The Man with One Red Shoe (1985)

A man picked randomly out of a crowd is made the target of CIA survelliance and pursuit.

Director:

Stan Dragoti

Writers:

Francis Veber (screenplay "Le grand blond avec une chaussure noire"), Yves Robert (screenplay "Le grand blond avec une chaussure noire")

Stars:

Tom Hanks, Lori Singer, Dabney Coleman

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tom Hanks	...	Richard
Dabney Coleman	...	Cooper
Lori Singer	...	Maddy
Charles Durning	...	Ross
Carrie Fisher	...	Paula
Edward Herrmann	...	Brown (as Ed Herrmann)
Jim Belushi	...	Morris
Irving Metzman	...	Virdon
Tom Noonan	...	Reese
Gerrit Graham	...	Carson
David L. Lander	...	Stemple
Ritch Brinkley	...	Hulse
Frank Hamilton	...	Edgar
Dortha Duckworth	...	Natalie
David Ogden Stiers	...	The Conductor

Storyline

Cooper, the deputy director of the CIA, wants to be the director. So, he tries to make it appear that the director is corrupt so that he will resign or be removed. The director appears before a committee and asks for some time to prepare his defense. The director goes home and asks his man Brown to join him. He then shows Brown that Cooper is bugging him. That's when he decides to turn the tables on Cooper by feeding him some false information. And that information is that there's a man, who might be able to clear him of the charges against him, will be arriving at the airport, so he tells Brown to meet him. The Director tells Brown to just pick someone who is arriving at the airport thus making Cooper believe that he is the man who can help the director. Brown picks Richard cause he is wearing mismatched shoes, one of them being red. So Cooper sets up surveillance on Richard and sends his femme fatale, Maddy to come on to him and find out what he knows. While Maddy is playing, ...

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Plot Keywords:

mistaken identity | cia | shoe | red shoes | spy spoof | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 July 1985 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Tall Blond Man

Filming Locations:

Port of Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$16,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$8,600,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Two of the movie's main cast both starred in two late 1980s buddy pictures where both their characters were each teamed with a dog. These were Jim Belushi in K-9 (1989) and Tom Hanks in Turner & Hooch (1989). Both pictures premiered stateside in 1989 with Belushi also appearing in two later sequels, K-911 (1999) and K-9: P.I. (2002).

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Goofs

When Richard rides his bicycle from his apartment and stops at the junction the wheel of the car behind him has driven onto and is between 2 yellow lines. Change camera, the car is to the side of the yellow lines and is not yet on the lines.

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Quotes

Ross: [Closing lines] And the Man With One Red Shoe. What's going to happen to him?
Brown: He'll be just fine.
Ross: And the girl?
Brown: The deal was her testimony for her freedom. I think it was a fair exchange.
Ross: Well, I don't think so.
Brown: [as Brown get on the helicopter] Well, since you're no longer director of CIA, and I am, it doesn't matter what you think.
[Ross gives him a angry look as the helicopter takes off]

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Alternate Versions

The video version in 1986 was cut by 5 seconds in order to receive a "PG" rating from the BBFC with edits made to shots of workmen sniffing white powder from a cocaine-covered car during the opening sequence. In 2004 all cuts were reinstated and the video was re-rated "15".

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Connections

Referenced in Midnight Screenings: Bad Teacher/Cars 2 (2011)

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Soundtracks

Love Theme
Written by Michael Masser

User Reviews

Great Sunday-afternoon viewing

OK, it's not the most brilliant piece of art in the world, but neither is it the turkey that the video guides make it out to be. It's a cute spy-cliché spoof with good performances from Hanks, Durning, Coleman, Belushi, Herrman and particularly Tom Noonan as the deadpan Agent Reese. Super music by Thomas Newman (one of his first scores), an elegant string of sight gags featuring Belushi and a couple of corpses, and a sweet ending scene more than make up for the underlying silliness of the plot and a handful of flatly delivered lines. Good to watch on a Sunday afternoon when you need to occupy your mind, but not TOO much.