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IMDbPro

Switching Channels

  • 1988
  • PG
  • 1h 45m
IMDb RATING
5.9/10
3.9K
YOUR RATING
Burt Reynolds, Kathleen Turner, and Christopher Reeve in Switching Channels (1988)
Home Video Trailer from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Play trailer0:31
1 Video
39 Photos
ComedyCrime

A television news chief courts his anchorwoman ex-wife with an eleventh-hour story.A television news chief courts his anchorwoman ex-wife with an eleventh-hour story.A television news chief courts his anchorwoman ex-wife with an eleventh-hour story.

  • Director
    • Ted Kotcheff
  • Writers
    • Ben Hecht
    • Charles MacArthur
    • Jonathan Reynolds
  • Stars
    • Kathleen Turner
    • Burt Reynolds
    • Christopher Reeve
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    5.9/10
    3.9K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Ted Kotcheff
    • Writers
      • Ben Hecht
      • Charles MacArthur
      • Jonathan Reynolds
    • Stars
      • Kathleen Turner
      • Burt Reynolds
      • Christopher Reeve
    • 20User reviews
    • 28Critic reviews
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 2 nominations

    Videos1

    Switching Channels
    Trailer 0:31
    Watch Switching Channels

    Photos39

    Christopher Reeve in Switching Channels (1988)
    Kathleen Turner in Switching Channels (1988)
    Kathleen Turner and Christopher Reeve in Switching Channels (1988)
    Christopher Reeve, Ted Kotcheff, and George Newbern in Switching Channels (1988)
    Burt Reynolds, Kathleen Turner, and Christopher Reeve in Switching Channels (1988)
    Burt Reynolds, Kathleen Turner, and Christopher Reeve in Switching Channels (1988)
    Burt Reynolds in Switching Channels (1988)
    Burt Reynolds, Kathleen Turner, and Christopher Reeve in Switching Channels (1988)
    Burt Reynolds, Kathleen Turner, and Christopher Reeve in Switching Channels (1988)
    Burt Reynolds, Kathleen Turner, Christopher Reeve, and C.J. Lusby in Switching Channels (1988)
    Burt Reynolds, Kathleen Turner, Christopher Reeve, and C.J. Lusby in Switching Channels (1988)
    Kathleen Turner and C.J. Lusby in Switching Channels (1988)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Kathleen Turner
    Kathleen Turner
    • Christy Colleran
    Burt Reynolds
    Burt Reynolds
    • John L. Sullivan IV
    Christopher Reeve
    Christopher Reeve
    • Blaine Bingham
    Ned Beatty
    Ned Beatty
    • Roy Ridnitz
    Henry Gibson
    Henry Gibson
    • Ike Roscoe
    George Newbern
    George Newbern
    • Siegenthaler
    Al Waxman
    Al Waxman
    • Berger
    Ken James
    • Warden Terwilliger
    Barry Flatman
    Barry Flatman
    • Zaks
    Ted Simonett
    • Tillinger
    Anthony Sherwood
    Anthony Sherwood
    • Carvalho
    Joe Silver
    Joe Silver
    • Mordsini
    Charles Kimbrough
    Charles Kimbrough
    • The Governor
    Monica Parker
    Monica Parker
    • Jessica
    Allan Royal
    Allan Royal
    • Obregon
    Fiona Reid
    Fiona Reid
    • Pamela Farbrother
    Andre Mayers
    Andre Mayers
    • Jesse
    Bill Randolph
    Bill Randolph
    • Eric
    • Director
      • Ted Kotcheff
    • Writers
      • Ben Hecht
      • Charles MacArthur
      • Jonathan Reynolds
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Reportedly, Burt Reynolds and Kathleen Turner constantly fought during the filming of this movie. Christopher Reeve had to mediate between them.
    • Goofs
      The people working for the cable news network out of Chicago are trying to urge the governor to pardon "Ike", even to go as far as on a newscast to urge Springfield to listen. At one point we see the governor tell his aides he will grant the pardon and wants time on the 11 o'clock news. In Chicago, and all of Illinois for that matter, being in the central time zone the governor would have asked for time on the 10 o'clock news.
    • Quotes

      The Governor: He's pardoned.

      Roy Ridnitz: You can't do that!

      The Governor: Yes I can. He's pardoned, and he's pardoned, and she's pardoned and you're not!

    • Connections
      Featured in The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson: Burt Reynolds/Teresa Ganzel/Eddie Edwards (1988)

    User reviews20

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    8/10
    In a great tradition
    The Front Page is one of those theater properties that apparently is not tiring with the public any time soon. Either remaking it as a period piece the way Billy Wilder did or updating it like this film and switching it to broadcast television journalism the laughs are there and the issues are the same. The Broadway play and first film adaption with also talked about bloviating politicians who campaign on law and order. If anything it's worse now.

    Howard Hawks saw the possibilities in The Front Page as a boy/girl romance by making the original role of the reporter as a woman. What he got was one of my favorite Cary Grant films. Switching Channels is a remake of His Girl Friday and the roles Cary Grant, Rosalind Russell, and Ralph Bellamy played are now done by Burt Reynolds, Kathleen Turner, and Christopher Reeve. And of course Reynolds is now a news producer, Turner his ace reporter, and Reeve the handsome rich doofus she wants to marry.

    Again it's an outrageously corrupt Ned Beatty playing the Cook County District Attorney who primarying the ineffectual Governor of Illinois Charles Kimbrough. He got a conviction on Henry Gibson for murdering a cop and he's looking to see that as Gibson burns in the electric chair, he can become governor and more. Kimbrough is the kind who takes a poll before he goes to the bathroom. But Gibson escapes on the night he's to die and sets off a whole chain of events in which elected officials are toppled, romance gets redirected, and corruption exposed.

    It is fascinating how on track Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur were when they wrote The Front Page. We could remake it again updating it with internet journalism without too much of a change in the plot.

    Start thinking of who could be the stars in yet a 21st century remake of this classic.
    helpful•6
    0
    • bkoganbing
    • Sep 7, 2018

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • March 4, 1988 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Official site
      • Sony Movie Channel (United States)
    • Languages
      • English
      • French
    • Also known as
      • Eine Frau steht ihren Mann
    • Filming locations
      • Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
    • Production companies
      • TriStar Pictures
      • Switching Channels Inc.
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $18,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $9,129,999
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $3,121,752
      • Mar 6, 1988
    • Gross worldwide
      • $9,129,999
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 45 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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    Burt Reynolds, Kathleen Turner, and Christopher Reeve in Switching Channels (1988)
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