Movie Madness (1982)

A parody of film genres composed of three shorts, spoofing personal growth films, glossy soap operas, and police stories.

Directors:

Bob Giraldi, Henry Jaglom

Writers:

Tod Carroll, Shary Flenniken

Stars:

Peter Riegert, Diane Lane, Candy Clark

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Peter Riegert	...	Jason Cooper ("Growing Yourself")
Diane Lane	...	Liza ("Growing Yourself")
Candy Clark	...	Susan Cooper ("Growing Yourself")
Teresa Ganzel	...	Diana ("Growing Yourself")
Schnootie Neff	...	Jennifer Cooper - 'Growing Yourself'
Andy Shakman	...	Josh Cooper - 'Growing Yourself'
Tamar Howard	...	Judy Cooper - 'Growing Yourself'
Ian Fried	...	Jeffrey Cooper - 'Growing Yourself'
Barry Michlin	...	Fireman - 'Growing Yourself'
Trinidad Silva	...	Carlos - 'Growing Yourself'
John Lawlor	...	Mr. Haggis - 'Growing Yourself'
Susan Krebs	...	Lady Who Beats Her Plants - 'Growing Yourself'
Nedra Volz	...	Old Lady - 'Growing Yourself'
Stanley Lawrence	...	Sanitation Man - 'Growing Yourself' (as Stan Lawrence)
Ann Dusenberry	...	Dominique Corsaire ("Success Wanters")

Storyline

Composed of three short segments, National Lampoon's anthology satirizes everything from personal growth films, glamorous soap operas, and exciting police stories. Starting with "Growing Yourself", a confused family man goes to great lengths to find a new meaning in life, and raise his four children. In "Success Wanters", the ambitious college graduate, Dominique Corsaire, is bent on succeeding in life, working her way up the career ladder as a stripper, a mistress, and a margarine company owner. Then, in "Municipalians", inexperienced LAPD policeman, Officer Brent Falcone, teams up with the cynical veteran, Stan Nagurski, on the hunt for the inept serial killer, Samuel Starkman.

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Plot Keywords:

anthology | serial killer | margarine company | mistress | stripper | 

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Taglines:

The first movie from National Lampoon since 'Animal House'

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

Completed in 1981, the film wasn't released until two years later.

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Goofs

A marquee advertises Fassbinder's "In a Year of 13 Moons" as being a "six hour epic." Although Fassbinder was known for his very long films (thus the joke), this particular film was only a third that length.

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Quotes

Stan Nagurski: [pulling up to the curb] How's it going girls?
Spanish Prositute - 'Municipalians': I was stabbed in the leg by an aircraft mechanic.
Stan Nagurski: I'm sorry.

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Alternate Versions

The 1992 US VHS release censors most of the profanities via dubbing (though one line is cut outright with a noticeable splice in the picture). The DVD release is uncensored.

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Connections

Spoofs Cleopatra (1963)

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Soundtracks

Feelings
Performed by New Orleans Nighthawks

User Reviews

Abysmal!

I chuckled a few times during this movie. I laughed out loud during the notarizing of the margarine company handover (pun intended).

There are three segments in this movie. The first one is supposed to be a spoof of "woman 'grows up' and launches career" movies. The Tampax® box was the funniest thing in this segment. Most of the cast members aren't listed here on IMDb. They are the lucky ones. Few other people will be able to connect this thing to the ruin of their acting careers.

The second segment is a spoof of "sharkish woman sleeps her way to the top and seizes control of huge industry" movies. Robert Culp has several funny moments, all physical humor, including the aforementioned handover. After his character dies the segment sinks lower and lower as Dominique Corsaire rises higher and higher. By the time she becomes First Lady I wanted to rip the cable out of the TV and watch "snow." I switched to Pakistani music videos instead. I don't understand Urdu, or whatever language the videos were in. It was still better than listening to the dialogue in this painfully dull "story."

Then came "Municipalians" with the *big* stars, half of them on screen for less than a minute: Elisha Cook, Jr., Christopher Lloyd, Rhea Perlman, Henny Youngman, Julie Kavner, Richard Widmark and ... *Robby Benson.* It's supposed to be a spoof of "young cop teams with hardened, substance abusing older cop who needs retirement *badly*" movies. The horizontal flash bar on the police car is very impressive. It was interesting seeing old RTD buses, and a Shell gas station sign, and an American Savings sign -- none of them are around anymore. Nagurski's "Never stop anywhere you might have to get out the car" made me smile momentarily. Then they discuss how boring the young cop is. A lot. Back and forth about how boring he is. That was as boring as this description of how boring it is. Nagurski's Law Number Four, "Never go into a music store that's been cut into with an acetylene torch," made me think that the music store is a real business at the actual location the dispatcher gave. Thinking about that was more interesting than the set-up for the gag which followed. Young Falcone (Benson) gets shot. A lot. He becomes a hardened cop like Nagurski. The segment keeps going. On and on. And on. It won't stop. It rolls relentlessly onward no matter how many times you wish he'd just *die* already so this thing will end. It doesn't. It goes on and on and on.... Then a "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" episode which I've seen four times already comes on. Thank God! This abysmal movie ended while I went to get the mail.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 November 1983 (USA)

Also Known As:

National Lampoon Goes to the Movies

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$63,405

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$63,405

Company Credits

Production Co:

Matty Simmons Productions, National Lampoon

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1