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:

Only these two pigeons could dress up as woodpeckers...

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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

When Skip is thrown from the bronco the first time, he is wearing gloves. As he rolls over on the ground, he is not wearing gloves. When Grossberger picks him up, he is wearing gloves again.

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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

Featured in Richard Pryor: Omit the Logic (2013)

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Soundtracks

Eat Your Heart Out
Sung by Leata Galloway
Composed and Produced by Tom Scott (uncredited)
Lyrics by Rob Preston (uncredited)
Courtesy of Ariola-Eurodisc, GMBH

User Reviews

a timeless comedy

Recently i bought a DVD-recorder. As a stunt the shop sold it at a special price, together with a selection of Movies on DVD. One of these DVD's is "Stir Crazy". I watched the film again, this time together with my 13-years old son and a friend of his. The boys were rolling on the floor with laughter, so one can definitely say that this is a timeless comedy, that never ages. The film always leaves me with a good feeling and i have seen that it still works, even with kids these days. The acting is superb, the dialog continually funny, the prison setting convincing and an extra credit should go out to Jobeth Williams' small but heat-warming part. Guaranteed to bring a little sunshine to a rainy day.

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