Ishtar (1987)

Two terrible lounge singers get booked to play a gig in a Moroccan hotel but somehow become pawns in an international power play between the C.I.A., the Emir of Ishtar, and the rebels trying to overthrow his regime.

Director:

Elaine May

Writer:

Elaine May

Stars:

Warren Beatty, Dustin Hoffman, Isabelle Adjani

1 win & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Warren Beatty	...	Lyle Rogers
Dustin Hoffman	...	Chuck Clarke
Isabelle Adjani	...	Shirra Assel
Charles Grodin	...	Jim Harrison
Jack Weston	...	Marty Freed
Tess Harper	...	Willa
Carol Kane	...	Carol
Aharon Ipalé	...	Emir Yousef
Fijad Hageb	...	Abdul (as Fuad Hageb)
David Margulies	...	Mr. Clarke
Rose Arrick	...	Mrs. Clarke
Julie Garfield	...	Dorothy
Cristine Rose	...	Siri Darma (as Christine Rose)
Robert V. Girolami	...	Bartender (as Bob Girolami)
Abe Kroll	...	Mr. Thomopoulos

Storyline

Two terrible lounge singers get booked to play a gig in a Moroccan hotel but somehow become pawns in an international power play between the CIA, the Emir of Ishtar, and the rebels trying to overthrow his regime.

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Plot Keywords:

over budget film | woman dresses as a man | woman with a gun | emir | cia | 

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Music | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG-13

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 May 1987 (USA)

Also Known As:

Иштар

Filming Locations:

Kaufman Astoria Studios - 3412 36th Street, Astoria, Queens, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$55,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$4,331,817, 17 May 1987, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$14,375,181

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation,Delphi V Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

107 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film cast includes two Oscar winners: Warren Beatty and Dustin Hoffman; and four Oscar nominees: Isabelle Adjani, Carol Kane, Herb Gardner, and Tess Harper.

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Goofs

By the chandelier when Jim talks to the Emir.

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Quotes

Chuck Clarke: I'm leaving... some love in my Will. I'm leaving... some love in my Will. My life is nearly over, and time goes by so fast. So I'm going to give you a present, to thank you for the past...

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Alternate Versions

UK cinema and video versions were cut by 8 secs by the BBFC to remove uses of the word 'fuck' in order for the film to receive a PG rating. The cuts were restored in 2004 to the 15-rated DVD release.

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Connections

Referenced in The Cinema Snob: Sex and the City 2 (2017)

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Soundtracks

Tomorrow
Lyrics by Martin Charnin
Music by Charles Strouse
Performed by Warren Beatty and Dustin Hoffman

User Reviews

Call me crazy, but...

"Ishtar was great," I think defiantly every time by some off chance someone I come in contact with who has actually seen it cites it was the worst movie ever. I suppose it's part of cinematic pop culture to hold that opinion as a safeguard against being called a fool.

The most charming quality of Ishtar is its consistently dry, tongue-and-cheek disposition. It offers brilliant insight to the types of people in the world that, despite the fact that to everyone else their talent is cheesy at best, continue to try and try. Rogers and Clarke are the "Every Men" for that entire segment of the population with their songwriting musical act.

Their third-rate, leisure-suit-wearing manager does his job by getting them a few gigs; the biggest gig of all is in Ishtar, a politically unstable Middle Eastern country. Which, of course, is unbeknownst to Rogers and Clarke, who are just reveling in their love of playing music. Their naivete (and sometimes outright stupidity) is a character unto itself, and plays brilliantly throughout the ridiculous adventure that they experience.

I've seen Hoffman and Beatty in interviews joking about how they knew the movie was so bad that, instead of quitting, they simply got into the spirit by over-acting at parts. But, whether they know it or not, they were very REAL people, and THAT was the best part of all.