Body Double (1984)

A young actor's obsession with spying on a beautiful woman who lives nearby leads to a baffling series of events with drastic consequences.

Director:

Brian De Palma

Writers:

Robert J. Avrech (screenplay), Brian De Palma (screenplay)

Stars:

Craig Wasson, Melanie Griffith, Gregg Henry

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 1 win & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Craig Wasson	...	Jake
Melanie Griffith	...	Holly
Gregg Henry	...	Sam
Deborah Shelton	...	Gloria
Guy Boyd	...	Jim McLean
Dennis Franz	...	Rubin
David Haskell	...	Drama Teacher
Rebecca Stanley	...	Kimberly
Al Israel	...	Corso
Douglas Warhit	...	Video Salesman
B.J. Jones	...	Douglas
Russ Marin	...	Frank
Lane Davies	...	Billy
Barbara Crampton	...	Carol
Larry Flash Jenkins	...	Assistant Director (as Larry 'Flash' Jenkins)

Storyline

Jake Scully comes home to find his girlfriend with another man and has to find a new place. In between his acting workshops and his job in a vampire B-movie, he scans the paper looking for anything. He happens to meet Sam Bouchard, a fellow actor who needs a house sitter. Both are pleased with the arrangement that will have Jake staying in the house and for a sweetener, Sam shows him his favorite neighbor, a well-built woman who strips with her window open each night. Jake becomes obsessed with meeting her and is able to help recover her purse from a thief, but shows his own phobia, he is incapacitated by claustrophobia when the thief runs through a tunnel. When Jake witnesses a murder, he finds out that the police love to pin crimes on peeping Toms. Jake discovers that here are just too many coincidences but must hunt them down himself without the police.

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Plot Keywords:

lesbian sex | peeping tom | porn star | pervert | porn actress | 

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Taglines:

Brian De Palma the modern master of suspense invites you witness - A seduction. A mystery. A murder.

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Genres:

Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Official Sites:

Sony Movie Channel [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 October 1984 (USA)

Also Known As:

Doble de cuerpo

Filming Locations:

1700 E. Ocean Blvd, Long Beach, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$10,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$2,837,978, 28 October 1984, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$8,801,940

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures, Delphi II Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

114 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Stereo

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

At the start of the "Frankie Goes To Hollywood" sequence, as the singing night doorman (played by Holly Johnson) escorts Jake down the stairway, an actress dressed like Gloria Swanson as Norma Desmond in "Sunset Boulevard" descends the stairs just in front of them, gesticulating like Norma did in the final scene of that film, which was also about Hollywood and the movie industry.

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Goofs

In the dressing room, the saleswoman pulls a curtain partly closed. In the next shot, the curtains are in their original position until Gloria Revell herself closes them further.

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Quotes

Jake Scully: I like to watch.
Holly Body: Makes you hot, doesn't it?
Jake Scully: Yeah.
Holly Body: Makes me hot too. Why don't you come over here and I'll show you how hot?

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Alternate Versions

This film was passed uncut in 2000 in the UK when re-submitted to the BBFC.

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Connections

Spoofed in Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the Thirteenth (2000)

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Soundtracks

Main Theme
Written by Pino Donaggio

User Reviews

A Classic by Director Brian De Palma

I can't believe that critics panned this movie when it came out. I have to give director Brian De Palma for his eyes for beauty, and crisp cinematography.

Jake (Craig Wilson) is s struggling actor with claustrophobia. One day he gets invited to house sit a house that belongs to a guy named Sam (Gregg Henry) who he met while looking for a place to live. Across the street on his Hollywood hills home, is a woman who dances away each night in a skimpy attire. Not knowing that he's being set up to be a witness, he watches her with a telescope each night.

Holly (Malany Griffith) supposedly is Gloria (Deborah Shelton)'s body double in this movie, but what's not clear is where was Gloria when Holly was dancing away in her room each night. Ex miss USA Deborah Shelton looks gorgeous in this movie.

Body double's idea might have originated from the movie "Flash Dance" where the word became famous due to Jennifer Beals using a body double to do the dancing scenes.

Beautifully shot around some of the most luscious places in Southern California, the movie is a eye candy to watch. If the plot was better fleshed out it would have been even better.

One of the Hollywood classic that deserves a watch by all cult classic fans.