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:

police detective | spoof | slapstick comedy | parody | assassin | 

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Taglines:

The Villain. Even Mother Teresa wanted him dead.

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime

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Certificate:

PG-13

Did You Know?

Trivia

The conversation between Vincent Ludwig (Ricardo Montalban) and Pahpshmir (Raye Birk) about "Sensory Induced Hypnosis" is a direct spoof of a scene in Telefon (1977), where Charles Bronson is offered a demonstration of "Drug Induced Hypnosis".

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Goofs

Obvious use of a dummy being thrown out of the middle of the fight between the baseball players @ around the 1 hour 16 minute mark.

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Quotes

Man in Stadium Crowd: Hey Look! It's Enrico Pallazzo!

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Crazy Credits

Instead of "Cast," it says "People Who Acted in the Movie."

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Alternate Versions

When the mayor chastises Drebin for breaking into Ludwig's apartment, there are different camera angles.

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Connections

Referenced in The Cinema Snob: Exorcist II: The Heretic (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

Leslie Neilsen is a comedic genius.

This is another movie from the creators of the ever hysterical Airplane. If you've seen Airplane, than you can expect the same kind of humor from this. This is one of those movies in which you can go crazy by trying to count the gags in the first ten minutes. Airplane did disaster films, this one does police dramas.

Frank Drebin (Leslie Neilsen) is a respected cop with gravel for a brain. He is part of a police force called Police Squad, who the security of Queen Elizabeth has just been handed to for her visit to Los Angeles. Frank bumbles through several hilarious scenarios in trying to foil an assassination attempt on her, and catch the attempted murderer of his best friend Nordberg (OJ Simpson). Meanwhile, he starts going out with the beautiful Jane Spencer (Priscilla Presley).

This movie goes from one hilarious situation to another, from commandeering a car that's being used for a drivers test, to trying to save a valuable pen from a fish tank. Leslie Neilsen's comedic timing is brilliant. His facial expressions during the slapstick sequences are priceless, as are his dead-seriousness of delivering one liners. Some of his quotes are so hilarious, that I have trouble figuring out how he could have possibly kept a straight face during filming. This is another classic in the same style as Airplane, which means hilarity. This gets a 9/10.

It is rated PG-13 for Crude and Sexual Humor, and for Some Language. Sex: 7/10 Violence: 4/10 Swearing: 4/10 Drugs: 5/10

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:

$9,331,746, 4 December 1988

Gross USA:

$78,756,177

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$78,756,177

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

85 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1