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

Jay Johnstone is shown batting right-handed as the lead-off hitter in the game, although in his real-life career he was a left-handed hitter.

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Goofs

When Jane sucks Frank's finger, her hand jumps on and off of his between shots.

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Quotes

Mayor: Drebin, I don't want anymore trouble like you had last year on the South Side. Understand? That's my policy.
Frank: Yes. Well, when I see 5 weirdos dressed in togas stabbing a guy in the middle of the park in full view of 100 people, I shoot the bastards. That's *my* policy.
Mayor: That was a Shakespeare-In-The-Park production of "Julius Caesar", you moron! You killed 5 actors! Good ones.

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Crazy Credits

"Man and Woman Deleted from Fireworks Scene... GREG & SHARON BRESLAU"

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Alternate Versions

On a recent Comedy Central airing in 2006, the entire opening scene with Frank Drebin and the hostile foreign leaders was cut, instead going straight to the opening credits. This is probably due to sensitivity regarding the conflict overseas.

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Connections

Spoofed in Tooken (2015)

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Soundtracks

I'm Into Something Good
(1964)
Written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King
Performed by Peter Noone
Courtesy of Cypress Records

User Reviews

"That's why I went to Beirut... to relax."

Frank Drebin(Nielsen) is an old school cop. A hard-ass. He's also remarkably incompetent. He gets a tip that an important businessman(played by Khan himself, so you know he's evil!) is smuggling heroin, and when he meets with him to try to find out, he is introduced to Jane(Presley), and they fall for each other so hard that they appear in every scene from all montages that have ever been in Hollywood films. He also has to foil an assassination attempt on Queen Elizabeth. This is one of the best spoofs I've ever seen. It fits in all the clichés from the "tough police officer" investigative crime thrillers. The Zuckers know exactly what they're doing... varying the marvelously written and planned jokes and gags, at times having only a single element in a sequence be "off"(and thus everyone else react realistically, and the laws of physics behave as they should, other than this one thing) so that the contrast heightens the impact, and, in the midst of all of this, there's actually a plot, and we do care about the characters, we want to see the good guys win and the bad guys burn. Sure, we're laughing on account of the slapstick, silliness, clever lines and wordplay, still, we also want to see what happens next, how it progresses(even for it following the simple formula of the genre it's referencing). And somehow, even when it goes where we expect it to, we're immensely entertained by the trip there(which might surprise anyway, in some of the details). I mean, when Leslie, already having been established as being clumsy, is told that this fish in the tank is expensive and rare, and that that pen is priceless, and tolerant of everything but water, we know where the bit is headed. There is a little moderate to strong language and sexuality, as well as brief female nudity. I recommend this to any fan of parody. 8/10