Monroe
Georg Stanford Brown	...	Rory Schultebrand
JoBeth Williams	...	Meredith
Miguel Ángel Suárez	...	Jesus Ramirez (as Miguelangel Suarez)
Craig T. Nelson	...	Deputy Ward Wilson
Barry Corbin	...	Warden Walter Beatty
Charles Weldon	...	Blade
Nicolas Coster	...	Warden Henry Sampson
Joel Brooks	...	Len Garber
Jonathan Banks	...	Jack Graham
Erland van Lidth	...	Grossberger (as Erland Van Lidth De Jeude)
Lewis Van Bergen	...	Guard #1
Karmin Murcelo	...	Teresa Ramirez
Franklyn Ajaye	...	Young Man in Hospital

Storyline

Skip and Harry are framed for a bank robbery and end up in a western prison. The two eastern boys are having difficulty adjusting to the new life until the warden finds that Skip has a natural talent for riding broncos with the inter-prison rodeo coming up.

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Plot Keywords:

prison | man disguised as a woman | rodeo clown | tattoo on hand | solitary confinement | 

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Taglines:

Two jailbirds who just want out of the cage.

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime

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Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

The nickname of the group of bank robbers was "The Woodpecker Gang". As Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor dressed up as woodpeckers in this movie, as well as go to prison, there has long being an association of the pair's characters being "jailbirds" in the film, but the two are never actually seen in the jail wearing birdsuits. In fact, Richard Pryor refused to wear the woodpecker costume for the bank scene, so a double was used in the film, but he did wear it for the poster and promotional pictures.

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Goofs

The amount of beer in Harry's glass changes before and after Nancy visits the table.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Skip Donahue: Who needs Hollywood? I hear they're really nuts out there.
[singing]
Skip Donahue: Give me a town like old New York, With lots of trees and clean fresh air, I need a place where love is everywhere, They say I'm Crazy, just a little bit out of whack...

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Alternate Versions

The original 1999 DVD and the current Blu-Ray by Image Entertainment restores bits of footage absent from previous video versions.(the VHS copies were transferred from a slightly damaged 35mm print of the film and the print damage caused this), during the transition from the prison cafeteria to the activity yard in which after Harry is told by Rory that he killed his stepfather by slapping his hand in which Harry takes his hand and pats it lightly a few times and then a shot of the prison yard before cutting to the various outside activities with the inmates.

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Connections

Referenced in The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson: Richard Pryor/Rain Pryor/Jake Johannsen (1989)

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Soundtracks

Crazy
Sung by Gene Wilder
Composed by Michael Masser (uncredited) and Randy Goodrum (uncredited)
Produced by Michael Masser (uncredited)

User Reviews

Hilarious, although the 'plot' gets in the way of the comedy!

Classic comedy from two of the funniest men in cinema. The film itself is a vehicle for some of the best slapstick in any modern film. The main critism is that the film gets slightly boring towards the end as the comedy is replaced by the plot as both characters attempt a jailbreak. That said however, it is definately worth seeing this film just for the classic scene when Wilder and Prior are convicted of Armed Robbery and sent to the county jail. For the next hour the film is as funny as any I have seen. Classic Stuff!

Details

Official Sites:

Sony Movie Channel [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 December 1980 (USA)

Also Known As:

Prison Rodeo

Filming Locations:

Downtown, Tucson, Arizona, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$8,691,886, 14 December 1980

Gross USA:

$101,300,000

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$101,300,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min 104 min (theatrical cut)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1