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.

---

Plot Keywords:

night shift | pimp | prostitute | voyeur | panties | 

---

Taglines:

The oldest profession in a new-look comedy

---

Genres:

Comedy

---

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

The movie's production notes stated that Ron Howard tested forty of two hundred possible actors for the role of Bill Blazejowski, eight of whom read scenes with Henry Winkler. Potential co-stars auditioned during the week, with semi-finalists returning on Saturdays to screentest, which was Winkler's day off from Happy Days (1974).

---

Goofs

Bill says "this is my stop" and gets off the subway, while Chuck stays on. But the sign next to him says the train is the Times Square - Grand Central shuttle, which makes no intermediate stops.

---

Quotes

Cleon: We're angry. We're insulted.
Pig: Besides, wouldn't be right to let you live after we killed Franklin. He was our friend.
Chuck: I'd like to be your friend. Please, God! Let me be your friend...

---

Connections

Referenced in Mike & Mike: Episode dated 20 July 2016 (2016)

---

Soundtracks

Someday, Someway
Written by Marshall Crenshaw (uncredited)
Performed by Marshall Crenshaw
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Records

User Reviews

Blaze-O-Rama!

This movie was actually pretty believable, and the actors had such chemistry, it was great! Henry Winkler and Michael Keaton were great together and seem to be like the most likeable people you would meet. I wish they would have made Night Shift 2, or Keaton and Winkler just should have worked together again. 7.6 out of 10.