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

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Taglines:

Some very funny business.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the scene where the Dukes are explaining commodities to Valentine, they have a plate with nine 1-kg bars of gold on it. At the time of release, this amount of gold would be worth roughly $119,070. In 2019 adjusted for inflation, this comes to $305,746.12. This does not take into account the current price of gold, but the price of gold in 1983 simply adjusted for inflation.

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Goofs

When Billy Ray comes out of jail, after of being bailed out, the Dukes confirm that they bailed out Billy Ray before he gets in to the car. After they get in the car they say, "We had the charges dropped". If the Dukes dropped the charges there would be no need to pay the bail.

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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

The names of the major actors/actresses are shown superimposed on short clips from the film. The clips showing Dan Aykroyd, Eddie Murphy and Jamie-Lee Curtis respectively are obvious outtakes as they all crack up and burst into smiles and/or laughter.

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Alternate Versions

Another scene that is only available in the television version is one where Valentine (Eddie Murphy) first enters the Duke and Duke building. The cut version shows Coleman dropping off Valentine for his first day of work, then showing a smiling Valentine exiting an elevator and speaking to a receptionist. The uncut scene (television version) has Valentine entering the main hall of the building and going through a series of interactions with the same people that were pretty much identical to the scene near the beginning of the movie when Winthorpe (Dan Aykroyd) enters the building to go to work. This scene is one of the many ways of portraying contrasts in the movie... in this case "not knowing what to expect rookie" versus "veteran snob". This scene also shows why Valentine has a smile on his face as he exits the elevator and speaks confidently to the receptionist. Valentine sure was nervous before he entered the building talking to Coleman, but gains confidence as he progresses down the main hall toward the elevator.

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Connections

Featured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Things to Watch on Netflix This Holiday Season (2017)

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Soundtracks

GET A JOB
Written and Performed by The Silhouettes
Courtesy Bulldog Records, Ltd.

User Reviews

Murphy and Aykroyd at their best

Could this movie honestly have been any more funny? I saw it again, as I have repeatedly for years, and still laughed. My new son had never seen it before and liked it as well. Murphy was at the top of his game back then and Aykroyd is the perfect snob-class elitist. Some of these jokes are so timeless that I still refer to them from time-to-time and they STILL get laughs, both from people who have and haven't seen this film.

Yes, the jokes are a bit dated and somewhat slapstick, but this was a sign of the times. Most 80s comedies were full of slapstick moments. Jamie Lee Curtis was at the height of her sexy image and I'd forgotten how well she'd played her role. The late Don Ameche is so animated that it played perfectly into the mood of the film.

You can find this film in the bargain bin of most stores these days. I saw it for sale for only $5.50. It's worth owning.

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

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1