Night Patrol (1984)

A hapless police officer is transferred to the night shift even as he clandestinely pursues a career as a stand up comedian.

Director:

Jackie Kong

Writers:

Murray Langston (original screenplay), William A. Levey (original screenplay) (as Bill Levey)

Stars:

Linda Blair, Pat Paulsen, Jaye P. Morgan

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Linda Blair	...	Officer Sue Perman
Pat Paulsen	...	Officer Kent Lane
Jaye P. Morgan	...	Kate Parker
Jack Riley	...	Doctor Ziegler
Billy Barty	...	Captain Lewis
Murray Langston	...	Officer Melvin White / The Unknown Comic
Pat Morita	...	Rape Victim
Sydney Lassick	...	Peeping Tom (as Sidney Lassick)
Kent Perkins	...	Tex
Roxanne Osco	...	Kicking Girl (as Roxanne Cybelle)
Joe Battaglia	...	Bum
Lori Sutton	...	Edith Hutton
Mik One	...	Press Agent
Alex Folks	...	Leroy's Bartender
Patrie Allen	...	Officer Judy

Storyline

Melvin is a pathetic loser of a motorcycle cop who gets demoted to working the night shift as a punishment for his constant screw-ups. During his off-duty time, however, Melvin turns to his secret obsession: comedy. He puts a paper bag over his head and performs in front of audiences as "The Unknown Comic". Unable to balance his two lives, he seeks psychiatric help to try and resolve who he really wants to be.

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Plot Keywords:

female nudity | psychotronic film | payphone | pay phone | stand up comedian | 

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Taglines:

They're weird, wacky, punky, spunky . . . be thankful they don't work during the day! [Australia Theatrical]

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

The restaurant sequence was filmed at Rae's Restaurant in Santa Monica, California.

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Goofs

When Kent helps Melvin up to the hand dryer in the men's room to dry his pants they turn the dryer on. A man walks in the men's room, the scene cuts back to Kent and Melvin the dryer is off.

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Quotes

[repeated line]
Captain Lewis: Are you calling me a liar!

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Crazy Credits

All the credits are in French.

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Alternate Versions

The Anchor Bay DVD is slightly edited and runs 85 minutes, while the original New World Video release runs approximately 87 minutes. Obviously, the latter is the complete version.

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Connections

References Welcome Back, Kotter (1975)

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Soundtracks

Face of Love
Performed by Lee Henderson
Written by Leonard L. Goldsmith and Larry Neil Henderson

User Reviews

One of a Kind

Make no mistake, Night Patrol is a mix of juvenile stupidity and toilet humor.

Maybe that's why I liked it so much.

Comedy of this nature doesn't ask much of your brain. Your age and/or sense of humor fills in the blanks. Even years down the road some pretty funny segments stand up. On a shoestring budget and featuring the likes of The Unknown Comic from the 80's (who? yeah, exactly), Pat Paulsen, Linda Blair and a few other familiar faces, the whole thing isn't trying to be anything it's not. Sure you could say it was riding the coat tails of the 80's Police Academy screwball cop genre, but it does it way cruder and funnier than anything Guttenberg and Co. ever did. Night Patrol has it's own camp style.

I was pretty young when I first seen this (no surprise there), but even in my older age, it still ranks as one of my favorite comedies. Sure, some of it is dated, doesn't hold up well, but some things are classic shtick. Bodily function jokes, boobs, a The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly parody, more boobs, etc. I'm not going to attempt to sell this movie to you. Don't like it? You know why. If you like it, you already know why. The humor is raw, crude, and lastly, funny.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English French

Release Date:

16 November 1984 (USA)

Also Known As:

Night Patrol

Filming Locations:

Rae's Restaurant, 2901 Pico Boulevard, Santa Monica, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$4,500,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

RSL, Vis Arts Consultants

Technical Specs

Runtime:

87 min (video)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1