Trading Places (1983)

A snobbish investor and a wily street con artist find their positions reversed as part of a bet by two callous millionaires.

Director:

John Landis

Writers:

Timothy Harris, Herschel Weingrod

Stars:

Eddie Murphy, Dan Aykroyd, Ralph Bellamy

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 3 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Denholm Elliott	...	Coleman
Dan Aykroyd	...	Louis Winthorpe III
Maurice Woods	...	Duke & Duke Employee
Richard D. Fisher Jr.	...	Duke & Duke Employee
Jim Gallagher	...	Duke & Duke Employee
Anthony DiSabatino	...	Duke & Duke Employee
Bonnie Behrend	...	Duke & Duke Employee
Sunnie Merrill	...	Duke & Duke Employee
James Newell	...	Duke & Duke Employee (as Jim Newell)
Mary St. John	...	Duke & Duke Employee
Bonnie Tremena	...	Duke & Duke Employee
David Schwartz	...	Duke & Duke Employee
Ralph Bellamy	...	Randolph Duke
Don Ameche	...	Mortimer Duke
Tom Degidon	...	Duke Domestic

Storyline

Louis Winthorpe is a businessman who works for commodities brokerage firm of Duke and Duke owned by the brothers Mortimer and Randolph Duke. Now they bicker over the most trivial of matters and what they are bickering about is whether it's a person's environment or heredity that determines how well they will do in life. When Winthorpe bumps into Billy Ray Valentine, a street hustler and assumes he is trying to rob him, he has him arrested. Upon seeing how different the two men are, the brothers decide to make a wager as to what would happen if Winthorpe loses his job, his home and is shunned by everyone he knows and if Valentine was given Winthorpe's job. So they proceed to have Winthorpe arrested and to be placed in a compromising position in front of his girlfriend. So all he has to rely on is the hooker who was hired to ruin him.

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Plot Keywords:

role reversal | class differences | suicide attempt | scam | bare breasts | 

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Taglines:

Some very funny business.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 June 1983 (USA)

Also Known As:

Black or White

Filming Locations:

The New York Chamber of Commerce Building - The Great Hall, 65 Liberty Street, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$15,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$7,348,200, 12 June 1983

Gross USA:

$90,404,800

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$90,404,800

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cinema Group Ventures, Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

116 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The "other" Santa Claus is Mike Strug, a television reporter who still works for a network affiliate in the city of Philadelphia.

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Goofs

When Ophelia first takes Louis to her apartment, as she enters you can see that she's wearing pantyhose. Later in the scene when she removes her dress she's only wearing panties.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Coleman: [holding a breakfast tray while Louis is still asleep] Your breakfast, sir.

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Crazy Credits

Ron Taylor is credited as 'Big Black Guy' and James D. Turner as ' Even Bigger Black Guy'

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Alternate Versions

When Aired on Spike TV the scene of the train speeding between Philadelphia and New York is cut as well as the scene where The Dukes and Bily Ray and Louie are walking outside of the World Trade Center. In this edited version as soon as Billy Ray and Louie go down the escalator at 30th street station in Philadelphia it cuts straight to The World Trade Center right where Louie says "Well this is it the last bastion of real pure capitalism on earth".

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Connections

Featured in The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete (2013)

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Soundtracks

ANDANTE CANTABILE
From K-465 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Performed by Murray Adler, Harris Goldman, David Schwartz, Armand Kaproff

User Reviews

Good, well written comedy

One of the best comedies of the 1980's, this stars Eddie Murphy in one of his best roles alongside Dan Aykroyd. The plot is great, a poor, homeless man who has resorted to a life of crime (Murphy) and an upper class yuppie involved in the stock market (Aykroyd) trade places when two devious brothers (Aykroyd's employees) have a bet. This is a very well written, well acted, and well executed comedy, that makes you laugh, but also grips you with a strong plot. Also has a satisfying ending.