The Money Pit (1986)

A young couple struggles to repair a hopelessly dilapidated house.

Director:

Richard Benjamin

Writer:

David Giler

Stars:

Tom Hanks, Shelley Long, Alexander Godunov

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tom Hanks	...	Walter Fielding
Shelley Long	...	Anna Crowley
Alexander Godunov	...	Max Beissart
Maureen Stapleton	...	Estelle
Joe Mantegna	...	Art Shirk
Philip Bosco	...	Curly
Josh Mostel	...	Jack Schnittman
Yakov Smirnoff	...	Shatov
Carmine Caridi	...	Brad Shirk
Brian Backer	...	Ethan
Billy Lombardo	...	Benny
Mia Dillon	...	Marika
John Van Dreelen	...	Carlos (as John van Dreelen)
Douglass Watson	...	Walter Fielding, Sr.
Lucille Dobrin	...	Macumba Lady

Storyline

Walter Fielding and Anna Crowley must start looking for a new house--but they can't afford much. This changes when they meet a lonely con artist who sells the a beautiful mansion at a ridiculously-low price. The catch: the second they move into the house, it falls apart, starting with the stairway collapsing, to the bathtub falling through the floor, to the chimney eventually falling into the house. Finally, they must renovate the house before the frame collapses, but the renovations also prove disastrous.

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Plot Keywords:

house | wedding | dilapidated house | renovation | thin legs | 

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Taglines:

For everyone who's ever been deeply in Love or deeply in debt.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

The "Money Pit" house, owned by the Ridder family in real life, was on the market to be sold when the movie was shooting.

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Goofs

When Walter is watching the fire go through the electrical system in the walls of the kitchen, the chunky liquid in the blender vanishes.

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Quotes

Walter: It doesn't make any sense, why would somebody be selling a million dollar house for a hundred thousand?
Jack: Who knows? A divorce, loan sharks, a scandal. The point is you get to capitalize on another human being's misfortune. That's the basis of real estate. So do we have a deal?

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Alternate Versions

Several scenes are different or added to the television version. The TV version offers an extended scene when Walter tries to carve his name and Anna's on the tree. More than one tree falls, explaining why Walter comes in the house and says they have weak trees, instead of just one tree. In between the shots of the realtor stamping the house sheet with a "SOLD", and Walter and Anna moving in, there is a scene with Walter and Anna in the house discussing how drunk they were on a trip to Puerto Rico.

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Connections

Referenced in Gilmore Girls: The Ins and Outs of Inns (2001)

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Soundtracks

Mi Orquestra
Written by Julian Bargas
Performed by Los Tupamaros
Courtesy of Taurus Sound Distributors

User Reviews

Funny remake of a remake of a.......

One of the things that makes this movie so enjoyable is that millions of Americans can easily empathize and draw upon their own experiences with the travails of fixing up a dilapidated house.

The plot is a familiar one and follows in the footsteps (which usually collapse) of such classic films as "George Washington Slept Here," "The Egg and I" and "Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House."

Shelley Long and Tom Hanks seem evenly matched as the tormented couple who suffer almost every wacky indignity and calamity imaginable. Tom Hanks has a flair for physical comedy, which he rarely got the chance to exploit in his later films. Unfortunately, except for Philip Bosco and Maureen Stapleton, the supporting players in "The Money Pit" are not in the same league as the actors who added so much flavor to films in the old studio days.

Indeed, as a classic movie buff, I find today's crop of character actors pallid in comparison with their counterparts of more than 50 years ago.

Who can forget Percy Kilbride and Hattie McDaniel as Mr. Kimber and Hester the maid in "George Washington," and Harry Shannon As Mr. Tesander, the well digger, in "Blandings"? Don't forget Donald MacBride and the coupling of Marjorie Main and Percy Kilbride as Ma and Pa Kettle in "The Egg." We'll never see the likes of them again.

Still, "The Money Pit" is all good fun and very entertaining.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish Chinese Russian Portuguese

Release Date:

26 March 1986 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Money Pit

Filming Locations:

Vizcaya Museum & Gardens - 3251 S Miami Avenue, Miami, Florida, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$10,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$5,344,555, 30 March 1986

Gross USA:

$37,499,651

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$54,999,651

Company Credits

Production Co:

Amblin Entertainment, U-Drive Productions, Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) Dolby Stereo (35 mm prints)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1