Night Shift (1982)

A morgue attendant is talked into running a brothel at his workplace after a deceased pimp is sent there. However, the pimp's killers don't look too kindly on this new 'business', nor does the morgue's owner.

Director:

Ron Howard

Writers:

Lowell Ganz, Babaloo Mandel

Stars:

Henry Winkler, Michael Keaton, Shelley Long

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Henry Winkler	...	Chuck Lumley
Michael Keaton	...	Bill Blazejowski
Shelley Long	...	Belinda Keaton
Gina Hecht	...	Charlotte Koogle
Pat Corley	...	Edward Koogle
Bobby Di Cicco	...	Leonard (as Bobby DiCicco)
Nita Talbot	...	Vivian
Basil Hoffman	...	Drollhauser
Tim Rossovich	...	Luke
Clint Howard	...	Jefferey
Joe Spinell	...	Manetti
Cheryl Carter	...	Tanya
Becky Gonzalez	...	Lupe
Corki Grazer	...	Sylvia (as Corki Corman)
Jaid Barrymore	...	Joyce (as Ildiko Jaid)

Storyline

A nebbish of a morgue attendant gets shunted back to the night shift where he is shackled with an obnoxious neophyte partner who dreams of the "one great idea" for success. His life takes a bizarre turn when a prostitute neighbour complains about the loss of her pimp. His partner, upon hearing the situation, suggests that they fill that opening themselves using the morgue at night as their brothel. Against his better judgement, he gets talked into the idea, only to find that it's more than his boss that has objections to this bit of entrepreneurship.

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Plot Keywords:

night shift | pimp | prostitute | voyeur | panties | 

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Taglines:

It makes the day seem dead

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 July 1982 (USA)

Also Known As:

Servicio de noche

Filming Locations:

H&H Midtown Bagels - 2239 Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$23,600,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Major Studio Partners,The Ladd Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Ron Howard reportedly approached his friend and Happy Days (1974) co-star Henry Winkler with the script during Winkler's lunch hour on the Paramount Pictures lot. Although Howard gave him the choice of either of the film's two lead roles, Winkler chose the part of "Chuck Lumley". Winkler welcomed the departure from his Happy Days (1974) character, Arthur "The Fonz" Fonzarelli, and promotional materials claimed that he shed fifteen pounds for the film.

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Goofs

When Bill is listening over and over to the tape recording of Chuck saying how much he wishes Bill would shut up, the tape keeps rewinding back, but Bill's fingers don't ever move until finally when he shuts the tape machine off.

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Quotes

Chuck Lumley: [reads the forms that Lenoard, the day shift guy left] Name of the deceased... something Polish?

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Connections

Spoofed in Ho! Ho! Ho! (1993)

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Soundtracks

Talk Talk
Written by Mark Hollis (uncredited) and Ed Hollis (uncredited)
Performed by Talk Talk
Courtesy of EMI Records

User Reviews

Michael Keaton's signature role

Adam Sandler and Pauly Shore can only DREAM of being as funny as Michael Keaton in "Night Shift." Keaton's hilarious performance only serves to underscore the fact that he's never been near as funny since.

Sure, the movie will never be in the AFI's top 100 list. But when I was 18, a loony pre-college me dreamed of being as funny as Billy Blaizejowski, Keaton's character in the film. I credit the script for great lines, but I doubt anyone could have made an annoying character like Billy loveable - except Keaton.

Henry Winkler does a bang-up job with a straight role that affords audiences little to get excited about. He is completely convincing as an in-over-his-head nebbish with a nervous stomach, and deserves credit for pulling it off without seeming whiny. We identify with Winkler's character even though we can see how cowardly he is.

The plot, of course, is contrived, as is any plot involving hookers with hearts of gold. It's hard to see Shelly Long as a prostitute, but she plays it gamely and has fun with the role.

I recommend this film if you have any craziness to your sense of humor, or just if you're a male between the ages of 17 and 25. That's the target audience, but even in my mid-30's, I still find Keaton's performance refreshing and laugh-out-loud funny.