An Officer and a Gentleman (1982)

A young man must complete his work at a Navy Officer Candidate School to become an aviator, with the help of a tough Gunnery Sergeant and his new girlfriend.

Director:

Taylor Hackford

Writer:

Douglas Day Stewart

Stars:

Richard Gere, Debra Winger, David Keith

Won 2 Oscars. Another 7 wins & 13 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Richard Gere	...	Zack Mayo
Debra Winger	...	Paula Pokrifki
David Keith	...	Sid Worley
Robert Loggia	...	Byron Mayo
Lisa Blount	...	Lynette Pomeroy
Lisa Eilbacher	...	Casey Seeger
Louis Gossett Jr.	...	Sgt. Emil Foley
Tony Plana	...	Emiliano Della Serra
Harold Sylvester	...	Perryman
David Caruso	...	Topper Daniels
Victor French	...	Joe Pokrifiki
Grace Zabriskie	...	Esther Pokrifiki
Tommy Petersen	...	Young Zack
Mara Scott-Wood	...	Bunny (as Mara Scott Wood)
David Greenfield	...	Schneider

Storyline

Zack Mayo is a young man who has signed up for Navy Aviation Officer Candidate School. He is a Navy brat who has a bad attitude problem. Gunnery Sergeant Emil Foley is there to train and evaluate him, and will clearly find Zack wanting. Zack meets Paula, a girl who has little beyond family, and must decide what it is he wants to do with his life.

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Plot Keywords:

sex scene | navy | military officer | u.s. military | naval uniform | 

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Taglines:

Life gave him nothing, except the courage to win...and a woman to love.

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Filipino

Release Date:

13 August 1982 (USA)

Also Known As:

Reto al destino

Filming Locations:

City of Olongapo aka Olongapo City, Philippines

Box Office

Budget:

$7,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$3,304,679, 1 August 1982, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$129,795,552

Company Credits

Production Co:

Lorimar Film Entertainment,Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

124 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

One of three early-to-mid 1980s movies directed by Taylor Hackford with a hit song associated with the picture. In White Nights (1985), the songs were "Say You, Say Me" written and performed by Lionel Richie and "Separate Lives" written by Stephen Bishop and performed by Phil Collins and Marilyn Martin; in Against All Odds (1984), the song was "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" sung by Phil Collins; and in An Officer and a Gentleman (1982), the song was "Up Where We Belong" sung by Joe Cocker. All of these themes were Oscar nominated for the Best Original Song Academy Award. The ones performed by Collins did not win, but the Richie and Cocker songs did take home the gold statuette.

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Goofs

Gunnery Sergeant Foley says at the beginning to the women candidates not to expect special treatment. Yet, in the very next scene when Segar, a woman, is doing push-ups next to Zack and Sid, Foley lets her go after only three push-ups, whereas Zack and Sid had done fifty push-ups and had to start over after seeing Lynette and Paula.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Mayo: [whispered to sleeping father] Hey.
[flashback to Manila]
Byron: Hey, kid! Are you Zack?
Young Zack: Yes, sir.
Byron: I'm Byron; nice to meet you. Come on, let's get your bags, OK?
Young Zack: Yes, sir.

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Crazy Credits

With special thanks to Art Kulman of the Washington State Dept. of Commerce & Economic Development, Fort Worden State Park, Gus Gustafson, Brent Shirley, and the people of Port Townsend, Washington.

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Alternate Versions

Some of the music in the VHS version has been changed - namely the ZZ Top, Pat Benatar, Dire Straits, and Van Morrison songs.

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Connections

Referenced in Big Bang: Episode #1.2 (2007)

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Soundtracks

Tush
(1975)
Written by Billy Gibbons (as B. Gibbons), Dusty Hill (as D. Hill), and Frank Beard (as F. Beard)
Performed by ZZ Top
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Records, Inc.

User Reviews

A great and honest movie!

I am a huge fan of "Full Metal Jacket", but I think it is wrong to compare this movie w/ "An Officer and A Gentleman", they are just too different. It is no surprise that Louis Gosset Jr. won on Oscar for "best supporting actor", he was very convincing!!

This movie is a good example of great characters and the dynamics between them. They were all great!! Richard Gere plays a likable loner. But he is less arrogant than he is untrusting, and I think Foley finally gains some respect for him when he realizes this.

The most memorable scenes for me were when Seegar couldn't make it up the wall the first time and she caves into tears at Foley's caustic (and very funny!) comments. The scenerio were she finally makes it over due to Mayo's newfound concern and trust of others is also great and shows his maturing. But I think Louis Gosset Jr. shines the most when he challenges Mayo to a fight (I believe he did this out of respect for Mayo as a last ditch effort to keep him from dropping out), a wonderful scene indeed!!

Debra Winger was some serious eye-candy in this flick and Lisa Eilbacher has the cutest doll face.

Great characters and cast!