The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988)

Incompetent police Detective Frank Drebin must foil an attempt to assassinate Queen Elizabeth II.

Director:

David Zucker

Writers:

Jerry Zucker, Jim Abrahams

Stars:

Leslie Nielsen, Priscilla Presley, O.J. Simpson

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Leslie Nielsen	...	Frank Drebin
Priscilla Presley	...	Jane Spencer
Ricardo Montalban	...	Vincent Ludwig
George Kennedy	...	Ed Hocken
O.J. Simpson	...	Nordberg
Susan Beaubian	...	Mrs. Nordberg
Nancy Marchand	...	Mayor
Raye Birk	...	Pahpshmir
Jeannette Charles	...	Queen Elizabeth II
Ed Williams	...	Ted Olsen
Tiny Ron	...	Al
'Weird Al' Yankovic	...	'Weird Al'
Leslie Maier	...	'Weird Leslie'
Winifred Freedman	...	Stephie
Joe Grifasi	...	Foreman

Storyline

A rerun of many of the gags from the television series Police Squad! (1982). An Airplane! (1980)-type spoof, this time with the an incompetent Lieutenant Frank Drebin, who always "gets his man". Visual gags come thick and fast, and it's impossible to catch them all with one viewing. The plot: Queen Elizabeth II of England is coming to town, and Vincent Ludwig has plans to assassinate her using a brainwashed baseball player.

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Plot Keywords:

spoof | slapstick comedy | parody | assassin | terrorist | 

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Taglines:

You've read the ad, now see the movie!

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime

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Certificate:

PG-13

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 December 1988 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Naked Gun

Filming Locations:

Brand Library - 1601 West moutain Street, Glendale, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$12,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$9,300,000, 4 December 1988

Gross USA:

$78,756,177

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

85 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Several years later, Queen Elizabeth II attended a Oakland A's versus Baltimore Orioles game in Baltimore, Maryland, and met both teams in their respective dugouts. Reggie Jackson, then an Oakland A's coach, was the first person in the receiving line in the Oakland dugout. Some news channels showed gag footage from this movie of the Queen's impersonator throwing out the first pitch. Leslie Nielsen met the real Queen Elizabeth II in 2005.

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Goofs

During the baseball scrum, Seattle #41 in gray swings a chair at LA #5 (Beverly), just as the chair hits him, the camera cuts to a tighter angle showing the chair breaking apart across #50's (Lombardo's) back.

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Quotes

Frank: I've finally found someone I can love - a good, clean love... without utensils.

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Crazy Credits

"Mr. Weiss' Wardrobe........................... ANDREA THAU" (However, this may be a legitimate credit, since Mr. Weiss, the producer, has a small uncredited part and needed a costume.)

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Alternate Versions

The baseball game has a few modifications: originally we saw the Queen passing food from a vender, now we see her also passing the money to pay for it; during the montage of baseball's funniest moments, there is a new shot of a family having a picnic in the outfield; and during a conference on the pitcher's mound, they discuss financial matters and not baseball.

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Connections

Featured in De zomer draait door: Episode #2.10 (2009)

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Soundtracks

God Save the King!
(1744) (uncredited)
Music attributed to Henry Carey
Played at the ballgame in honor of the Queen

User Reviews

In praise of Leslie Nielsen....

The movie itself is funny. "The Naked Gun" is without a doubt the best skewering of all cop movie cliches available in this day and age. It works on every conceivable level and a few that haven't been conceived yet.

But what puts it over the top is Leslie Nielsen.

It's amazing: he was great in "Airplane!", another classic from the ZAZ team (Zucker, Abrahams, Zucker), and in the lamentably short TV series "Police Squad!". But here, he spreads his wings and flies to new heights of insanity and delerium. With jaw set square and tongue firmly in cheek, Neilsen makes the role of Lt. Frank Drebin all his own and the movie-going public's collective life is all the more enriched because of it.

He's aided and abetted by greats like Kennedy, Presley and Montalban (who knew?) and the movie even finds good moments for John Houseman and Reggie Jackson.

As I said, the movie takes off and finds great things to do with police cars with a mind all their own and goes on from there to take on such cliches as car chases, illegal searches, the cleaning out of the desk, the trip to the police lab, shoot-outs, the lax housework of a single police detective, etc., etc., etc.....

And what other cop movie in the history of the world has a music video in the middle, courtesy of Herman's Hermits?

Just one.

Ten stars and a Dugout Dog for "The Naked Gun", the film that answers once and for all - can Leslie Nielsen do comedy?

I think you know the answer.