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:

$78,041,829

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

Susan Beaubian played Mrs. Nordberg, the wife of the character played by O.J. Simpson. Many years later Beaubian starred in The People v. O.J. Simpson, which was the first season of FX's crime anthology series American Crime Story (2016), about the O.J. Simpson murder trial.

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Goofs

At the ballpark, Ludwig drags Jane up the stairs which knocks popcorn out the hands of the only two fans who had popcorn. Instantly, when Frank follows up the same flight of stairs, six fans were holding popcorn which gets knocked out too by Frank ascending the steps.

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Quotes

[Frank is interrogating Nordberg about the source of his incident, while Nordberg is only partly conscious from anesthesia, which Frank is incompetently unaware of]
Frank: Nordberg, it's me, Frank. Now, who did this to you?
Det. Nordberg: [Struggling to tell the name of the ship he was attacked on] I... Love... You.
Frank: [Awkwardly] I... love you, too, Nordberg. Who were they?
Det. Nordberg: [half-consciously] Ship... boat.
Frank: That's right, Nordberg. A boat. Now, when you're better, we'll go sailing together on a boat. We'll take a cruise ...
[...]

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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

Drebin's walking monologue (ending with "And where the Hell was I?") has many new scenes, such as Drebin going into a public shower, and extra dialogue to fill the time.

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Connections

Spoofed in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997)

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Soundtracks

I Love L.A.
(1983)
Written and Performed by Randy Newman
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Records Inc.
By Arrangement with Warner Special Products

User Reviews

The Zucker's best. Nielson's best as well

ZAZ's(David Zucker, Jim Abrahams and Jerry Zucker) The Naked Gun is one of the funniest (if not funniest) film ever with more parodies and gags than one could ever imagine. And the writing is if not good, great that never lets up (even through the finale baseball game with Reggie Jackson).

But what really gets this film up there is it's main characters. Leslie Nielson has never been better and probably won;t ever be this good ever again. He brings an insane type of humor from a cop that hasn't been seen since Clouseau. The supporting characters are good also, including Priscilla Pressley, George Kennedy, Ricardo Montebaum, Nancy Marchand and (odd to see him in a movie today) OJ Simpson. There zany characters and added with a great script make this a treasure in cinema comedy. One of the best films of the 80's. A++